The Karen Read retrial is back on track after a day off due to the heat. The defense is on the clock and we will update this story throughout the day. Here’s the watch live:
Tag Archives: karen read
Murphy: Questions don’t answer evidence
Give Karen Read supporters this much —questions raised early on were worth asking.
Like, why would Jen McCabe be awake at 2 in the morning searching the internet for information about how long it takes for someone to die in the cold? (Turns out she searched at 6:24 am, after O’Keefe’s body was found, because Read asked her to).
How can a guy suffer a fatal head injury but no broken bones or injuries to his lower body after being hit by a car? (Not uncommon for sideswipe pedestrian collisions).
How can a human arm crack a taillight and suffer scratches? (Still a bit unsettled except we know the scratches were not from a dog because there was no dog DNA and the medical examiner said the injuries were topical abrasions with no depth).
Most importantly, why would the feds open an investigation of a pending state murder investigation? (Utterly perplexing even today though it did end with no finding of misconduct by anyone).
The first trial didn’t exactly answer all these questions, but it, along with the prosecution’s case thus far in the second trial, did provide a solid pile of forensic proof that Karen Read dropped John O’Keefe off in front of 34 Fairview Ave; he was found dead feet from where she dropped him off; taillight pieces from Read’s car were found on John’s clothing and strewn around the crime scene; and John’s DNA was found on Read’s car, near the taillight.
If that were the only evidence, it would be a lot. But there’s more, including computer data from Read’s car showing that right after she dropped O’Keefe off, she gunned her car backwards at 24 miles per hour, with the gas pedal at 75% force, before leaving the scene and driving back to O’Keefe’s house.
If this isn’t enough to for you, that’s fine. And if these facts don’t answer all the questions about whether evidence was planted, and whether cops behaved badly and acted overzealously because one of their own was killed, that’s fine, too. And if you think Read was overcharged, I can see the argument. It’s fair to assume that extra efforts would be used to prosecute an accused cop-killer.
What’s not fair is pointing the finger at innocent people in the name of due process. Nothing in the Constitution says that a criminal’s fair trial rights include the right to defame an innocent person by falsely claiming that they committed murder. That said, this isn’t the first time innocent people have been falsely accused because the law in this state is ridiculously generous to criminals – to a point where judges in other states roll their eyes when lawyers cite Massachusetts law as a guiding principle.
For example, defendants in this state are allowed to hire experts to lie and the defense can then whip the public into a frenzy by promoting the lies. It’s not that there’s a rule that says “the defense can lie” it’s that there are no meaningful sanctions when they do.
If the prosecution or one of their experts lies, a judge can suppress evidence and even dismiss charges as punishment (remember Annie Dookhan?). This threat of sanctions works very well as a deterrent, but it doesn’t apply to the defense.
No matter how unfair or even unethical the conduct of a defense attorney, a judge cannot suppress evidence or punish the defendant. The Supreme Judicial Court made this clear years ago in a case where a trial judge excluded evidence favorable to the defendant because the lawyers violated the rules of discovery.
The state’s highest court reversed that decision on the grounds that the rights of the accused are more important than the deterrence of defense misconduct. The judge in the Read case, Beverly Cannone, was obviously aware of this when she recently ruled that evidence helpful to Read would not be suppressed even though the defense violated the rules.
So Read will be able to use every piece of relevant evidence that could possibly help her case – but she has a big problem named Hank Brennan. He is a highly skilled defense attorney – serving as a prosecutor just for this case – and he knows all the tricks. Even worse for Read, she has made too many damning public statements that are devastating to her case and Brennan used all of them brilliantly.
The defense does have some helpful evidence, like disgusting texts sent by the state trooper in charge of her case to a group of his buddies. Read also has in her favor the fact that Brian Higgins, an ATF agent friend of O’Keefe’s, threw his phone away in a very suspicious manner after Read kissed him and they engaged in sexual banter with by phone.
But these sideshows do nothing to diminish the physical and forensic evidence.
The jury can’t help but see this case as a straightforward drunk driving hit-and-run homicide. So the real issue is whether jurors see a murderer in Karen Read.
Most people are uncomfortable thinking that an educated white woman from suburban Massachusetts could be a killer. But if the jurors in this case can get over that discomfort, Karen Read could soon be doing a mandatory 20 years for second degree murder. Even the lesser charge is mandatory five.
Either way Read will have a long time behind bars to contemplate whether the circus was worth it.
Howie Carr: Karen Read and the Norfolk County hackerama
It’s almost halftime in the second Karen Read murder trial, and right now I’d have to say Meatball Morrissey and the Norfolk County hackerama are behind on points.
That’s not to say that the despicable Quincy crew won’t eventually be able to lynch Read, or at least cheat their way to another “mistrial.”
Maybe, as in the first trial, Judge Bev Cannone will give the jurors voting slips without the option to vote “not guilty.”
When she was called on her kangaroo-court forms last year, she shrugged and said, “That’s the way we’ve always done it here.”
Just ask Sacco and Vanzetti. They were framed in the same courthouse in Dedham, in 1921, at least in part on the false testimony of a corrupt state trooper named Proctor.
History does indeed repeat itself, or tries to anyway.
If she can’t pass out the fake jury slips this time, perhaps the judge will again try to ignore any unanimous not-guilty verdicts, the way she did with two of the three counts the first jury returned against Karen last summer.
In school, children are taught that double jeopardy is unconstitutional in America.
But remember, kids, we’re not in America. We’re in Norfolk County.
In Norfolk County, in the halls of justice, the only justice is in the halls.
Still, the hacks’ grip on this rotten borough appears more tenuous than ever. They’ve lost control of the board of selectmen in Canton, the belly of the beast. Last year the Morrissey stooge lost by 200 votes, this year their 30-year incumbent was crushed by a 2-1 margin.
The Meatball Mob couldn’t oust a dissident county politician last year, even with a well-financed Quincy hack who’s thisclose to Meatball Morrissey. In fact, that’s probably why the hack (a landscaper by trade) lost 72-28, after his connections to the odious Quincy mob were exposed.
As you know, in the hackerama, Memorial Day is Memorial Week. Which is why the Read trial recessed at mid-afternoon Wednesday, until next Tuesday. But there was another reason why the pot-bellied courthouse stooges took an early slide Wednesday.
Over in Norwood, the Norfolk County Bar Association was holding its annual bender, er, dinner.
And the Person of the Year was Judge Beverly Cannone. Of course she was!
But wait, it gets better. Every phony-baloney banquet needs a Keynote Speaker. For their annual toot, the Bar Association selected the new $174,532-a-year county clerk of courts, Walter F. Timilty, who has succeeded his father, Walter F. Timilty.
Would you care to guess how many times the Keynote Speaker failed the bar exam?
The over-under is five, and if you took the under, you lose.
The Keynote Speaker for the Norfolk County Bar Association dinner, who is also the county’s clerk of courts, has failed the bar exam six times — once each in 1995, 1997, 2000 and 2001, and twice in 1996.
By the way, on his birth certificate his name was listed as Walter F. Timilty III. His father was Walter Timilty Jr., until Walter III needed his own hack job, in the legislature. So on the ballot, Jr. became Sr., and III became Jr.
Shouldn’t running for office under false names be against the law? Oh, I forgot, it’s Norfolk County.
(By the way, now that he’s retired, Daddy Timilty’s pension is $106,146 a year, not to mention the $16,664.97 he pocketed as “leave buy back” when he handed the hack job to his dim-bulb son.)
It’s a very prestigious body, the Norfolk County Bar Association. The secretary is one Michael Barbadoro. Would you care to guess if Barbadoro works in the Dreaded Private Sector, or in the Norfolk County hackerama?
You are correct. He’s “first assistant register” of probate in Norfolk County. Two diminutives in his job title — he’s a hack for sure.
Perhaps this political incestuousness is why the hackerama is struggling so to frame Karen Read. It’s one thing to be stupid, which they all are, but they’re also inbred.
I mean, why would anyone capable of earning an honest living want to associate with the dismal low-IQ likes of Meatball, Auntie Bev, Walter Timilty or the first assistant?
Those who can, do. Those who can’t, get hack jobs with Norfolk County.
Some become judges, others cut grass at Presidents Golf Course. The pay varies, but every last one of them is a hack job, and there’s only one qualification. You must know somebody, preferably somebody named Meatball.
The talent pool in Norfolk County has gotten so shallow that Morrissey has had to hire three “special prosecutors” to try to railroad Karen Read and her supporter Aidan “Turtleboy” Kearney.
One of Turtleboy’s persecutors is Robert “Triple Dip” Cosgrove, who is 73 years old and has never once raised his snout from the public trough. Currently he’s pocketing a $64,264-a-year pension from Meatball’s DA office, as well as a $139,301-a-year pension as a retired judge, and we all know what an ethical bunch Massachusetts judges are.
Just ask Bev Cannone.
And now on top of his $204,000 in state pensions, Triple Dip Cosgrove collects a third check for trying to throw Turtleboy in prison. His crime? He exercised his First Amendment rights to make a face in the window of a business owned by an ex-con selectman in Canton who was represented in his hit-and-run manslaughter case by Judge Bev’s brother.
You see what I mean about the political inbreeding in Norfolk County?
And I haven’t even mentioned Hank Brennan, another of Meatball Morrissey’s special prosecutors, currently handling the Karen Read frame up.
He was the lawyer for Whitey Bulger, Norfolk County’s preeminent gangster and serial killer for many years (after moving from Southie to Quincy). In those days, Meatball was a state senator and Whitey’s brother Billy was the president of the Senate, known as “the Corrupt Midget.”
The Corrupt Midget would tell Morrissey, “Jump!” and Meatball would answer, “How high?”
(Bulger’s pension, for the record, is now $274,149 a year. He’s been collecting since 2003.)
Nothing ever really changes in Norfolk County, except the COLA increases in all their hack pensions. But if Karen Read is found not guilty, it will be the end of an era, or should I say error?
It’s the hackerama.
Follow the Karen Read trial on Howie’s radio show, 2-6 on WRKO AM 680.
Karen Read murder retrial: Complete trial 2.0 coverage
Mansfield’s Karen Read is on her second trial for the murder of her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe, on Jan. 29, 2022. Here’s an index to all of the Herald’s coverage.
It is the second time Read is on trial. She was tried a year ago on the same charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating a motor vehicle under the influence, and leaving the scene of a collision causing death, but that ended in mistrial on July 1, 2024.
Get up to speed with our guides to what to know and who to know in this trial. Read coverage of the last trial at its own daily coverage index.
The new trial began on April 22 following three weeks of jury selection, which began April 1.
Follow complete daily coverage in the index below.
Witnesses are listed only in order of first appearance. If they are recalled later that is not noted unless continued testimony is the only testimony. The daily notes also make note of other events, like questioning of witnesses outside of the jury’s presence or the jury’s trip to 34 Fairview Road.
Jump to…
Daily testimony
Called on Day 1, April 22:
1. Timothy Nuttall, Canton Fire Department paramedic
2. Kerry Roberts, Canton, Mass.
Called on Day 2, April 23:
3. Peggy O’Keefe, Canton, Mass.
4. Trooper Nicholas Guarino, Massachusetts State Police
5. Daniel Whitley, Canton Fire Department paramedic
Called on Day 3, April 24:
6. Jean DeMulis, general manager, C.F. McCarthy’s
7. Brigid Meehan, owner and manager, Waterfall Bar & Grille
8. Michael Camerano, Canton, Mass.
Called on Day 4, April 25:
Event: Viewing of 34 Fairview Road and Read’s Lexus LX570 SUV
9. Dr. Garrey Faller, former chief pathologist at Good Samaritan Medical Center
10. Jason Becker, Canton Fire paramedic
Called on Day 5, April 28:
11. Ian Whiffin, digital forensics analyst, Cellebrite
Event: ARCCA witnesses questioned out of jury’s presence
Called on Day 6, April 29:
12. Jennifer McCabe, Canton, Mass.
Called on Day 7, April 30:
McCabe continuing testimony
Called on Day 8, May 2:
13. Hannah Knowles, MSP crime lab
Called on Day 9, May 5:
14. Ryan Nagel, Canton, Mass.
15. Heather Maxon, Plainville, Mass.
16. Sara Levinson, Canton, Mass.
17. Katie McLaughlin, Canton Fire paramedic
18. Lt. Paul Gallagher, Canton Police Department, ret.
Called on Day 10, May 6:
19. Robert Gilman, meteorologist
20. Lt. Charles Rae, Canton PD
21. Lt. Kevin O’Hara, Special Emergency Response Team (SERT) commander, MSP
Called on Day 11, May 7:
22. Trooper Connor Keefe, MSP
23. Jessica Hyde, digital forensics expert
Called on Day 12, May 8:
24. Sgt. Yuriy Bukhenik, MSP
Called on Day 13, May 9:
Bukhenik continuing testimony, full reading of Read and Brian Higgins text messages
Called on Day 14, May 12:
Bukhenik continuing testimony
Unexpected break day, May 13
Called on Day 15, May 14:
25. John O’Keefe’s niece. Minor witnesses are not to be named per court order.
26. Sgt. Zachary Clark, MSP
27. Sgt. Even Brent, MSP
28. Maureen Hartnett, MSP crime lab
Called on Day 16, May 15:
29. Dr. Irini Scordi-Bello, forensic pathologist, Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Massachusetts
Called on Day 17, May 16:
30. Andre Porto, MSP crime lab
31. Ash Vallier, MSP crime lab
Called on Day 18, May 19:
32. Nick Bradford, DNA analyst at BODE Technology, Virginia
33. Karl Miyasako, DNA analyst at BODE Technology, Virginia
34. Shanon Burgess, digital forensics examiner, Aperture, Dallas office
Called on Day 19, May 20:
35. Christina Hanley, MSP crime lab
Called on Day 20, May 21:
36. Dr. Aizik Wolf, neurosurgeon, director of the Miami Neuroscience Center at Larkin Community Hospital, Miami
This list will update as the trial continues.
Prosecution’s witness list
This is the Commonwealth’s updated witness list filed on March 19. It includes Read’s attorneys at the end with an accompanying note preserved here.
CIVILIAN WITNESSES
1. Albert, Brian
2. Albert, Brian Jr.
3. Albert, Caitlin
4. Albert, Chris
5. Albert, Colin
6. Albert, Julie
7. Albert, Nicole
8. Bernstein, Steven (Keeper of Record)
9. Boudreau, Kaitlin
10. Camerano, Michael
11. Camerano, Katie
12. D’Antuono, Richard
13. DeMulis, Jean (Keeper of Record)
14. Higgins, Brian
15. Jutras, Louis
16. Juvenile K.F.
17. Juvenile P.F.
18. Kearney, Aidan
19. Levinson, Sara
20. Maxon, Heather
21. McCabe, Jennifer
22. McCabe, Matthew
23. Meehan, Brigid (Keeper of Record)
24. Nagel, Julie
25. Nagel, Ryan
26. O’Keefe, Erin
27. O’Keefe, Margaret
28. O’Keefe, Paul
29. Read, Nathan
30. Read, William
31. Roberts, Curt
32. Roberts, Kerry
33. Scanlon, Steven
34. Sullivan, Laura
35. Sullivan, Marietta
36. Trayers, Rebecca
37. Trotta, Michael
38. Voss, Gretchen
39. Wiweke-Bershneider, Natalie
CANTON FIRE DEPARTMENT
40. Becker, Jason
41. Flematti, Anthony
42. Kelly, Matthew
43. McLaughlin, Katie
44. Nuttall, Timothy
45. Walsh, Francis
46. Whitley, Daniel
47. Woodbury, Gregory
LAW ENFORCEMENT WITNESSES
Canton Police Department
48. DiGiampietro, Paul – Sergeant (Ret.)
49. Gallagher, Paul — Lieutenant (Ret.)
50. Goode, Sean — Sergeant
51. Lank, Michael — Lieutenant
52. Mullaney, Stephen
53. Rafferty, Helena — Chief
54. Ray, Charles — Lieutenant
55. Saraf, Steven
56. Wanless, Brian (Ret.)
Needham Police Department
57. Gallerani, Brian – Sergeant
Massachusetts State Police
58. Brent, Evan
59. Bukhenik, Yuriy — Sergeant
60. Clark, Zachary — Sergeant
61. Guarino, Nicholas
62. O’Hara, Kevin
63. Paul, Joseph
64. Proctor, Michael
65. Tully, Brian — Lieutenant
FORENSIC LABORATORY WITNESSES
BODE
66. Bradford, Nicholas
67. Chart, Tess
U.C. Davis – Veterinary Genetic Laboratory
68. Kun, Teri
Massachusetts State Police Crime Laboratory
69. Hanley, Christina
70. Hartnett, Maureen
71. Hryzan, Sophie
72. Knowles, Hannah
73. Porto, Andre
74. Vaillier, Ashley
EXPERT WITNESSES
75. Burgess, Shanon, Aperture, LLC
76. Crawford, Coleen, Norfolk District Attorney’s Office
77. Crosby, James W, MS. Ph.D, Canine Aggression Consulting, LLC.
78. Gilman, Robert, New England Weather Science
79. Hyde, Jessica, Hexordia LLC.
80. Faller, Garrey, MD., Good Samaritan Hospital
81. Klane, Andrew, Aperture, LLC.
82. Merolli, Mike, Aperture, LLC.
83. Rice, Justin, M.D., South Shore Hospital
84. Scordi-Bello, Irini, M.D., Office of Chief Medical Examiner
85. Stonebridge, Renee, M.D, Office of Chief Medical Examiner
86. Welcher, Judson, Ph.D, Aperture LLC.
87. Whiffin, Ian, Cellebrite
88. Wolf, Aizik L., M.D., Miami Neuroscience Center
COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANT*
89. Jackson, Alan
90. Little, Elizabeth
91. Yannetti, David
*The Commonwealth notices that it may be necessary to call defense counsels to authenticate the defendant’s numerous public statements.
Defense’s list
This the defense’s list filed on March 18. It notes that “Ms. Read also reserves the right to call any of the witnesses included on the Commonwealth’s witness list or any witnesses necessary for rebuttal.”
1. Brian Albert
2. Caitlin Albert
3. Christopher Albert
4. Colin Albert
5. Julie Albert
6. Kevin Albert
7. Nicole Albert
8. Michael Wagner
9. Sheryl Waugh
10. Paul Mackowski
11. Leslie Bernstein
12. Rebecca Baizen
13. Officer Nicholas Barros
14. Trooper Evan Brent
15. Sgt. Yuri Bukhenik
16. Laurie Cahill
17. Trooper Zachary Clark
18. Christopher Curran
19. Kerri Curran
20. Nicholas Curran
21. Richard D’Antuono
22. Officer Kelly Dever
23. Stephanie Devlin
24. Trooper David Dicicco
25. Patrick Haggerty
26, Maureen Hartnett
27. Brian Albert, Jr.
28. Brian Higgins
29. Louis Jutrus
30. Trooper Connor Keefe
31. Matthew Kelly
32. Karina Kolokithas
33. Nicholas Kolokithas
34. Teri Kun
35. Sergeant Michael Lank
36. Brian Loughran
37. Heather Maxon
38. Allison McCabe
39. Jennifer McCabe
40. Matthew McCabe
41. Lance Mello
42. Ryan Nagel
43. Steve Nelson
44. Andre Porto
45. Hollie Price
46. Trooper Kathleen Prince
47. Elizabeth Proctor
48. Trooper. Michael Proctor
49. Kerry Roberts
50. Wendell Robery
51. Steven Ridge
52. Heriberto Hernandez
53. Marc Lopilato
54. Alfredo Lopilato
55. Angela Malvone
56. Lt. Brian Tully
57. Courtney Proctor
58. Tristan Morris
59. Jean DeMulis
60. Mary Souza
61. Ashley Bell
62. Mike Rushworth
63. Matthew Amory
64. Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey
65. Thomas Beatty
66. Erin Beatty
67. Meghan Mariani
68. Thomas Martin
69. John O’Keefe, Sr.
70. Lt. John Fanning
71. Matthew Kelsch
72. Thomas Keleher
73. Annie Cheung
74. Helena Rafferty
75. Irini Scordi-Bello
76. Trooper Jeffrey Kostkowski
77. Trooper Joseph Paul
78. Sgt. Paul J DiGiampietro
79. Sgt. Paul Gallagher
80. Chris Van Ee, PhD.
81. Richard Green
82. Daniel Wolfe, Ph.D.
83. Andrew Rentschler, PhD.
84. Maggie Gaffney
85. Derek Ellington
86. Michael Easter
87. Matthew Erickson
88. Matthew DiSogra, MS, PE
89. Elizabeth Laposata, MD, FCAP, FASCP
90. Dr. Marie Russell, MD, CCHP-P
91. Garrett Wing
Howie Carr: High degree of idiocy in Karen Read prosecution
Meet Shanon Burgess, who although he’s claimed on multiple occasions to have a bachelor’s degree, doesn’t have anything close to a BS, although he’s currently full of it. BS, that is.