The latest on the Karen Read murder case
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What Turtleboy had to say about Karen Read’s acquittal
“This is the most validating thing ever,” Aidan Kearney said in a live video following Wednesday’s verdict. “Karen Read is never going to jail.”
Cheers erupted outside Norfolk Superior Court on Wednesday as Turtleboy blogger Aidan Kearney emerged following Karen Read’s acquittal on murder and manslaughter charges, arms raised like a quarterback after the winning game.
For as much as the verdict was a victory for Read and her lawyers, the moment was also a win for Kearney, the unofficial face of the “Free Karen Read” movement. Kearney’s prolific coverage propelled Read’s case to the national spotlight, his ardent support of her defense even landing him in jail briefly after he was charged with intimidating witnesses in the case.
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“I had dreamed about this day for so long, guys,” Kearney said in a live video shortly after a jury found Read not guilty of second-degree murder, manslaughter by drunk driving, and leaving the scene of a fatal accident in the January 2022 death of her boyfriend, John O’Keefe. In the end, jurors only convicted Read of operating under the influence of liquor.
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“It’s better than anything I could ever imagine,” Kearney told his followers in the live video. “This is the most validating thing ever, ever. And it’s over. It’s over. Karen Read is never going to jail.”
Speaking with NBC 10 WJAR, Kearney described an “emotional rollercoaster” inside the courtroom leading up to and during the reading of the verdict. A visibly emotional Read could be seen hugging her family and lawyers as news of her acquittal sank in, and defense attorney David Yannetti — who has represented Read since the start of her case — appeared to wipe away tears.
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“I’ve been mentally preparing for this day for a long time, for both the worst and the best,” Kearney told WJAR. “And I’m so happy that it was the best.”
While Kearney’s methods often skew provocative and confrontational (for example, he infamously ambushed witnesses in Read’s case at their child’s sporting event), he told WJAR his journalism and activism shone a spotlight on Read’s prosecution.
“I made it so that [authorities] couldn’t hide what they were doing,” Kearney told the news outlet, also suggesting he had an indirect influence on some of the evidence presented to jurors.
Prosecutors “wanted this to be in the darkness,” Kearney added. “They did not want anyone to know what was going on in here, and I made that impossible for them.”
Kearney is still facing criminal charges in connection to his coverage of the case, though a judge last month dismissed six of his counts. Kearney was also acquitted last week of violating a restraining order when he attended one of Read’s hearings in February 2024.
He spent part of his live video Wednesday railing against authorities involved in Read’s case, as he often has. Kearney took aim at special prosecutor Hank Brennan in particular, calling the veteran attorney a “loser,” accusing him of “scumbaggery,” and alleging he agreed to prosecute Read for notoriety and financial gain.
While prosecutors alleged Read struck O’Keefe with her SUV in a drunken rage while dropping him off at an afterparty in Canton on Jan. 29, 2022, Kearney has long supported the defense team’s theory that O’Keefe was actually attacked inside the home. Specifically, Read’s lawyers have suggested O’Keefe was beaten, mauled by the homeowner’s dog, and tossed outside in the snow.
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Read, they claim, was framed as part of a botched and biased investigation.
The case continues to command national attention, even post-verdict. Kearney confirmed he inked a deal with Compelling Pictures for a movie on the case, as first reported by entertainment journalist Jeff Sneider. Boston.com has reached out to Compelling Pictures for further details on the film, one of several upcoming projects about the case.
Asked why the legal saga has captured audiences, Kearney suggested in an interview with Fox News that trial watchers found Read’s prosecution “outrageous.”
“These are just people who are just outraged because they could see their daughter, or their sister, or their mother could be Karen Read,” he said. “And they’re saying, ‘No. We’re not going to sit there in silence and watch an innocent woman be put in shackles. We’re not going to allow it.’”
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