The latest on the Karen Read murder case
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Karen Read not guilty of murder, only convicted of OUI
“No one has fought harder for justice for John O’Keefe than I have — than I have, and my team,” Read said after the verdict on the courthouse steps.
Returning their verdict Wednesday, jurors spared Karen Read a possible life sentence and acquitted her of second-degree murder, only finding her guilty of operating under the influence of liquor in the January 2022 death of her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe.
An emotional Read smiled and hugged her attorneys, family, and supporters after the verdict was read aloud in court. Defense attorney David Yannetti, who has represented Read since the start of her case, appeared to wipe away tears.
Read was sentenced to one year of probation and the so-called “24D program” for alcohol education — the standard for a first-time OUI offense.
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Read exited the courthouse flanked by her family and legal team. She placed a hand over her heart before she and her lawyers triumphantly raised fists and displayed the American Sign Language for “I love you” — a gesture that has become a silent rallying cry among the “Free Karen Read” movement.
“I just want to say two things,” Read began, offering her first public comments post-acquittal. “Number one is, I could not be standing here without these amazing supporters who have supported me and my team — financially and, more importantly, emotionally for almost four years.”
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Second, she continued, “No one has fought harder for justice for John O’Keefe than I have — than I have, and my team.”
Her father, William Read, also thanked the crowd and expressed gratitude for the “content providers” who helped bring attention to Read’s case.
“I want to acknowledge the strength of our daughter, Karen, the support of the entire Read extended family,” William Read said. He also commended each of his daughter’s lawyers by name: Yannetti, Alan Jackson, Elizabeth Little, and Robert Alessi.
“It was a fantastic team, but we needed them all to defeat this,” William Read added. “We thank everybody for their support, from the heart.”
The jury’s path to a verdict
The jury was tasked with determining whether Read struck O’Keefe in a drunken rage while dropping him off at an afterparty in Canton three years ago. Read’s lawyers have long maintained she was framed in a coverup, suggesting she was the victim of a botched and biased investigation. They floated an alternate theory that O’Keefe was attacked after entering the home at 34 Fairview Road, owned at the time by a fellow Boston police officer.
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Read had pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating a motor vehicle under the influence, and leaving the scene of a fatal collision. The OUI manslaughter charge also carried three lesser included charges: involuntary manslaughter, motor vehicle homicide, and OUI.
A unanimous jury is needed for any conviction or acquittal, and jurors deliberated for slightly more than 21 hours in all, by Court TV’s count. The intense media coverage of the case and the controversial evidence at stake made consensus an uphill battle from the start.
The jury received the case Friday after sitting through nearly eight weeks of testimony, many of them listening rapt and jotting down notes as Read’s case ultimately shifted into a battle of the experts.
Earlier Wednesday — their fourth day of deliberations — jurors indicated to court staff that they had reached a verdict at long last, though they quickly backtracked. Judge Beverly Cannone said a court officer alerted her during the lunch recess that deliberating jurors knocked on the door to indicate they had reached a unanimous decision.
“But before I could even summons everybody into court, you know, shortly thereafter, they knocked again and said they didn’t have a verdict,” the judge explained.
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The original verdict slip was placed in a sealed envelope and preserved as part of the case record, and Cannone said even she hadn’t seen it.
Read didn’t have to wait much longer for a verdict, though; the jury returned its unanimous decision shortly thereafter.
Karen Read’s legal troubles not over
This was Read’s second time on trial for murder, after jurors in her first trial last summer returned deadlocked and Cannone declared a mistrial.
While Wednesday’s verdict wraps up Read’s criminal case, her legal troubles aren’t over. O’Keefe’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Read last summer, also naming the two Canton bars where the couple drank before O’Keefe’s death. A judge delayed Read’s part in the civil case until after the criminal trial.
Throughout the criminal case, Read’s defense sought to implicate 34 Fairview Road homeowner Brian Albert and several of his extended family members. Also caught in the crosshairs were Albert’s sister-in-law, Jennifer McCabe, and O’Keefe’s longtime friend, Kerry Roberts. Both women were with Read when she found O’Keefe unresponsive in the snow early on Jan. 29, 2022.
In a statement, the Albert, McCabe, and Roberts families called Read’s acquittal “a devastating miscarriage of justice.”
“Today, our hearts are with John and the entire O’Keefe family,” the statement read. “They have suffered through so much and deserved better from our justice system. While we may have more to say in the future, today we mourn with John’s family and lament the cruel reality that this prosecution was infected by lies and conspiracy theories spread by Karen Read, her defense team, and some in the media.”
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Canton Select Board Chair John McCourt also issued a statement acknowledging the community has been “deeply affected” as a result of the contentious case. The town “respects the legal process and the role of the jury in weighing the facts and rendering a verdict,” McCourt added.
“Today’s outcome may bring a sense of relief to some and continue to raise questions for others,” he continued. “We encourage members of the community to move forward together, treating one another with respect through civil, constructive dialogue.”
Raucous cheers could be heard in the courtroom as news of Read’s murder acquittal made its way through the wave of “Free Karen Read” supporters outside. Chants of “Karen is free!” echoed through the crowd.
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