Surveillance cameras capture Karen Read and her police officer boyfriend at a Boston bar just hours before she was accused of running him over with her car and leaving him to die in a snowstorm.
In the footage shown in court on Thursday in Ms Read’s murder trial, the professor can be seen hugging and kissing John O’Keefe at CF McCarthy’s in Boston on the evening of January 28, 2022.
As the Norfolk Superior Court jury heard, O’Keefe was on his way to celebrate the admission of his niece, who was in his custody, into a private school.
He was seen enjoying bottles of Bud Light with friends before Ms Read later joined them, sipping a vodka and tonic.
The couple seems to be in good spirits and hugs and kisses at the bar.
Just a few hours later, O’Keefe was found dead in the snow in front of a fellow police officer’s house in the early hours of January 29, 2022.
Now Ms Read – a financial analyst and former professor at Bentley University – is on trial for first-degree murder and manslaughter.
Prosecutors allege that after several bar visits, she dropped O’Keefe off at an after-party at the home of retired detective Brian Albert.
There, she is said to have deliberately run him over with her black Lexus SUV while drunk and fled the scene of the accident.
However, Ms Read’s lawyers claimed that police had framed her for the incident as part of a wider conspiracy and cover-up.
Her lawyers claim that O’Keefe was actually beaten up by people at the after-party and thrown outside. They argue that his injuries are consistent with a severe beating rather than a car accident.
An autopsy found that O’Keefe had multiple abrasions on his right forearm, two black eyes, a cut on his nose, a two-inch gash on the back of his head, and multiple skull fractures. Hypothermia was also one of the causes of death.
Ms Read’s defence also argued that a police officer investigating the case had personal connections to Mr Albert’s family. O’Keefe’s body was found in the snow outside Mr Albert’s house.
During the trial, witnesses described the night of O’Keefe’s death. Testimony revealed that Ms. Read and O’Keefe met with a friend, Jennifer McCabe, at a local bar on the evening of January 28.
When the bar closed, the group was invited to Brian and Nicole Albert’s home.
Ms. Read told investigators that she dropped O’Keefe off at the Alberts’ house and went home because she had stomach problems.
In the early hours of Jan. 29, Ms. McCabe said, Ms. Read called her in distress. The finance professor said she tried to contact O’Keefe but was unable to reach him, Ms. McCabe told authorities.
They later met with another friend, Kerry Roberts, who was receiving similar calls from Ms Read.
Ms. Roberts told police that Ms. Read called and said her boyfriend was dead. She claimed he may have been hit by a snow plow. Ms. McCabe also told police that Ms. Read asked her, “Could I have hit him?”
The group then said they saw O’Keefe lying unconscious in the snow outside the Alberts’ house. Ms. Roberts began CPR and Ms. McCabe called the police.
After emergency services arrived, witnesses said Ms. Read repeatedly asked if her boyfriend was dead. Police also noticed that Ms. Read’s tail light was broken.
Several first responders testified that at the scene of the accident, Ms. Read told them loudly and repeatedly that she “hit him,” although she never said she hit him with her SUV.
Another witness, a police officer who was one of the first on the scene, testified that Mrs Read said it was her fault and that she was responsible – but without saying to what extent her responsibility lay.
Prosecutors argue that the relationship between Ms. Read and O’Keefe was already in crisis before his death, due to allegations of infidelity and tensions over the two children in O’Keefe’s care – his orphaned niece and nephew.
But O’Keefe’s friends from the first bar testified in court that the couple seemed happy and affectionate with each other that last evening.
Meanwhile, Rebecca Trayers, the bartender at the last bar they visited, testified that no one in the group appeared overly drunk.
