Karen Read Murder Trial Kicks Off With Defense Asserting Third-Party Culprit Theory

The second-degree murder trial of Karen Read opened with jury selection on April 16, 2024, in Dedham, Massachusetts, marking the formal start of proceedings in a case stemming from the January 2022 death of Boston Police Officer John O'Keefe, according to Axios Boston ^[1]. Jury selection began at Norfolk Superior Court, with four jurors seated on the first day and seven more added the following day. Following a grand jury indictment, Read's charges had been upgraded to second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating under the influence of alcohol, and leaving the scene of personal injury and death ^[2].

Read was accused of killing O'Keefe in January 2022 by hitting him with her Lexus SUV and leaving him to die in the snow after a night of heavy drinking ^[3]. Read had dropped O'Keefe off shortly after midnight at a gathering at the home of Brian Albert, a now-retired Boston police officer. Around 6 a.m., after O'Keefe did not return home or respond to calls, Read and two other women found him unresponsive in the snow outside Albert's house. O'Keefe was pronounced dead at a local hospital two hours later, with his cause of death later ruled blunt impact injuries to the head and hypothermia ^[3].

The defense countered with a third-party culprit theory, naming specific individuals it contended may have been responsible for O'Keefe's death. Read's attorneys argued they should be permitted to pursue a third-party culprit defense at trial, identifying Brian Albert, Colin Albert, and Brian Higgins, all of whom were present at the party O'Keefe attended the night he died, as possible culprits ^[1]. Prosecutors had previously moved to block the defense from arguing that others were responsible for O'Keefe's death. The trial judge declined to grant that motion outright, instead offering the defense an opportunity to develop its argument through relevant, competent, and admissible evidence, while still barring the third-party culprit defense during opening statements ^[2].

Central to the defense's forensic strategy was its challenge to the prosecution's account of O'Keefe's injuries. According to Axios Boston, the defense listed forensic experts prepared to testify that O'Keefe's injuries were the result of a beating and dog bites, not a vehicle collision ^[1]. The defense argued that the injuries on O'Keefe's body were inconsistent with a car collision, a position confirmed by several experts, including two accident reconstruction experts obtained by the FBI and the medical examiner employed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts ^[2]. Defense expert Dr. Marie Russell, a retired emergency room physician and forensic pathologist, was prepared to testify on the dog bite question. Russell testified that injuries to O'Keefe's right arm were consistent with a possible dog attack and were not inflicted by Read's SUV, pointing to how the injuries were grouped together as consistent with the teeth and claws of a dog ^[4].

Read's defense team alleged that O'Keefe was murdered inside the Albert household and that police officers involved in the case used their resources to taint the investigation and frame Read ^[2]. Read's first trial ended in a mistrial due to a "starkly divided" hung jury ^[1]. After months of additional pretrial hearings, jury selection in Read's second trial began on April 1, 2025 ^[1].

References

[1] Axios Boston. (2024, April 17). Karen Read's murder trial in death of Boston officer ramps up. https://www.axios.com/local/boston/2024/04/17/karen-read-trial-murder-john-okeefe

[2] Wikipedia / Death of John O'Keefe. (2024). Death of John O'Keefe. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_John_O%27Keefe

[3] NPR. (2025, June 18). Karen Read's second murder trial ends with an acquittal. https://www.npr.org/2025/06/18/nx-s1-5435406/karen-read-acquitted-trial-verdict-not-guilty

[4] Court TV. (2025, June 6). Proctor's texts, dog bites & snow plows: Week 7 in Karen Read's retrial. https://www.courttv.com/news/proctors-texts-dog-bites-snow-plows-week-7-in-karen-reads-retrial/