Read was charged with killing her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, who died in 2022, however she has maintained her innocence. The prosecution argued that Read deliberately hit O’Keefe along with her automotive and killed him after an evening of ingesting. The protection argued that Read was being arrange by the police, probably so as to cowl up their very own misdeeds. Meanwhile, the case attracted large quantities of consideration on social media, significantly on TikTookay, and ultimately received its personal docu-series on Max, which adopted Read’s trial in actual time.
The first trial led to a mistrial, and now, a 12 months later, Read is being retried.
It’s an extended, complicated story that tends to generate robust feelings and opinions each from these straight linked to the case and people simply watching from afar.
To make issues a bit bit simpler to know, here’s a timeline of every little thing we all know concerning the Karen Read trial, beginning with most up-to-date occasions.
April 21, 2025: A jury is chosen for Read’s retrial, per NBC News.
March 19, 2025: Lead investigator Michael Proctor is dishonorably discharged. Per NBC, the State Police Trial Board discovered Proctor responsible on three counts of unsatisfactory efficiency and one depend of ingesting alcohol whereas on responsibility. The inner investigation into Proctor started after it was revealed that he’d despatched inappropriate and derogatory textual content messages about Read whereas investigating O’Keefe’s loss of life.
July 1, 2024: A mistrial is asserted, per People, after a jury failed to come back to a verdict. Per NBC news, the Norfolk County district legal professional appointed Hank Brennan to steer the prosecution for the retrial. Meanwhile, Read’s attorneys argued to have the case dismissed, however had been denied.
April 2024: Read’s trial goes viral on social media, especially on TikTok. True crime obsessives watched the trial in actual time, offering synopses and commentary to their followers.
April 16, 2024: Read’s first trial begins. During the trial, prosecutors alleged that Read deliberately hit O’Keefe along with her automotive and killed him. Their proof included items of damaged taillight discovered on the scene, in addition to O’Keefe’s DNA on the taillight. They additionally introduced proof that Read and O’Keefe had been going via a troublesome interval of their relationship, together with a number of indignant texts and voicemails, per Boston 25 News.
The protection argued that O’Keefe had gone into Brian Albert’s dwelling, and will have been killed there. The Alberts had a German Shepherd, and Read’s attorneys urged that a few of O’Keefe’s wounds might have been brought on by canine bites, particularly because the Alberts rehomed their dog shortly after O’Keefe’s loss of life.
Another level raised by the protection was that the Alberts had a close relationship with Trooper Michael Proctor, who was the lead investigator on the case. The protection alleged that this created an improper battle of curiosity, and urged that the investigators might have planted proof, a few of which had been collected in purple Solo cups and Stop n’ Shop grocery baggage. The protection additionally referred textual content messages Proctor despatched to colleagues, by which he described Read as “an actual whack job” and a “c*nt” and mentioned searching for nude images of her whereas going via her cellphone as a part of the investigation.
