The Commonwealth’s troubling prosecution of Karen Read

There is no statute of limitations for the crime of murder.  There was no need to indict anyone in a hurry. The case should have been carefully investigated. Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe was found dead on the lawn of another Boston Police Officer, Brian Albert.  The medical examiner has opined that the manner by which Officer O’Keefe died is “undetermined.” As of this evening, June 20, 2024, Officer O’Keefe’s injuries appear to be inconsistent with having been hit by an SUV.  Impressive accident reconstruction experts are expected to testify in the next day or so for the defense. 

Assuming that Massachusetts State Trooper Michael Proctor had an honest “policeman’s hunch” that it was, indeed, the 40-year-old “girl,” with no ass and a New Bedford accent, and, no one or nothing else, that actually killed Officer John O’Keefe, Proctor had the duty to call in neutral law enforcement officers to conduct the investigation of his pals the Alberts, as well as the “babe” with the “leaky butt.” Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.  The female “whack job” was indicted within 48 hours.  Weirdly, no police entered the home of Brian Albert on the morning John O’Keefe lay dead on his lawn.

At first, before Ms. Read became the one and only suspect in the case, it appears that Trooper Proctor and others thought Officer O’Keefe had been in a fight. The injuries to Officer O’Keefe’s nose, to the back of his head, and the scratches on his arm could suggest that he might have been involved in a fist fight, although one notes, that during direct examination by Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally today, the medical examiner said she saw no major signs of what she would call a significant altercation.  Nevertheless, the medical examiner’s continued call that the manner of death is “undetermined” remains critical to the defense team and Ms. Read.  Dr. Irini Scordi-Bello, the medical examiner, is not predicted to be cross examined by the defense. Why bother? There would be no point. Nothing Dr. Scordi-Bello says rebuts the dog bite theory, or contradicts the theory that a car did not hit Officer O’Keefe. “No questions for the witness, your honor.”

Another medical doctor, with expertise in dog bites, and extensive emergency room experience, has come forward, and is expected to testify that the injuries on Officer O’Keefe’s arm were consistent with his having been bitten by a large dog.  The Alberts had a German Shepard.

Is it possible Karen Read’s car hit John O’Keefe and caused his death?  It is possible, but based on evidence presented so far, it is improbable. Certainly, at this point, there exists insufficient evidence to convict Karen Read beyond a reasonable doubt.

The medical examiner has ruled that Officer O’Keefe’s death was caused by blunt impact head injuries and hypothermia, and, as stated above, that the manner of his death is undetermined. Frustrated by the female medical doctor’s conclusion, Trooper Proctor texted another state trooper, “Of course it’s undetermined. She’s a whack job.”  Good luck Lally in trying your case.

The death of Officer O’Keefe is a terrible, terrible tragedy.  Certainly, no outsider appears to know, at this time, what actually happened to the gentleman, who lost his life far too soon, leaving his niece and nephew, and many others, devasted. It is easy to speculate about what might have happened to Officer O’Keefe that night. Earlier that evening, Boston Police Officer Brian Albert and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Special Agent Brian Higgins were caught on video, at a local bar, “play fighting.”  Maybe, when the boys were inside Mr. Albert’s house, they continued the game and somebody accidentally hit Mr. O’Keefe a bit too hard, and he fell backward and cut his head on a coffee table. Albert and Higgins had gone to New York that day to attend another police officer’s funeral. Officer O’Keefe had not gone to the funeral.  Maybe Karen Read wasn’t the only person mad at Officer O’Keefe that night, maybe Albert and Higgins were mad at him for not attending the funeral. 

Maybe Colin did it.  Maybe Mr. O’Keefe was given another drink and he simply fell backwards drunk, and hit his head.  Maybe the German Shepard jumped Officer O’Keefe and he fell backwards, hit his head, and the other drunk, exhausted cops thought he was dead, when he really wasn’t, and they hauled him outside, hoping someone else would be blamed. Maybe Karen Read was an after-thought, in what appears to have been a drunken mist surrounding Canton, Massachusetts that night. Albert and Higgins allegedly butt dialed each other late that night. Speculation is not proof of anything.  

Deeply troubling is what might be Jennifer McCabe’s 2:27 a.m. internet search about how long it takes to die in the cold. The existence or possible existence of a search of this kind, in the middle of the night, would tend to prove Karen Read’s innocence, by demonstrating Jennifer McCabe’s knowledge of Officer O’Keefe’s peril, and the possible involvement of others in his death. 

One could argue that the juxtaposed or “mirrored” images on the videotape presented by prosecutor Lally had the capacity to deceive the judge, the jury, and his opposing counsel into thinking that Trooper Procter lingered near Karen Read’s intact rear taillight, when that does not appear to be true.  The taillight over which Trooper Proctor appeared to have hovered was the broken taillight, the taillight about which there has been so much controversy. It is possible that Trooper Proctor lingered over the broken taillight just long enough, if he so desired, to grab a little evidence, scoot out the door, and drive to the Albert’s house, literally three minutes away.  It’s quite a coincidence that the video was distorted in the way it was, and that a possible second camera that could have shown what was really happening was blurred.

If “Lucky,” the snow plow driver, testifies that he did not see Officer O’Keefe’s body lying on Officer Albert’s lawn, and the jury believes him, the Commonwealth’s case against Defendant Karen Read should be over. No one should think that Ms. Read’s expected “not guilty” verdict will be the end of the matter, however.  The image of Karen Read’s father, and her mother, sitting quietly behind her remains with the viewer.