Karen Read Faces Murder Trial In Death Of Police Officer Boyfriend

Selecting an unbiased jury in a criminal case is a tricky process. That task will be particularly difficult Tuesday as the second murder trial begins in the case of Karen Read, who is accused of causing the 2022 death of her police officer boyfriend, in a region that has been sharply divided over the controversial case, CNN reports. Read, 45, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and leaving the scene of a collision resulting in death. Her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O'Keefe, was found bruised and battered in the snow on January 29, 2022, outside the home of a fellow Boston police officer in the suburb of Canton. Prosecutors have alleged a drunken Read struck O’Keefe with her vehicle and then fled, leaving him to die in the snowy cold. Her defense team has alleged Read is the victim of a vast cover-up and accused the off-duty police inside the Canton home of killing O’Keefe and framing her.

Her murder trial last year in Dedham, Mass. was marked by vulgar text messages about Read from the lead detective on the case – a state trooper who has been fired. Outside court , pink-wearing advocates gathered to support Read, holding signs and chanting “Free Karen Read.” They outnumbered others who wore blue to show their support for O’Keefe and his family. Amid the hoopla, the jury deadlocked and reported they could not come to a unanimous verdict. Police have again set up a buffer zone to keep the crowds from being too close to the courthouse. In pretrial hearings, those crowds have booed O’Keefe’s family and other prosecution witnesses, leading to requests from prosecutors for an expanded buffer zone. “Your honor, the Commonwealth’s primary concern is the sanctity of the jury and the jury process,” prosecutor Hank Brennan said. “They should be free from outside influence.”