Case File: Officer John O’Keefe
Boston police officer John O’Keefe, aged 46, and his girlfriend, Karen Read, then aged 41-42, went out on the night of January 28, 2022, for a night of bar hopping. They made their way to the Waterfall Bar in Canton, Mass. around 11:00 pm, their second bar of the night. After about a hour, they were allegedly invited to an ‘after party’ at the home Brian Albert, another police officer said to be an acquaintance of John’s.
All appear to agree that Karen and John did arrive at Brian Albert’s house, although Karen never went inside. Whether John went inside is in dispute. Karen later told police she dropped John off after midnight and went home to John’s house because she was having stomach issues.
She awoke around 4:30 am and discovered John was not home. Her calls and text messages remained unanswered.
One of the friends claimed Karen called her at 5:00 am and said, “John’s dead, I wonder if he’s dead. It’s snowing. He got hit by a plow.”
Karen left John’s residence and returned to the home at which she had dropped him off the night prior and found John O’Keefe lying in the snow. She lay on him for warmth and began CPR while one of the women accompanying her, Jennifer McCabe, called 911 at 6:04 AM.
No one can agree on what exactly happened other than Officer John O’Keefe is dead, and he was left out in the cold to freeze to death. He was taken to Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton, MA and pronounced dead a short time later. His core body temperature is said to have been 80° F.
Karen Read is the only person charged in connection with his death. Opening statements commenced on 29 April 2024 in the Norfolk County Superior Courthouse in Dedham, MA.
A mistrial has been declared in her trial.
Criminal Charges
On February 1 2022 Karen Read was charged with the following:
- Manslaughter
- Leaving the scene of a motor vehicle collision causing death
- Motor vehicle homicide
On Jun 6 2022, the manslaughter charge was upgraded to 2nd degree murder.
Trial Coverage
