A Boston woman, Karen Read, has opened up about the toll her months-long murder case has taken on her, describing her experience as being in a state of 'purgatory' and feeling stressed every day. The case revolves around allegations that Read, 44, rammed her SUV into her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, leaving him for dead during a snowstorm in January 2022.
After a two-month trial that ended in July with a mistrial declared due to a deadlocked jury, Read expressed her distress in an interview on ABC's “20/20.” She described her current situation as 'no life,' despite not being in prison, and expressed her constant anxiety about what may happen next.
Despite a defense motion to dismiss several charges being rejected by Judge Beverly Cannone last month, the case is set to move forward to a new trial scheduled to begin on January 27, 2025.
Prosecutors alleged that Read and O’Keefe had been drinking heavily before the incident, with Read dropping O’Keefe off at a party at the home of another Boston officer. They claimed that Read hit O’Keefe with her SUV before driving away, leading to his death from hypothermia and blunt force trauma.
Read recounted feeling an 'immense sense of dread' as she searched for O’Keefe, mentioning that she had consumed four drinks that night but believed she was fine to drive. She expressed her concern that O’Keefe may have been hit by a plow, as she couldn't explain his sudden disappearance.
The defense argued that O’Keefe was killed inside the home of the Boston officer and then moved outside, portraying Read as a victim who was unfairly targeted by investigators. They claimed that jurors had actually been deadlocked only on a third count of manslaughter and had agreed unanimously that Read was innocent of second-degree murder and leaving the scene of a deadly accident.
Following the mistrial, Read’s lawyers presented evidence of the jurors' positions, but the judge ruled that there was no official verdict announced in open court, allowing for a retrial without violating double jeopardy principles.
Prosecutors dismissed the defense's claims as 'unsubstantiated' and based on 'hearsay and conjecture,' urging the judge not to consider the post-trial arguments.
