Karen Read set to stand trial again in January in boyfriend’s death

A new trial date has been set for January after a mistrial was declared this summer in the case of Karen Read, the Massachusetts woman accused in the 2022 death of John O’Keefe, her police officer boyfriend.

Read appeared in court Monday, and a new jury trial was scheduled for Jan. 27. It was her first appearance since a judge declared a mistrial this month after jurors said they could not reach a verdict in the murder trial.

The judge’s ruling came on the fifth day of deliberations and after a nine-week trial in a courthouse outside Boston.

Prosecutors had argued that Read, 44, a financial analyst, and O’Keefe had a rocky relationship that culminated with her backing her Lexus SUV into her boyfriend and leaving him for dead in the snow Jan. 29, 2022, in a Boston suburb.

Read’s lawyers argued that O’Keefe’s death was a cover-up carried out by law enforcement officers. 

After the mistrial was declared, Read’s defense team said prosecutors had relied on compromised investigators and a compromised investigation.

“We will not stop fighting,” attorney Alan Jackson said.

In addition to second-degree murder, Read was also charged with motor vehicle manslaughter while driving under the influence and leaving the scene of a collision causing death.

Her lawyers have asked the judge to dismiss two of the charges, second-degree murder and leaving the scene of a deadly accident, saying in court filings that jurors unanimously agreed to acquit Read on those charges.

Prosecutors have opposed the defense’s request, describing it as “legally inappropriate” and premised on conjecture and hearsay. The judge has not weighed in.

In addition to a tentative trial start date, Norfolk Superior Court Judge Beverly Cannone also scheduled a hearing on a motion to dismiss for Aug. 9 and a trial conference for Jan. 14.

O’Keefe, 46, a Boston police officer for 16 years, was found unresponsive and later pronounced dead. The medical examiner found the cause of death to be blunt force trauma to the head and hypothermia.

Read has said she dropped O’Keefe off at the gathering and did not see him until the next morning, when she found his body on the lawn of a fellow law enforcement officer.

Read’s lawyers alleged that she was framed by officers who sought to conceal a beating that they said O’Keefe sustained during the party at the home where his body was found.

The defense alleged that the lead investigator in the case, Massachusetts state Trooper Michael Proctor, manipulated evidence, failed to properly investigate O’Keefe’s death, sent a series of slurs and vulgar messages about Read to friends, family and supervisors and ran a biased investigation.

Proctor was suspended without pay this month.

He testified that he made derogatory comments about Read in texts but denied that the texts affected his ability to be impartial.