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Accused murderer Karen Read was welcomed into a Boston courtroom on Tuesday flanked by her supporters as her second murder trial began.
Her first murder trial ended with a hung jury on July 1 with opening statements expected this morning over the death of Boston police officer John O’Keefe.
Read stands accused of ramming her boyfriend O’Keefe with her SUV while drunk in January 2022 before leaving him to die in a snowstorm.
She has long maintained her innocence and insisted that she was framed by his cop friends.
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Outside of Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, supporters of Read assembled ahead of the retrial start.
Ashlyn Wade, a Read supporter from Canton, where O’Keefe was killed, said she was there to hopefully see Read cleared of charges.
‘I’m here for justice,’ she said. ‘The murderer going to jail and Karen being Exonerated – that would be justice.’
Dennis Sweeney said he returned for the second trial because: ‘Karen Read is factually innocent and we want her freed.’
Read is seen here arriving in court on Tuesday morning flanked by her legal team
Read stands accused of ramming her Boston police officer boyfriend John O’Keefe with her SUV while drunk in January 2022 before leaving him to die in a snowstorm
Supporters of Karen Read gather on the steps at Norfolk Superior Court prior to Read’s trial, Tuesday, April 22, 2025
Police ordered a truck driver who slowed down to yell ‘Free Karen Read’ to move along, and also chased off someone who was shooting video with their phone.
Read arrived at court just before 8.50am to some cheers from assembled supporters.
During the first trial last year, prosecutors said Read intentionally backed into O´Keefe after she dropped him off at a house party and returned hours later to find him dead.
The defense said she was a victim of a vast police conspiracy and that O´Keefe was fatally beaten by another law enforcement officer at the party.
A mistrial was declared last year after jurors said they were at an impasse and deliberating further would be futile.
She has been charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating a vehicle under the influence and leaving the scene.
O’Keefe, according to his autopsy results, died from hypothermia and blunt force trauma.
Read’s attorneys had previously portrayed her as the victim, saying O’Keefe was actually killed inside his friend Brian Albert’s home and then dragged outside.
During the first trial last year, prosecutors said Read intentionally backed into O´Keefe after she dropped him off at a house party and returned hours later to find him dead
Supporters of Karen Read gather on the steps at Norfolk Superior Court prior to Read’s trial, Tuesday, April 22, 2025
The defense said she was a victim of a vast police conspiracy and that O´Keefe was fatally beaten by another law enforcement officer at the party (photo from court on April 8)
The case, and Read’s claims of a wide-ranging conspiracy against her, whipped up intense speculation online that spilled over into the real world.
Prosecutors alleged the couple’s two-year relationship was breaking down and she rammed her car into O’Keefe after he repeatedly tried to dump her.
Read had worked as a financial analyst and a Bentley College adjunct professor before being charged in the death of O’Keefe, who was 46 when he died.
A mistrial was called after nine-weeks when jurors were unable to agree on whether she’d deliberately killed O’Keefe.
The defense is expected to call former State Trooper Michael Proctor who led the investigation but has since been fired.
A disciplinary board found he had sent sexist and crude text messages about Read to colleagues and members of his family. He is also on the prosecution’s witness list.
Proctor’s testimony was a key moment during the first trial, when the defense suggested his texts about Read and the case showed he was biased and had singled her out early in the investigation, ignoring other potential suspects.
In court on Tuesday, Judge Beverly Cannone said she received four motions over the weekend that need to be addressed.
She ruled that the defense can’t mention a consulting firm in their openings, which led the defense to request to be heard. They then entered into a sidebar with the defense arguing the firm should be mentioned.
Read could be seen chatting and smiling with her attorneys Alan Jackson and David Yannetti.
Lead prosecutor Hank Brennan began his opening statement Tuesday by describing the firefighter who raced to the scene in near-blizzard conditions and found Read and two other women surrounding O´Keefe´s body on the ground.
‘He stepped out into bedlam,’ he said. The firefighter then asked Read what had happened, he said.
‘You´ll hear her words, ‘I hit him. I hit him. I hit him’.’ Brennan said. ‘She admitted what she had done that night.’
Defense Attorney Alan Jackson began his opening statement by saying the prosecution´s case was based on a ‘brazen and flawed assertion that is untethered to the facts and the evidence.’
‘John O’Keefe did not die from being hit by a vehicle,’ he said. ‘The facts will show that.
‘The evidence will show that. The data will show that. The science will show that and the experts will tell you that.’