“Karen is free!” supporters cheered outside a Massachusetts court as Karen Read walked free on Wednesday, June 18.
After about two years, two trials, and countless courtroom twists, Karen was found not guilty in the violent end of her Boston police officer boyfriend John O'Keefe.
Her vocal supporters expressed relief after the verdict and claimed, “The police were 100% trying to set her up.”
Highlights
- Karen Read was found not guilty of all major charges against her in connection with her boyfriend John O’Keefe's passing.
- The jury only found her guilty on a lesser charge of operating under the influence (OUI).
- In her first words after the verdict, Karen said “no one has fought harder for justice for John” than she has.
- Over 1,000 people were outside the Dedham courthouse to celebrate the verdict.
Critics, on the other hand, said, “She thinks she's some big celebrity.”
Karen Read was found not guilty of all major charges after a sensational second trial
Image credits: ABC News
The 44-year-old woman was at the center of one of Massachusetts’ most gripping true crime sagas.
The twist of events began during a party at the Canton home of then-Boston police officer Brian Albert in January 2022.
After a night of heavy drinking, John’s lifeless body was discovered facedown in the snow outside the house in the early hours of January 29, 2022.
Image credits: Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald
The case led to Karen being charged for John’s homicide and manslaughter while operating under the influence of alcohol.
After her second high-profile trial, she was found not guilty on both accounts of homicide and manslaughter while operating under the influence.
John was discovered facedown outside a fellow officer’s house with black eyes and deep wounds in January 2022
Image credits: ABC News
The jury only found her guilty on a lesser charge of operating under the influence (OUI), which means she will not serve any jail time.
The judge sentenced her to one year's probation for her first-time offense.
More than 1,000 people were outside the Dedham courthouse as confetti flew when her long-awaited verdict was read.
Image credits: Investigation Discovery
“I just want to say two things. Number one is I could not be standing here without these amazing supporters who have supported me and my team financially, and more importantly emotionally for almost four years,” Karen said in her first words after being acquitted for her boyfriend’s untimely passing.
“The second thing I want to say is no one has fought harder for justice for John O'Keefe than I have, than I have and my team. Thank you,” she added.
In her first words after the verdict, Karen said “no one has fought harder for justice for John” than she has
Image credits: Danielle Parhizkaran/The Boston Globe
Meanwhile, John’s friends, including Jennifer McCabe and Kerry Roberts, who were key witnesses in the homicide trial against her, slammed the verdict and called it a “miscarriage of justice.”
“Today, our hearts are with John and the entire O’Keefe family. They have suffered through so much and deserved better from our justice system,” they said in a statement.
Image credits: Law&Crime Network
On the ill-fated morning of January 29, 2022, John was found with two black eyes, deep cuts on his arm and head, and no signs of life.
Prosecutors claimed that an intoxicated Karen had dropped him outside the fellow officer’s house hours before his body was found.
They claimed she backed into him with her Lexus SUV and then drove off, abandoning him with his injuries in the brutal winter storm.
But from the start, Karen insisted she was innocent.
Karen’s defense attorneys maintained that John was allegedly having a long-running argument with someone else at the party and sustained severe injuries when things got tense.
The defense undermined the police investigation and alleged a cover-up
Image credits: FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul
It is believed John went out with friends to two bars in Canton the night before his passing. The meet-up began ahead of a historic snowstorm that hit the state.
When the party moved to Brian’s house, Karen dropped him and left.
Witnesses who testified for the prosecution claimed John never came inside.
Image credits: FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul
Karen and two other women returned to the scene in the morning and found her boyfriend of about two years lying in the snow.
“I hit him, I hit him, I hit him,” she allegedly claimed when a paramedic responded, according to testimonies given by witnesses for the prosecution.
John's friends slammed the much-awaited verdict as a “miscarriage of justice”
Image credits: Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald
On the other hand, Karen’s defense team denied a collision ever having taken place. They said experts pointed out that the damage to her vehicle did not match John’s injuries.
They also claimed the injuries that John sustained appeared to have been caused by a dog.
Image credits: CBS News
The defense built their case on undermining the police investigation, and they presented text messages sent by a since-fired Massachusetts State Police trooper, Michael Proctor, who led the original investigation into John’s homicide.
Michael allegedly sent misogynistic and offensive text messages to people about Karen, which her attorneys said indicated his prejudice.
The defense also argued that Karen had no connection to her boyfriend’s passing and wound up being a scapegoat for cops conspiring against her.
Over 1,000 people were outside the Dedham courthouse to celebrate the verdict
Image credits: Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald
Karen’s first trial was declared a mistrial after jurors failed to reach a unanimous verdict.
The second trial on Wednesday found her not guilty of homicide.
Image credits: Investigation Discovery
Supporters expressed joy online over the verdict, while naysayers were still skeptical.
“Stop it she got away with it?” one quipped, while another wrote, “The cops tried to cover it up and pin it on her wtf you talking about.”
“So that means the officers may have actually killed their fellow officer to cover something else up,” one commented.
“Another Casey Anthony situation,” read one comment online
Image credits: ABC News
Another wrote, “Nobody fought harder than me for justice for John, what a joke says the former defendant.”
One said this was “another Casey Anthony situation,” referencing the acquittal of mother Casey Anthony in the disappearance and 2008 passing of her daughter Caylee Anthony.
Critics called the verdict “disgusting” and said, “Oh she’s guilty… she just got lucky”
