Guilty or innocent? A look back at how we got here as Karen Read murder trial nears final stage

DEDHAM, Mass. — Jury deliberations are underway after weeks of witness testimony in Karen Read murder trial.

Twelve jurors have been tasked with deciding whether melting snow revealed evidence that proves Read murdered her boyfriend, or exposed a cover-up built on connections and police corruption.

Read, 44, of Mansfield, is charged with second-degree murder in the January 2022 death of Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe.

Boston 25 News was in Dedham’s Norfolk Superior Court for each day of the trial. Here’s a look back at everything that unfolded over the last eight weeks:

April 29, 2024: Opening statements are delivered and the first witnesses are called by the prosecution, including O’Keefe’s brother, Paul, his sister-in-law, Erin.

April 30, 2024: Canton police officers, firefighters testify on Day 2, including one first responder who claimed he heard Read say, “I hit him, I hit him, I hit him.”

May 2, 2024: Canton firefighters Anthony Flematti and Katie McLaughlin testify about responding to scene of O’Keefe’s death and finding a “hysterical” Read.

May 3, 2024: Canton firefighter Katie McLaughlin is grilled on cross-examination about her apparent friendship with Caitlin Albert, who was alleged to be at a party inside the home of retired Boston Police Officer Brian Albert in Canton, on the night O’Keefe’s body was found outside.

May 6, 2024: Witness testimony enters second week with Canton Police Lt. Paul Gallagher testifies that he spotted “light pink spots in the snow” outside 34 Fairview Avenue in Canton and that investigators “decided to process the scene with a leaf blower.”

May 7, 2024: New evidence, including broken cocktail glass found at 34 Fairview Avenue shown in court as first responders who were called to the scene O’Keefe’s death continue to take the stand.

May 8, 2024: Surveillance video shown in court shows Karen Read embracing her Boston police officer boyfriend, John O’Keefe, inside C.F. McCarthy’s in Canton just hours before his death.

May 9, 2024: Chris Albert and his wife, Julie Albert, are called to the stand. Chris Albert is the brother of Brian Albert.

May 10, 2024: Nicole and Brian Albert, who used to live at the home where John O’Keefe was found dead, are called to the stand.

May 13, 2024: Brian Albert’s son, Brian Albert Jr., and his daughter, Caitlin Albert, are called to the stand.

May 14, 2024: Friends who attended birthday party for Brian Albert Jr. at 34 Fairview Avenue on night of O’Keefe’s death testify about they saw after leaving the home, including Julianna Nagel, who said she spotted a “black blob” on the lawn.

May 15, 2024: Allison McCabe, the daughter of Matthew and Jennifer McCabe, takes the stand after Terri Kun, a forensic scientist at the University of California, Davis, testifies that no dog DNA was found on evidence collected at the scene of O’Keefe’s death.

May 16, 2024: Colin Albert, a key witness who Karen Read’s defense team has said had a motive to attack John O’Keefe, testifies.

May 17, 2024: Jennifer McCabe’s early morning Google search, “Hos long to die in the cold,” is at the center of testimony.

May 21, 2024: Jennifer McCabe returns to the witness stand to be cross-examined by Read’s defense team.

May 22, 2024: Kerry Roberts, Laura Sullivan, and Laura Sullivan, longtime friends of O’Keefe, take the stand. The Sullivan sisters testified about that Read and O’Keefe fought during a New Year’s Eve trip to Aruba in December 2021.

May 24, 2024: Brian Higgins, an ATF agent who was a friend of Brian Albert, a Boston police officer who owned the home in Canton where fellow officer O’Keefe was found dead, testifies about flirtatious text messages he exchanged with Karen Read.

May 28, 2024: The niece and nephew of O’Keefe are called to the stand. Justin Rice, an emergency room doctor who worked at Good Samaritan Medical Center, then testified about treating O’Keefe.

June 3, 2024: Testimony focuses on a taillight and other important evidence as two Massachusetts State Police forensic scientists take the stand along with a high-ranking trooper.

June 5, 2024: Massachusetts State Police Sergeant Yuriy Bukhenik shows evidence to the jury, including the shirt, belt and other clothes, O’Keefe was wearing at the time of his death.

June 6, 2024: Massachusetts State Police Sergeant Yuriy Bukhenik show more evidence to the jury.

June 10, 2024: Trooper Michael Proctor, the lead investigator reads his ‘unprofessional & regrettable’ texts on the stand.

June 12, 2024: Alan Jackson criticizes Trooper Michael Proctor on cross-examination for sharing details of the murder investigation with friends and family and for appearing to single out Karen Read.

June 13, 2024: Detective Lt. Brian Tully, a state police trooper assigned to the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office who reported Trooper Michael Proctor’s vulgar texts about Karen Read “up his chain of command,” is on the stand.

June 14, 2024: Trooper Joseph Paul, a member of the state police crash reconstruction unit, is called to the stand after a juror who was caught on camera is excused.

June 17, 2024: Trooper Nicholas Guarino, a digital forensics expert with the Massachusetts State Police, reads a series of text messages that Read sent to O’Keefe on Jan. 28, 2022.

June 18, 2024: Court conducts a voir dire of expert witnesses who might take the stand at a later time, including dog bit expert Dr. Marie Russell.

June 20, 2024: Doctors Renee Stonebridge and Irini Scordi-Bello, both from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, detail the extent of O’Keefe’s injuries.

June 21, 2024: The prosecution rests its case. The defense starts calling its first witnesses.

June 24, 2024: The defense calls its final three witnesses to the stand.

June 24, 2024: The judge discusses jury instructions ahead of closing arguments on Tuesday.

June 25, 2024: The defense and prosecution deliver closing arguments.

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