DEDHAM, Mass. – WATCH LIVE: Karen Read, woman accused of fatally beating her Boston police officer boyfriend and leaving him to die, appears in court
Karen Read enters Norfolk Superior Court charged in the death of officer John O’Keefe. She is flanked by her high-profile lawyers. Watch coverage of the team at @Boston25 pic.twitter.com/Ngxkae9AY1
— John Monahan (@JohnMonahanTV) May 3, 2023
UPDATE (2pm, May 3, 2023)
The legal team defending a Mansfield woman accused of killing her Boston police officer boyfriend has asked the state to turn over evidence in the investigation into her death, saying their client has been “falsely accused” in the murder case.
Karen Read’s attorney, David Yannetti, asked prosecutors to turn over Officer John O’Keefe’s clothing, autopsy samples and records from the SUV Read was driving when authorities say he was driving at night that O’Keefe was run over outside a house in Canton and left to die in a snowstorm.
Yannetti added that video from the Canton Public Library would show Read’s tail light intact after prosecutors claim he hit O’Keefe with it.
UPDATE (14:15, May 3, 2023)
Prosecutor Lally says he has filed the proper paperwork to expedite the evidence and the evidence should be from the lab and produced by early May.
Previous story below
The case against a Mansfield woman accused of fatally beating her Boston police officer boyfriend and leaving him to die in a snowstorm outside a Canton home last year is back in court Wednesday with prosecutors and the defense is expected to give new details.
A motion hearing is scheduled in Norfolk District Court in Deadham in the murder case against Karen Read, who prosecutors say struck Officer John O’Keefe with her SUV in January 2022 and he left it in the snow. Read’s defense team has argued that she is being framed and that O’Keefe’s death was a cover-up.
Read’s attorneys say autopsy photos show O’Keefe was not hit by a car, but was severely beaten and had marks on his arms that appear to be dog bites. They also claim O’Keefe’s phone shows he entered the house and walked up three flights of stairs inside the house.
According to prosecutors, the medical examiner who performed O’Keefe’s autopsy detailed that he “observed no signs of an altercation or fight from his examination” and described his “injuries to his right arm as scratches caused by a blunt object”.
The defense says one of the witnesses did an incriminating Google search hours before he claimed O’Keefe’s body was discovered.
In a filing Monday, prosecutors responded for the first time to several claims from Read’s team, saying a Google search for “How long to die in the cold” did not come up at 2:27:40 a.m.
In fact, in the new files, the prosecution argues that the defense misinterpreted the mobile phone data. People at Brian Albert’s house in Canton told police that O’Keefe never came inside.
Read’s defense disputes that claim, saying their data pulled from O’Keefe’s phone shows he not only went inside, but traveled 3 flights of stairs once inside the house.
The prosecution also has an answer for that.
In records released Monday, prosecutors say their data shows O’Keefe hadn’t even arrived at the house when the movement was recorded on his phone, saying “Mr. O’Keefe’s phone would have (been ) ascending/descending within the Fairview Residence, prior to your arrival.
Last week, 25 Investigates reported that O’Keefe’s cause of death was never determined.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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