Murder suspect Karen Read has broken her silence in a rare interview to insist she is innocent and claim there was a police “conspiracy” over her boyfriend’s death.
Read, 44, was charged with second-degree murder and vehicular manslaughter in the death of her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe, 46, whose body was found in a snowdrift in the driveway of retired Officer Brian Alpert’s home after a heavy night of drinking.
She was accused of running over O’Keefe with her SUV and then leaving him to die in a snowstorm in January 2022. An autopsy revealed the officer died of hypothermia and blunt force injuries to the head.
After a trial that lasted eight weeks, the judge declared a mistrial in July after The 12-member jury was deadlocked. Prosecutors plan to try her again in January.
During the ABC 20/20 In an interview that premiered Friday, “Karen Read: The Perfect Storm,” Read maintained her innocence, claiming she has been “framed” for a murder she did not commit and is the victim of a cover-up.
Karen Read, 41, was accused of running over O’Keefe with her SUV and then leaving him to die in a snowstorm in January 2022.
Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe pictured with Read before his death
During an interview before his trial, Read was asked questions such as: “Did you kill John O’Keefe?”
‘Is it possible you just hit him with the back of your car and didn’t realize it?’
Read insisted it was “not possible” she ran over her boyfriend and dismissed all evidence, including the broken taillight found on the back of her Lexus SUV, which has become the key piece of central evidence in the case.
Fragments of the broken taillight were found on O’Keefe’s body at the scene of the incident.
Read insisted that a ‘pThe ‘police conspiracy’ was to blame her for the mysterious death of her boyfriend.
Read speaks to his attorney — and has a shocked expression on his face — as the jury deliberates in his June murder trial at Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Massachusetts.
Pictured: Read sits in Norfolk County Superior Court during a pre-trial hearing as photos are shown.
John O’Keefe’s dream was to become a police officer, an old friend told ABC
She shared that she had a strange feeling when she discovered that O’Keefe was not home after she had left him earlier that night.
‘I called the wives of some of his friends. I felt a terrible fear, a fear I had never expected before.
“I was worried he might have been run over by a plow.”
It was when she went to Albert’s house to look for him that she made the horrible discovery.
“I jumped out of the passenger seat and fell onto the street. My eyes were closed and there were blood stains on different parts of my face. I was still, not rigid, but still,” he recalled.
‘It was cold. I felt cold, but not dangerously cold. It was a strange feeling to know that he was okay. I’m not dying, but he’s here with me and he’s dying and I can’t warm him up.’
Karen Read reflects on her trial in an interview with ABC News reporter Matt Gutman on the 20/20 episode
Read’s attorney told 20/20: “John O’Keefe was murdered. There’s no question. He died at the hands of someone else,” he said. “There are people who know exactly what happened to John O’Keefe and they’re not speaking out.”
Read’s defense team argues that the injuries to O’Keefe’s body and the trauma to his head and hands are not consistent with being hit by a car.
An old friend of O’Keefe’s told ABC that his friend always dreamed of becoming a police officer and was following in his grandfather’s footsteps.
In 2014, O’Keefe became a surrogate father to his niece and nephew.
During the interview, Read recalled how O’Keefe’s parents acted toward her after she met with them following her son’s death and when she realized they suspected her of murder, Fox News reported.
‘They had pulled into the driveway before me. I figured she saw my broken taillight and thought, ‘Did you hit my son? ‘” Read said.
‘When we were driving home, I told my father, “I have to get a lawyer.”
Read was arrested days after O’Keefe’s death on February 1, 2022, and charged with involuntary manslaughter, vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of a vehicle collision causing death.
The broken taillight on Read’s SUV is the centerpiece of evidence in the case.
She pleaded not guilty in Stoughton District Court. She was dubbed “America’s happiest killer” as she smiled and laughed throughout the hearing.
In June of that year, a Norfolk County grand jury indicted her and her charges were upgraded to second-degree murder.
At the time, the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office had portrayed the circumstances surrounding O’Keefe’s death as a drunken night gone wrong.
The team spoke of Read’s high blood alcohol content before she ran over her boyfriend with her SUV in front of a private residence and left him to die.
She shared: ‘This is not life. I’m not in prison, but this is not life. I’m stressed every day.
‘I’m waiting for the next shoe to drop.
‘It’s like a kind of purgatory.
Read’s attorney told 20/20: “This guy was not hit by a car.”
“John O’Keefe was murdered. There is no doubt about it. He died at the hands of someone else,” he said.
“There are people who know exactly what happened to John O’Keefe and they don’t want to talk.”
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