A Mass. Woman Is Accused of Fatally Running Over Cop Boyfriend — Her Lawyers Say She Was Framed in a Cover-Up

Did Karen Read drunkenly run over her boyfriend and kill him in Canton, Mass., in January 2022 — or is she the victim of an elaborate cover-up scheme created to frame her? It depends on who you ask. But on April 16, a jury will begin to decide. 

Read is charged with second-degree murder in connection with the death of her boyfriend, 46-year-old John O’Keefe, a beloved Boston police officer, who prosecutors say was run over by Read's SUV in late January 2022 after a night out drinking, NBC Boston reported. Despite evidence the prosecution says proves Read ran over O’Keefe while backing out of the driveway of his friend's home, her attorneys claim she’s the victim of a widespread cover-up and has been falsely accused. 

After drinking at bars with Read and friends, O'Keefe planned to go to his friend and fellow police officer Brian Albert’s home for an after-bars gathering, Boston Magazine reported. Read dropped him off in the driveway and went home.

Early the next morning of Jan. 29, Read and two of O’Keefe’s friends began searching for him after Read realized he didn't return home. She says that from a distance, she spotted O'Keefe's body in the dark morning hours, according to Boston Magazine. O'Keefe, who was found with multiple injuries and blood around his nose and mouth, was transported to the hospital and pronounced dead. 

According to Kerry Roberts — who was with Read when they found O'Keefe's body around 6 a.m. — Read still seemed drunk that morning and mentioned that O'Keefe was possibly hit by a snow plow, Boston Magazine reported, citing charging documents. Read also allegedly told a first responder, "I hit him," per the documents cited by the magazine.

Read was initially charged with manslaughter, but the charge was upgraded to second-degree murder. She is also facing charges of motor vehicle manslaughter while driving under the influence and leaving the scene of a collision causing injury and death, Boston.com reported. She has pleaded not guilty. 

The prosecution says that O’Keefe’s DNA was found on Read’s broken taillight and that pieces of the taillight were also found on his clothing, Boston 25 News reported, citing a February filing from the prosecution, which prosecutors say proves that Read fatally struck her boyfriend with her vehicle.

Read’s defense, however, claims that what happened the night O’Keefe was left in the snow is much different than the prosecution’s version of events. 

Read’s defense attorney David Yannetti claims O’Keefe was beat up inside of Albert's home during the after-bars gathering, then was attacked by a dog and thrown in the snow to die, Boston Magazine reported. 

Yanetti also claimed that evidence shows someone inside of Albert’s home that evening searched "'Ho[w] long to die in cold,'" according to a news release previously cited by PEOPLE.

"This evidence unequivocally exonerates Karen, because it establishes that individuals who were in the house… that night were aware that John was dying in the snow before Karen even knew he was missing," the release added.

In court documents previously obtained by PEOPLE, the defense claimed "photographs of O'Keefe suggest that he was beaten severely and left for dead, having sustained blunt force injuries to both sides of his face as well as to the back of his head."

Despite the defense's alternative theory gaining traction online — resulting in dozens of protestors holding “Free Karen Read” signs outside of Norfolk Superior Court during Read's hearings — the prosecution has stuck to their version of events. They say Read put her SUV in reverse after O’Keefe exited the vehicle at Albert's home and ran him over. Then, prosecutors allege, when she drunkenly returned home, she called O'Keefe dozens of times and left hateful voicemails, Boston Magazine reported.

O’Keefe suffered skull fractures and brain bleeding and had black eyes, multiple abrasions and the autopsy confirmed hypothermia contributed to his death, CNN reported.  

This week, a judge denied the defense's motion to dismiss the murder charge against Read, CBS News reported. Read’s trial, set to begin April 16, could last up to six weeks.