During her Massachusetts murder retrial on Tuesday, Karen Read was seen with a sinister grin as jurors were presented with disturbing photographs of her boyfriend’s lifeless, battered body.
Read’s smile appeared disturbingly broad as the jury viewed the graphic images of John O’Keefe’s bruised and bloodied corpse. A forensic expert testified that the blunt force trauma responsible for the Boston cop’s death was not consistent with being hit by the back of her SUV.
Elizabeth Laposata, a forensic pathologist testifying for Read’s defense, stated that O’Keefe’s injuries did not indicate any car impact and disputed the medical examiner’s conclusion that hypothermia contributed to the 46-year-old’s death.
“The body did not have any hypothermia,” Loposata testified, noting additional marks on his arm were likely caused by an animal bite or claw before his death.
Daniel Wolfe, an accident reconstructionist who previously testified for the prosecution in Read’s first trial, took the stand in her defense arguing the broken glass from her cars taillight wasn’t caused from hitting a person.
Read, 45, is accused of deliberately backing her Lexus SUV into O’Keefe before he died on a drunken night of arguing and partying in January 2022.
His bloodied body was found in the snow outside a friend’s house in Canton the morning after Read drove him there to party with some of his cop buddies during a blizzard.
The couple reportedly had a rocky relationship before the fateful night.
Read’s first trial ended in a mistrial last summer after jurors couldn’t reach an agreement over her second-degree murder and manslaughter charges.
Her defense argued O’Keefe was beaten by his cop friends and dumped in the snow where he was found — and that his pals tried to frame Read, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges levied against her.
They also claimed her late officer beau was attacked by his friend’s dog before he died.
Tuesday’s latest round of testimony comes as the eight-week trial nears its final stretch.
With Post wires.
