THE explosive Karen Read murder trial has torn a small town apart – and left its residents fearing for the future.

Since the discovery of Boston police officer John O’Keefe’s body in the snow outside a party in January 2022, conspiracy theories and intense outrage have flooded Canton, Massachusetts.

The first trial held last year failed to resolve whether Read was responsible for O’Keefe’s death by allegedly reversing her SUV into him and abandoning him in the snow.

Read is undergoing another trial, which began in April. Experts worry this retrial may also conclude with a deadlocked jury, leaving the unsettling truth still unknown.

Some locals allege a cop cover up is central to the case, especially with the court performances of high ranking officials severely coming under scrutiny.

Others, however, are full behind the family of O’Keefe, who accuse Read of a malicious attack after a night of drinking on the 46-year-old whom she had been dating for two years.

For local resident Rita Lombardi – who completely backs Read’s dramatic push for justice – the torrid saga which has sparked national headlines has also threatened to obliterate relationships and her own health.

During the first trial she was outside the courtroom for days on end, rallying supporters desperate to uncover the truth. A Facebook group boasted over 20,000 members.

The support was so strong and fervent, she ended up ordering special pom poms from Amazon.

Her dedication to Read’s cause, however, had implications.

People who she claims “wanted to silence me” threw balloons full of bleach onto her and two other supporters” lawn.

It destroyed the grass, yet the 65-year-old’s resolve remained intact.

“It’s taken an enormous toll on me,” she told The U.S. Sun, “the suffering has been excruciating, but I won’t be silenced.”

Rita, who say she had to take five months off work after the first trial because of the “impact” it had on her, points to a tight-knit community with the main players all interlinked.

That in turn, she claims, has seen some family ties severed beyond repair. There have also been threatening letters from elsewhere.

Relatives have lived in Canton for centuries. Her great-grandmother came to the town, which is around 18 miles from Boston, in 1907 and her father grew up there.

She says she has strong links with the “other side” – some of her family were in the fire department – and used to have the “upmost” respect for Canton Police.

But when news of O’Keefe’s killing sent shockwaves through the town, Rita said she was “totally floored.”

“I’ve been in grief for months,” she admitted. “I lost a niece and a nephew – 23 and 26 years-old – 100 days apart in 2018. And then I lost more by speaking out about this.”

Despite the issues which have fractured relationships dear to her heart, Rita continues to be a “strong and effective” voice for Read who has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and manslaughter.

Her defense argues she is the victim of a police conspiracy and that O’Keefe was killed by someone else at a party at the house of Brian Albert, a retired Boston cop and lifelong Canton resident.

“An innocent woman has been railroaded” Rita added. “The town knew the power the police wield.”

COURT CASE HEATING UP

The case has seen extensive debates over forensic evidence, with the defense challenging the reliability of the prosecution’s claims.  

Apple health data from O’Keefe’s phone and watch, which recorded a 36-step count around the time of his death, were forensically examined recently.

Read’s case for the defense began this week when her team called their first witness to the stand on Friday, stressing the car crash which is central to the prosecution’s case never took place and the former finance professor was framed.

She told reporters that unlike the first trial, there will be more witnesses and her attorney’s would take at least a week to go through a “broader and deeper” testimony.

It’s still unclear if Read will take to the stand herself.

Although her supporters on the streets outside the small Norfolk County Superior Courthouse haven’t been at the same levels as before, she retains a groundswell of local support.

A recent petition to scrub a buffer zone in the vicinity was green lit by a U.S. District Court judge amid fears of swathes of pom pom waving supporters polluting the views of jurors.

Judge Myong J. Joun said the public has the right of access to the area surrounding the courthouse, but anyone in the streets must protest in the correct manner.

“The Buffer Zone Orders may be enforced only against those individuals who engage in activities that are intended to interfere with the administration of justice or are intended to influence trial participants in the discharge of their duties within the buffer zone,” Joun wrote.

There was a small crowd wishing Read well at the end of proceedings on Friday and now the restrictions have been lifted, it’s believed more people will come to show their support.

“I get messages all the time asking me to go back outside the courthouse every day,” Rita continues, “but it took a lot out of me. I still support justice though – for John O’Keefe, his family, Karen Read, and our country. I believe in her innocence 100%.”

There have been other changes surrounding a case which has local new channels and bloggers producing nightly discussion shows and podcasts which are building up to an emotional, explosive climax.

The high-stakes retrial has a new face leading the prosecution: Hank Brennan, the mob lawyer who once defended notorious gangster James “Whitey” Bulger.

Brennan was handpicked by Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey to take over the case from Adam Lally, who led the original trial but has now been sidelined. 

Morrissey praised Brennan as a “highly respected” legal heavyweight with deep experience in law enforcement cases.

Lally is still on the prosecution team, but he’s taken a backseat this time.

Read, who didn’t testify in her first trial, has been vocal in the media speaking out in TV interviews to waiting reporters outside court, conducting an interview with Vanity Fair, and even taking part in a true-crime docuseries.

In court, Brennan played a bombshell clip from Read’s October 2024 Dateline interview, where she seemed to admit she might’ve hit O’Keefe, with her car.

“I didn’t think I hit him,” Read said in the video.

“But could I have clipped him… knocked him out… and in drunkenness and in the cold, he didn’t come to again?”

TWISTS AND TURNS

Meanwhile, another big twist is that State Trooper Michael Proctor, the lead investigator, is no longer in uniform.

Proctor drew swathes of criticism during the first trial after he admitted under oath to sending vile, sexist texts about Read, calling her a “whack job c**t” and joking about not finding nude photos on her phone.

He apologized, but the damage was done. His credibility shredded.

Proctor was pulled off duty the same day the mistrial was declared last July.

He was officially fired in March for breaking multiple department rules, including sending those crude messages.

He hasn’t appeared in the ongoing second trial which has just finished its fifth week.

Rita and Read’s fervent fans, however, are desperate for the wheels of justice to turn effectively and with purpose.

“People say the town is divided. It wasn’t about guilt or innocence—it was about speaking out or not,” Rita concluded.

“Our voices matter and that’s the beautiful thing. We are all connected — like a tree with roots that spread everywhere. That’s us.”