The latest on the Karen Read murder case
Sign up for our Extra newsletter to get updates from the retrial and other breaking news alerts delivered to your inbox.
Rachael Rollins, U.S. attorney when federal probe began, praises Turtleboy’s reporting after Karen Read verdict
“His relentless reporting ... cracked this case wide open,” the former federal prosecutor said of Aidan Kearney.
Turtleboy blogger Aidan Kearney, the polarizing local media figure who shot to national prominence covering Karen Read’s murder case, has received a surprising endorsement from an unlikely ally.
“Without [Turtle]boy, does anyone know or care about the [Karen Read] trial?” former U.S. Attorney and Suffolk District Attorney Rachael Rollins wrote on social media shortly after Read was acquitted of murder and manslaughter charges last week.
“His relentless reporting – in the face of repeatedly being told by law enforcement that he was wrong & there was ‘nothing to see here’ – cracked this case wide open,” added Rollins, once a frequent target of Kearney’s coverage herself.
More on Karen Read:
Adding to the intrigue, Rollins led the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts when federal prosecutors first began investigating the state’s handling of Read’s case. Read, 45, was accused of drunkenly backing her SUV into her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe, while dropping him off at a house party in Canton on Jan. 29, 2022. Her lawyers argued she was framed in a law enforcement conspiracy to protect the family and friends of the homeowner, a fellow Boston officer.
Advertisement:
The secretive federal probe officially ended earlier this year following several evidentiary bombshells, though no charges or arrests.
Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey, who oversaw Read’s prosecution, unsuccessfully tried to have the federal investigation transferred to another office in May 2023. He claimed in part that Rollins “has made no secret of her personal animosity toward me, including repeated crude, outlandish personal and professional attacks against me in the media during her time as Suffolk District Attorney.”
That the U.S. Attorney’s Office chose to proceed with its investigation while the state-level case was pending appeared to be “a highly unusual and possibly abusive exercise of power,” Morrissey added.
Advertisement:
He further pointed to federal watchdog reports that found Rollins had abused the power of her office while serving as Massachusetts’ top federal prosecutor. Rollins resigned in the spring of 2023 amid fallout from the ethics probe and later landed a new job at Roxbury Community College.
Writing on X last week, she noted Kearney’s efforts to “crack” open Read’s case “should not be lost in all of the reporting.”
The de facto face of the “Free Karen Read” movement, Kearney’s prolific coverage helped turn Read’s case into a media maelstrom. No stranger to controversy and confrontation, Kearney is also facing several witness intimidation charges in connection with his reporting on the case.
In his own brief reply to Rollins, Kearney acknowledged he hasn’t always seen eye-to-eye with the former prosecutor.
“I have criticized her extensively over the years (to the point where she blocked me and I can’t retweet this), but at least she has the dignity to put aside our differences and say this,” he added.
Kearney also joked he “didn’t have [praise from Rollins] on my bingo card.”
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com