The murder trial of Karen Read will continue on Tuesday without jurors present so that witnesses can be interviewed who may be called to testify at a later date.
Joseph Paul, a Massachusetts State Police crash reconstruction analyst, was questioned about his qualifications after testifying that Read’s SUV was traveling as fast as 24 mph in reverse when it struck O’Keefe in the snow outside 34 Fairview Avenue in January 2022 in Canton. .
Ian Whiffin, a forensic software expert, also testified about Jennifer McCabe’s “hos long to die in the cold” Internet search, which was conducted in the hours after O’Keefe’s body was discovered in the snow.
Nicholas Guarino, another state trooper, read a series of text messages that Read sent to O’Keefe the day before he was pronounced dead. Prosecutors claimed the messages showed their relationship was in bad shape.
Some of the texts Guarino read in court were as follows:
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John O’Keefe: I’m tired of always arguing during fights. It has been weekly for several months. So yeah, I’m not as quick to fall in love again as you apparently are.
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Karen Read: So you don’t feel like it anymore. That’s fine. But I don’t want to keep trying and you keep treating me like this.’
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Karen Lees: Tell me if you are interested in someone else. I can’t think of any other reason why you’re like this.
Prosecutors have alleged that Read’s SUV was damaged after she backed over O’Keefe and left him for dead in the snow outside Brian Albert’s Canton Home at 34 Fairview Road after a night of drinking.
The defense hopes to prove that O’Keefe was killed by someone in Albert’s home and then thrown into the snow.
Tess Chart, a forensic DNA analyst at Bode Technology, and her colleague Nicholas Bradford, testified last week that O’Keefe’s DNA was found on taillight pieces found outside 34 Fairview Avenue in Canton that matched Read’s SUV.
Multiple law enforcement officers also testified that they found pieces of broken taillights on the lawn of 34 Fairview Road after the snow melted.
Read has pleaded not guilty to charges including second-degree murder in O’Keefe’s death.
The Public Prosecution Service is expected to conclude the case at the end of this week.
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