DEDHAM, Mass. — The defense in the Karen Read murder trial questioned a man they accuse of attacking John O’Keefe inside a Canton home as witness testimony resumed on Thursday.
[ Key witness in Karen Read murder trial breaks down on stand ]
They pushed accusations that others were involved in O’Keefe’s death and have suggested the nephew of the homeowner where O’Keefe was found.
- WATCH LIVE: Streaming coverage of Thursday’s witness testimony begins at 9 a.m.
- Also streaming on Facebook, X, and YouTube
- Live court updates from Boston 25′s Ryan Beslin
[ Karen Read murder trial: A guide to the key players you need to know ]
PLAY-BY-PLAY FROM DAY 13 OF TESTIMONY:
12:53 p.m.
- Lally now turning the attention to the morning of January 29th, 2022.
- MM: “I woke up to screams in my bedroom.”
- Judge says this is a good place to break.
- Jurors are dismissed and trial will resume in the morning.
12:50 pm.
- MM said they were driving Sarah Levinson and Julie Nagel home. “I back out of the driveway and proceed up towards Chapman Street.”
- AL: “Fair to say you didn’t see anything in the yard?”
- MM: “That’s correct.”
12:45 p.m.
- McCabe said that he never saw anyone outside of the SUV and couldn’t see who was inside.
12:40 p.m.
MM said: “There was a weird wave in the road, you could see the tire marks.” He did not see if the SUV made those tire marks.
12:35 p.m.
- MM: “I looked out again because it had been a few minutes, two three four minutes... I looked out and saw the SUV again. The SUV had moved up the road.” He said it was more in sync with where the utility box, and flagpole was.
- MM: “Just looking out, like what the hell are they doing? and going back to my seat.” On the third time he looked out the window, MM said the SUV had gone even further up the road maybe 30 or 40 feet.
12:30 p.m.
- AL: “When you looked out, what if anything did you see?
- MM: “I noticed the SUV parked in front of the house.”
12:25 p.m.
- MM speaking about Julie Nagel: “When she went outside, her or somebody referenced that there was another vehicle out front.”...“Upon hearing that we just assumed it was John and Karen.”
12:20 p.m.
- McCabe said he never saw Colin Albert or his daughter Alli McCabe at 34 Fairview Road.
- AL: “Did you see anyone go upstairs, go downstairs, to the basement...”
- MM: “I did not see anybody.”
12:15 p.m.
- McCabe said he got to the Albert’s house around 12:20 a.m. and left around 1:45 a.m. and said that “Everybody was hanging out.”
12:10 p.m.
- AL asked about John and Karen that night: “Was there any sort of fighting or arguing that you observed over the course of the evening at the Waterfall?”
- MM: “No, I did not.”
12:05 p.m.
- Lally asked if McCabe remembers what John was wearing and if he had any injuries on him. McCabe says he can only remember he had a baseball cap on but no injuries. He said John was drinking a Bud Light.
12:00 p.m.
- McCabe said he met Karen Read in the summer of 2020.
- He said John reached out to Jen McCabe and asked if he could come by the house with the kids to swim in the pool and introduce Karen to Jen.
- He said both Karen and Jen have MS and could find come interest in that.
- McCabe said he would see Read at sporting events and there were a couple of other times she came by the house.
11:55 a.m.
- McCabe said he met John O’Keefe when he started being the caretaker for his niece and nephew.
11:40 a.m.
- McCabe said on the evening of January 28, 2022, he had met basketball parents at the Canton Junction Pub before his daughter’s basketball game.
- After the game, he said he dropped two daughters off at home and then to the Waterfall bar in Canton.
11:35 a.m.
- Matthew McCabe (MM) is now on the stand. He is the husband of Jennifer McCabe and has 4 daughters. His oldest daughter is Alli McCabe.
11:30 a.m.
- AL asked about injuries to his hands.
- AL said one was from falling on ice and the other from hitting a bag too hard.
- AL: “You were in control about whether or not you were photographed.”
- CA: “Yes.”
11:20 a.m.
- Adam Lally (AL) is now questioning Colin Albert.
- First, AL asked about the relationship between CA and Alli McCabe, he then moved on to knowing Trooper Michael Proctor.
- CA said he has probably seen Proctor 5 or 6 times in his life.
11:15 a.m.
- AJ: “You were threatening to ball up your fists and beat the hell out of them?”
- CA: “Yes.”
- AJ brings up that at another hearing that CA testified in, he came in with his fists “busted up.”
11:10 a.m.
- Colin Albert is back on the stand now.
- AJ showed the first of two videos he discussed with the judge about introducing as evidence.
- AJ: “What did you mean by I’m going to f--k you up?”
- CA: “That I was going to beat them up.”
10:47 a.m.
- A 15-minute recess is called.
10:30 a.m.
- CA said he was threatening advantage kids when he said in a video, “Pull up, bitch. KO. Bang Bang.”
- AJ: “The fact of the matter is Mr. Albert, you do like to fight.”
- CA: “Nope.”
- AJ: “The fact of the matter is you showed up to another proceeding to testify… you showed up with busted knuckles there too.”
10:25 a.m.
- The jury has left so new evidence can be examined. AJ showed two videos. In one video CA appears to say “I will f--k you up.” He also appears to say “I will beat your a--.”
10:20 a.m.
- AJ asked if CA had ever been in a fight before and CA said only with his brothers.
10:15 a.m.
- AJ shows a picture of CA to the jury. He said it was taken on February 26, 2022. AJ points out the injury to CA’s right knuckles.
- CA said he fell down on ice at a party senior year. He said he was carrying something in his left hand so he used his right hand to catch himself.
10:00 a.m.
- AJ and CA talked about switching to text on Snapchat where the texts can disappear on their own.
- AJ: “So in the hours and days and weeks following the death of John O’Keefe, your communication with Alli, the person who gave you a ride home are just gone.”
- CA: “I’m not sure.”
9:55 a.m.
- Back to the text messages between Colin Albert (CA) and Alli McCabe (AM). AJ scrolls down the picture of the text messages. CA and AM last texted when AM picked CA up, then not again until Feb 20. AJ now questioning why CA and AM would switch platforms to communicate.
9:45 a.m.
- AJ: “How long have you known Michael Proctor?”
- CA: “Since I was a little kid.”
- AJ: “And you know him well enough… you know where he lives.”
- CA: “Yes.”
- AJ: “You consider the Proctor family close to your family?”
- CA: “Yeah.”
- AJ: “You were never interviewed by Canton Police dept in regards to this case?”
- CA: “No”
- AJ: “And how many times were you interviewed by MAC State Police?”
- CA: “Once.”
- AJ: “Who conducted that interview?” CA said it was Michael Proctor and it was a ten-minute interview.
- Another trooper was also in the room for the interview.
9:40 a.m.
- CA confirms he was the ring bearer in Courtney Proctor’s wedding.
- AJ: “10 years ago, your family was close enough to the Proctor family so that you were the ring bearer in Courtney Proctor’s wedding.”
- CA “Correct.”
9:35 a.m.
- AJ gives CA a photo to look at after questioning: “Who’s Courtney Proctor?”
- CA said, “My, she’s friendly with my aunt.”
- AJ asked how many times he had been to her house, CA said 4 or 5 times.
9:30 a.m.
- CA said he cannot remember a lot of the prep.
- AJ: “Did Mr Lally tell you why he wanted to question you about those text messages?”
- CA: “I don’t remember.”
9:25 a.m.
- Colin Albert said he didn’t start thinking about this case a lot until his name was written on the internet.
- He said he met with Lally to prep for the case about a month ago.
9:20 a.m.
- Colin Albert is called back to the stand.
- Alan Jackson (AJ): “Who did you talk to prepare for testimony?”
- Colin Albert(CA): “My lawyer.”
- AJ “You didn’t speak to your parents? Your mom? Your dad? Did you discuss with your parents their testimony?”
- CA “No.”
PREVIOUS STORY:
In text messages between Colin Albert and his relative Alli McCabe, timestamps show McCabe picked up Colin from the Alberts home around 12:10.
Colin said, “At 12:10 Alli wrote ‘here’ and at 12:10 I wrote ‘KK.’”
But when Colin Albert actually left that home is a contentious issue in this trial.
The prosecution said he was gone before John O’Keefe even arrived but the defense disputes that and suggests Colin Albert and others attacked O’Keefe inside 34 Fairview Road.
“It’s so easy to doctor the times of the text messages,” said defense attorney Yannetti.
Colin Albert was a teen when O’Keefe was killed.
More witnesses testified to seeing what appeared to be Read’s SUV the night before O’Keefe died.
Heather Maddox is one of three people who said she saw Read’s SUV pull up and sit with the engine running and brake lights on.
But no witness said they saw O’Keefe in Read’s vehicle when they pulled away.
“The female was driving and the male was in the passenger seat.” said Maddox.
Ryan Nagel said, “I observed there was a person inside the car, with the interior light on.”
Alan Jackson asked if at any point Nagel saw the SUV reverse and hit a pedestrian and Nagel said no.
Also taking the stand Wednesday, was an animal forensic scientist who tested two swabs sent by the State Police lab.
UC Davis scientist Teri Kun said the samples were taken from a shirt and they were looking for dog DNA.
Her results did not show any K9 DNA.
In a second test for 12 animals, the only positive result for animal DNA was pig.
The defense was quick to point out that the scientist did not know how the samples were collected.
[ Key witness in Karen Read murder trial breaks down on stand during Day 12 of testimony ]
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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