Karen Read's Case Explained: From John O'Keefe's Death to Her Acquittal of Second-Degree Murder

The mystery surrounding John O'Keefe's death has not gone away.

The case began on January 29, 2022, when O'Keefe was found unresponsive outside Boston police officer Brian Albert's home hours after he and his girlfriend, Karen Read, went out drinking with their friends at the Waterfall Bar and Grill in Canton.

Together with Albert's sister-in-law and O'Keefe's friend Jennifer McCabe and another pal, Read found her boyfriend's body lying in the snow, prompting them to call 911. O'Keefe, who worked at the Boston Police Department for 16 years, was later pronounced dead at the age of 46.

Two days later, the medical examiner ruled O'Keefe's cause of death was blunt impact injury to the head and hypothermia.

On February 1, 2022, Read was arrested and initially charged with manslaughter, motor vehicle homicide and leaving the scene of a motor vehicle causing death. She pleaded not guilty to the charges in Stoughton District Court the following day.

Months later, on June 10, 2022, a Norfolk County grand jury indicted her on charges of second-degree murder, leaving the scene of personal injury and death and manslaughter while operating under the influence of alcohol.

Throughout the first trial, which officially began in April 2024, prosecutors consistently claimed that O'Keefe and Read had a troubled relationship. They also alleged she intentionally hit him with her car before driving off and leaving him in the snow.

Several pieces of evidence were presented during the trial, including McCabe Googling "hos [how] long to die in cold" on the day of O'Keefe's death, Read's alleged confession when they found his body and the broken taillight.

Prosecutors also said O'Keefe died after being hit by Read's SUV, though the defense accused the cops of beating him and making his girlfriend a scapegoat.

Prosecution and defense rested their case on June 21, 2024, and June 24, 2024, respectively.

Meanwhile, the jury began deliberations on June 25, 2024, following the delivery of closing arguments.

But on July 1, 2024, Judge Beverly Cannone declared a mistrial due to the jury being unable to reach a unanimous verdict.

"Despite our rigorous efforts we find ourselves at an impasse," Cannone read the note aloud. "The deep division is not due to lack of consideration but to a severe adherence to our personal beliefs and moral compasses. To continue to deliberate would be futile."

The Norfolk District Attorney's Office declared it would retry the case following the mistrial announcement.

The second highly publicized murder trial commenced with jury selection on April 1, 2025.

Several witnesses took the stand, including McCabe and O'Keefe's mother. Police officers and paramedics connected to the case also gave testimony before the court.

Over two months later, jurors acquitted Read of the most serious charges: second-degree murder, leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death and manslaughter while operating under the influence. She was convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol and was sentenced to one year of probation.

"No one has fought harder for justice than John O'Keefe than I have — than I have and my team," Read said as she exited the courthouse.

Some of the witnesses who testified against Read called the retrial's outcome "a devastating 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," members of the Albert and McCabe families said in a statement.

They added, "While we may have more to say in the future, today we mourn with John’s family and lament the cruel reality that this prosecution was infected by lies and conspiracy theories spread by Karen Read, her defense team, and some in the media."

For the first time since her acquittal, Read broke her silence on the January 12 episode of the "Rotten Mango" true crime podcast hosted by Stephanie Soo.

"I do feel I've had this delayed reaction to the persecution. I'm finally reacting to this...horrible thing that happened to me," she said while getting choked up. "I had to swallow it and, and roll with it, and now I'm digesting it. Like.. I swallowed something horrible and it's just sat in my body and now I'm finally breaking it down..."

Elsewhere in the interview, she shared her plans to write a book with her attorney Alan Jackson.

"I want this to be a story about corruption," she told the host. "I want to have some impact on the state where I've lived most of my life and where my family's from and where we battled this. I want to make an impact on what people think about politics, about the government, about the dangers of a one-party political system, which is what Massachusetts is."

In a January 16 video, Read announced she and Jackson would launch the "long overdue" YouTube series, titled "The Read Files," in "just a few weeks" to expose the truth in the case.

"We're going to take you inside the cases, the corruption, the court room battles and the real people whose lives hang in the balance when the system gets it wrong," said Jackson, who also promised that there would be "no spin, no slogans, just the truth — backed by evidence, experience and a fearless commitment to justice."

The lawyer, who recently withdrew himself from representing Nick Reiner in his parents' murder case, teased, "So pull up a chair because the story they told you — it isn't the whole story."