The latest on the Karen Read murder case
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Karen Read signs deal for screen adaptation of sensational murder case
Not even two weeks after her highly publicized acquittal, Read announced she's working on a scripted adaptation of her case.
Hot on the heels of her acquittal on murder and manslaughter charges, Karen Read is now working to bring her story to screen in the form of a scripted adaptation.
Read and her lead attorney, Alan Jackson, are partnering with LBI Productions to develop the project, which promises case details “not yet disclosed to the public,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“This isn’t just a legal thriller,” LBI production head Julie Yorn told the news outlet in a statement. “It’s about what happens when a single voice refuses to be silenced.”
More on Karen Read:
News of the deal comes less than two weeks after Read, 45, was acquitted in the January 2022 death of her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe. While prosecutors alleged Read struck O’Keefe with her SUV in a drunken rage while dropping him off at a home in Canton, jurors ultimately found her not guilty of second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating under the influence, and leaving the scene of a fatal collision.
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In the end, the jury only convicted Read of drunk driving — a crime for which she received a year of probation. Read’s first trial ended in a mistrial in 2024.
“Karen’s case reflects the complicated moment in time in which we live,” Yorn told THR. “We will have an opportunity to show layers that have never been brought to light, and we are committed to telling the story with urgency, nuance, and care.”
Read’s lawyers have long alleged she was framed in a law enforcement coverup, floating an alternate theory that O’Keefe was attacked and fatally injured after joining an afterparty inside 34 Fairview Road. They’ve suggested Read was the victim of a botched and biased investigation intended to protect the family and friends of the homeowner, another Boston police officer.
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“I’ve lived in this town with John. I saw what it takes for a small group of powerful people to be ‘above the law,’” Read told The Hollywood Reporter. “I struggled for over three years to overcome this power and corruption, eliciting help from tens of private investigators, multiple attorneys, and eventually — the federal government.”
Ultimately, she continued, it was “a groundswell of local residents and a grassroots campaign that afforded me the resources I needed to fight back.”
The upcoming LBI project joins docuseries and specials from Investigation Discovery, NBC’s “Dateline,” ABC’s “20/20,” and others. Netflix also has a three-part documentary on the case in the works, and Turtleboy blogger Aidan Kearney — among Read’s most vocal advocates — reportedly signed a deal with Compelling Pictures for a movie on the case.
Meanwhile, a literary agent is shopping publishing rights for a book project with participation from Read and Jackson, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The LBI screen adaptation promises exclusive access to Read and Jackson, looking “behind the prosecution, the defense’s counter-investigation and the cultural debate that surrounded the case,” according to THR. It was not immediately clear whether the LBI project will be for film or TV.
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