Aidan Kearney, known as ‘Turtleboy’ blogger, appears in court

DEDHAM, Mass. — Aidan Kearney, who is known as the “Turtleboy” blogger, appeared in Norfolk Superior Court on Thursday.

Kearney, 42, of Holden, was arrested on witness intimidation charges in connection with the Karen Read murder case in October 2023. Judge Beverly Cannone declared a mistrial in the Read case on July 1.

His defense spoke on the evidence gathering process and requested a new pre-trial date for next month.

Kearney has relentlessly questioned the prosecution in live streams and hundreds of blog posts, claiming Read has been framed in a coverup. He also attended Read’s trial and listened to testimony from the press bench.

During the trial, the prosecution alleged Read rammed her luxury SUV into her Boston police officer boyfriend John O’Keefe, and left him for dead in Canton in January 2022. Read’s defense team argued that the prosecution’s case was based on lies by officers trying to protect themselves and that O’Keefe was beaten up and dumped outside the home of fellow Boston officer Brian Albert.

After his arrest, a special prosecutor alleged that Kearney harassed witnesses and often filmed himself as he would try to confront them or call them at their homes, children’s sports games, or places of work.

The Norfolk District Attorney’s Office announced that Read’s case would be retried and Massachusetts State Police relieved lead investigator Michael Proctor of his duties after the mistrial.

An investigation was launched after a dead turtle was found hanging outside the home of Kearney’s parents in Worcester. Kearney shared graphic photos on X, formerly known as Twitter, showing a turtle tied by its head to a railing outside the home.

Worcester Police said earlier this month that detectives are looking into the incident as acts of harassment and animal cruelty. The status of that investigation was unclear Thursday.

In a separate case, a hearing in Dedham District Court on Thursday morning related to a restraining order case involving Kearney was continued to Aug. 22.

Kearney is accused of violating a restraining order following an incident at the home of an ex-girlfriend back in December.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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