DEDHAM, Mass. — The prosecution in the Karen Read murder trial rested its case Friday morning after graphic autopsy photos of John O’Keefe were shown in Norfolk Superior Court. The defense then started calling its first witnesses.
[ ‘I (expletive) hate you’: Voicemails Karen Read left on John O’Keefe’s phone played in court ]
[ ‘You have really hurt me’: See all the messages Karen Read and John O’Keefe exchanged before he died ]
Read, 44, of Mansfield, has pleaded not guilty to charges including second-degree murder in the death of John O’Keefe, her Boston police officer boyfriend.
Prosecutors say Read backed over O’Keefe with her Lexus SUV and left him for dead in a snowstorm outside 34 Fairview Road in Canton in January 2022 after a night of heavy drinking. The defense aims to prove that O’Keefe was murdered by someone inside the home and then tossed into the snow.
Dr. Irini A. Scordi-Bello, a medical examiner who testified Thursday that O’Keefe’s injuries showed no signs of a physical altercation and that his cause of death “could not be determined,” returned to the stand Friday morning.
After a brief cross-examination and redirect, Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally rested his case. The defense then called their first witnesses: Brian “Lucky” Loughran, a Canton resident and plow driver, dog bite expert Dr. Marie Russell, and digital forensics expert Richard Green.
- WATCH LIVE: Streaming coverage of Friday’s witness testimony begins at 9 a.m.
- Also streaming on Facebook, X, and YouTube
- Live court updates from Boston 25′s Ted Daniel
LIVE PLAY-BY-PLAY FROM COURT:
3:18 p.m.
- Richard Green is excused and Judge Cannone sends jury home for the weekend. Court will resume on Monday.
2:50 p.m.
- DY: do you have an opinion on how those calls were deleted from the phone (Jen McCabe)? RG: those would be user-deleted.
- Lally’s turn now. He starts by asking Green if he knows prosecution cellphone witnesses Jessica Hyde and Ian Wiffin disagree with his findings. He does.
2:30 p.m.
- Rick Green says he found Jen McCabe’s Google search happened at 2:27:40 seconds. He says “It was in a deleted state.” In previous testimony, a Cellebrite analyst said that is when the tab was opened not when the search was performed.
2:20 p.m.
- Rick Green says JO’s phone data shows he took 36 steps at 12:31:56 am.
1:55 p.m.
- We’re back. David Yannetti calls their cell phone expert Richard Green.
12:55 p.m.
- Dr. Russell is excused. Judge calls lunch.
12:40 p.m.
- Lally is able to get in that K9 DNA was not found on swabs taken from JO’s right arm.
- Judge allowed
11:40 a.m.
- Loughran is excused.
- Defense calls Dr. Marie Russell, she is the woman who testified Tuesday without the jury that JO’s arm injuries appear to be from a large dog.
11:20 a.m.
- Lally asked if Loughran first said he drove by Fairview at 12 a.m. and 2 a.m., not 2:45 a.m. and 3 a.m.
- He says he doesn’t remember saying that.
11:18 a.m.
- AL: How did you know where body was found?
- BL: From police reports police interviews, stuff that was posted on the media.
11:10 a.m.
- Loughran says he was first approached by police (Proctor and Bukhenik) in 2023.
11:02 a.m.
- Loughran says he saw nothing on the lawn near the flag pole when he passed 34 Fairview Rd.
- DY: Did you see a body?
- BL: No
10:56 a.m.
- Loughran says “I was able to see the entire front lawn” during his first pass on Fairview at 2:45 a.m.
10:40 a.m.
- Defense calls its first witness Brian “Lucky” Loughran. A plow driver who has previously said he went by Fairview Rd and saw no body on the ground.
- Loughran is born and raised in Canton. He says he delivered pizza for Chris Albert’s pizza shop in Canton for 8 years
10:35 a.m.
- Judge Cannone denies defense’s motion for her to determine a not guilty verdict. It means the case will be decided by the jury.
10:25 a.m.
- Court resumes without the jury. Jackson moving for the Judge to make a finding of not guilty now. This is standard in trials
10 a.m.
- Breaking: Commonwealth has rested in the Karen Read murder trial. Alan Jackson immediately stood up to say something and the judge called the sidebar.
9:55 a.m.
- On redirect ADA Lally asks about head injuries: AL: Could that also be consistent with striking his head on frozen ground? IS: Could be, yes.
9:35 a.m.
- On cross, Dr, Scordi-Bello says “yes” when asked if it’s possible O’Keefe’s injuries could have been caused “by a bat, dumbbell, or a German shepherd’s claws.” She says “it’s likely and unlikely at the same time” that O’Keefe was struck by a 7K vehicle at 24 mph.
9:30 a.m.
- Dr. Scordi-Bello says O’Keefe did not have classic pedestrian strike injuries, but she says there are a lot of factors that make up a pedestrian collision. She says there were no lower extremity injuries but the SUV had a higher taillight and bumper.
9:20 a.m.
- The jury previously heard Trooper Proctor’s texts earlier in the trial where he called Dr. Scordi-Bello a “wack job” when he didn’t get a “homicide” determination on the death certificate.
- Lally asked Dr. Scordi-Bello if she was pressured to make that determination. She said no, and: “I’m responsible for what’s on the death certificate, and unless I have enough clear and convincing evidence I cannot determine the manner.”
9:05 a.m.
- Dr. Scordi-Bello with the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office is back on the stand.
- The defense could begin its presentation after her.
- Read’s attorney Alan Jackson said the defense could wrap as early as the end of Wednesday.
PREVIOUS STORY:
Dr. Irini A. Scordi-Bello, a medical examiner called to the stand on Thursday by Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally, testified that O’Keefe’s injuries showed no signs of a physical altercation and that his cause of death “could not be determined.”
Fellow medical examiner Dr. Renee Stonebridge testified that O’Keefe had acute traumatic injuries likely caused by something “with a lot of force” and consistent with being struck by a vehicle and going to the ground.
Before the medical examiners testified, the court heard profanity-laced voicemails that Read left on O’Keefe’s phone in the hours leading up to the discovery of his body.
[ ‘I (expletive) hate you’: Voicemails Karen Read left on John O’Keefe’s phone played in court ]
Nicholas Guarino, a digital forensics expert with the Massachusetts State Police, read a slew of text messages earlier this week that Read sent to O’Keefe on Jan. 28, 2022. When he returned to the stand Thursday, eight voicemails Read left for O’Keefe during the early morning of Jan. 29, 2022, were played in court.
Guarino analyzed data on Read and O’Keefe’s phones at the request of fellow Trooper Michael Proctor, the lead state police investigator assigned to the murder case.
Guarino also testified that Read’s Wi-Fi data showed she was at O’Keefe’s house at 12:36 a.m., which is nine minutes after the time prosecutors say she hit O’Keefe.
Before the playing of the voicemails, Judge Beverly Cannone ruled that Dr. Marie Russell could testify about her opinion that O’Keefe’s injuries to his arm were consistent with a dog attack after the prosecution sought to exclude her.
[ Karen Read trial: Defense expert says John O’Keefe’s injuries ‘consistent with large dog attack’ ]
The defense will present its case when Lally wraps. Read’s attorneys say they could present and rest their case by mid-next week, turning things over to the jury for deliberations.
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