The murder trial of Karen Read, the woman accused of striking her Boston police officer boyfriend John O’Keefe with her SUV in January 2022 and leaving him for dead in a snowbank in Canton, enters its fifth Tuesday morning week of testimony.
Good morning from day 18 in Commonwealth vs. Read.
-ATF agent Brian Higgins is expected back for a second day
-Minor children can be called today. The court has ordered that they not be shown by name.
-Today is the only day of the trial this week.
-30k flyover from Friday… pic.twitter.com/ZiBPjEKXxE
— Ted Daniel (@TedDanielnieuws) May 28, 2024
Brian Higgins, one of the men the defense alleges is involved in a cover-up of O’Keefe’s death, is expected to take the stand again.
Higgins is an ATF agent who was located at 34 Fairview Road in Canton in the hours before and after O’Keefe’s body was found. The defense has long suggested that he and others are part of a cover-up to entrap Read.
During his testimony Friday, we learned that he and Read exchanged flirtatious text messages, but they stopped communicating immediately after O’Keefe’s death.
In one of the messages shared in court, Read texted Higgins: “You’re hot.” “Are you serious or are you messing with me?” replied Higgins. “No, I mean it,” Read wrote. “The feeling is mutual. Is that bad? How long have you been thinking that?” Higgins asked.
‘You’re hot’: ATF agent Brian Higgins testifies about flirty text messages he exchanged with Karen Read
Higgins also said Read kissed him outside O’Keefe’s home, telling the court: “As we were walking outside, the defendant planted a kiss on me… Not as a friend.”
Higgins went to 34 Fairview Road, where Brian Albert lived, after being in the Waterfall bar with O’Keefe and Read. He testified that he did not see O’Keefe’s body on the front lawn when he left sometime before 1 a.m.
Higgins was also questioned by the defense about why he went straight to the Canton police station after leaving the Alberts during a snowstorm. He said it was intended to move vehicles.
During the trial Friday, the prosecution suggested Read had left O’Keefe, but the defense suggested Higgins felt rejected by Read.
“I am not proud of these text messages, but at the same time I take responsibility,” Higgins said. “Jan was a friend.”
Higgins’ phone records also show he made calls to Albert, with the defense accusing Higgins of destroying his phone.
Tuesday will be the only day of testimony in the trial this week.
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