Karen Read’s defense team introduced an unexpected police witness who testified on Tuesday that the damage to Read’s taillight was less significant at the time he assisted in seizing the vehicle compared to the photographs taken after the Canton Police Department had it towed.
Prior to this officer’s testimony, Read’s defense called Brian “Lucky” Loughran, a plow driver and Department of Public Works employee, to testify.
Loughran reported that he drove by 34 Fairview Road, the residence of Brian Albert in Canton—where John O’Keefe was discovered deceased in the snow on January 29, 2022—multiple times between approximately 2:40 a.m. and 6 a.m.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, prosecutors alleged that Read hit her Boston police officer boyfriend, O’Keefe, outside the home of fellow officer, Albert, and then drove away, leaving him to die in a blizzard.
Read’s defense attorneys argued that police framed her for O’Keefe’s murder. They claimed officers at the home on the night in question beat him, let a dog attack him, and left his body outside in the cold. They also alleged that Massachusetts State Trooper Michael Proctor, the lead investigator, covered up the crime
According to FOX News Digital, the defense later called Dighton Police Sgt. Nicholas Barros to the stand, who testified about the taillight damage on Read’s Lexus SUV. He said that that fragments were not discovered at the crime scene until after the vehicle had been in police custody. The defense suggested that the fragments could have been planted.
Barros testified that when he arrived at Read’s parents’ house to assist state police in seizing her vehicle, he noticed fewer pieces missing from the cracked taillight.
He noted that a photo of Read’s SUV taken at the Canton Police Department’s sallyport did “absolutely not” show the taillight in the same condition as when he saw it in the driveway.
Barros, who surprised the courtroom by testifying for the prosecution during Read’s first trial, appeared this time as a defense witness.
Read’s initial trial ended with a hung jury.
State police crime lab analyst Christina Hanley also testified. She claimed that investigators discovered plastic fragments on O’Keefe’s clothes that matched the broken taillight or were made from the same material.
On Wednesday, O’Keefe’s friend, Karina Kolokithas, took the stand and said she found it odd when key witness, Brian Albert’s sister-in-law, Jennifer McCabe, pulled Read aside on the night in question, while they were at the Waterfall Bar and Grille in Canton.
“Jen went over to Karen, kind of put her arm around her, and she’s like, ‘Karen, you’re coming with me. You’re coming with me,’” Kolokithas said. “And Karen’s like, ‘What?…Where are we going?’”
“It just was strange. It was just like, ‘You’re coming with me.’”
The three women left the bar with Read hugging McCabe goodbye. Read then got into her own SUV with O’Keefe instead of leaving with McCabe, according to testimony.
If convicted of second-degree murder, Read could face life in prison. She has pleaded not guilty.
Judge Cannone canceled court for Thursday. It will resume at 9 a.m. EST on Friday.
[Feature Photo: Karen Read/LinkedIn and John O’Keefe/Boston Police Department]
