Karen Read, the woman accused of murdering her Boston police officer boyfriend, has put her colonial-style home on the market for $849,900, just two weeks after her case was declared a mistrial.
Read, 44, dubbed “America’s happiest murder defendant” for her cheerful demeanor in the courtroom, was told July 1 that jurors could not agree on whether she deliberately killed Officer John O’Keefe with her SUV in January 2022.
Days after the end of a contentious nine-week trial in which Read alleged she was the victim of a wide-ranging plot to frame her, jurors voted 12-0 to acquit her of murder, the court heard. documents filed by the defense.
They also voted unanimously to acquit her of leaving the scene of an accident where people were injured or killed, but remained 9-3 in favor of finding her guilty of vehicular manslaughter.
Read, a former professor at Bentley College, was living in her four-bedroom apartment at the time of O’Keefe’s death. Her real estate agent, Richard Rocci, revealed she now wants another family to have him in her home.
Karen Read, 44, the woman accused of murdering her Boston police officer boyfriend, has put her Mansfield, Massachusetts, home up for sale for $849,900. (pictured: Read smiling in court on July 1)
The massive home is over 2,000 square feet with four bedrooms and three bathrooms. Read has made sure to keep the home updated over the years.
“Ms. Read has not been living in Mansfield since last year and now wishes another family would enjoy the property she spent many years improving,” said Rocci of RE/MAX Platinum. Boston.com.
Mansfield’s sprawling home measures over 2,000 square feet with four bedrooms and three bathrooms.
The ‘meticulously maintained’ home built in 1972 also comes with a large driveway, double garage, a large fireplace and is located 30 miles from Boston, according to Zillow.
Rocci explained how Read has made sure to update the house over the years.
“He’s definitely put a lot of time and money into it. The house has a lot of charm. The brick fireplace, the beams… It’s really warm,” she explained.
The home is equipped with a spacious ‘sunshine kitchen’, two living rooms and three additional bedrooms and two full bathrooms on the second floor.
On the night of O’Keefe’s death, he and Read had been drinking with a group of friends at the Waterfall Bar and Grill in Canton, about 14 miles south of Boston, and were invited to their friend Brian Albert’s home for an after-party.
The couple had been dating for two years when O’Keefe died. He was found in the snow at the home of his friend Brian Albert.
Read, who prosecutors say drank several alcoholic beverages earlier, decided to drop her boyfriend off at the after-party before heading home (which O’Keefe shared with her orphaned niece and nephew) to sleep around 1 a.m.
Court documents revealed the pair had been arguing bitterly for weeks beforehand, and on the night O’Keefe died, Read left him a voicemail calling him a “fucking loser” and telling him, “John, I hate you.”
Officer John O’Keefe had been serving with the Boston Police Department for 16 years.
The couple had been together for two years when O’Keefe, who had served with the Boston Police Department for 16 years, died.
According to Read’s version of events, she woke up at 4 a.m. to find the deceased officer had never returned home, prompting her to drive frantically to try to find him.
After finding O’Keefe’s body outside Albert’s home around 6 a.m. on Jan. 29, 2022 — whose party attendees claimed he never entered — first responders at the scene alleged Read repeatedly told them she punched him while in a panic.
Vehicle data also revealed Read reversed his SUV for 62 feet at 24 mph near Albert’s home. O’Keefe’s cause of death was blunt force trauma and hypothermia, and pieces of Read’s taillight were found around his body, prosecutors said.
In his closing arguments two weeks ago, Norfolk County Deputy District Attorney Adam Lally said allegations that Read was framed were little more than “wild speculation.”
Read and her attorney, Alan Jackson, laugh after recess at Norfolk County Superior Court in Dedham on May 2. He has maintained she was framed for the death of her late boyfriend.
Lally also pointed to O’Keefe’s hair and DNA found in the back of Read’s SUV.
The defense argued that the taillight was actually broken by Read when he panicked to look for O’Keefe when he never returned home.
This included surveillance video shown at trial showing Read crashing O’Keefe’s vehicle as she left her home to look for him.
Read claimed he was beaten to death by after-party attendees, and his attorneys presented phone data showing O’Keefe’s phone was carried up dozens of stairs at the time he was allegedly hit.
His lawyer, Alan Jackson, claimed that those steps could have been the basement of Albert’s home. Albert was never charged with any crime.
Read’s attorneys added that while first responders claimed Read talked about hitting O’Keefe at the scene, they claimed this evidence was falsely presented at a later date and was not mentioned at the time.
A forensic engineer was brought in to evaluate the case, who testified that if O’Keefe had been hit by a vehicle going more than 20 mph, he would expect to see more severe injuries.
The reason the jury was unanimous on the charge of leaving the scene of an accident and divided on the charge of involuntary manslaughter lies in the question of Read’s intent.
To be found guilty of leaving the scene of an accident where death or injury occurs, the driver must be aware that someone was mutilated or killed.
The jury agreed that Read, who was accused of leaving her boyfriend stranded in the snow outside a friend’s house, was unaware of O’Keefe’s plight.
Protesters wearing pink in support of Read prompted a judge to issue an order banning any clothing or accessories that could be perceived as inflammatory and barring them from coming within 200 feet of the courthouse.
If Jackson is successful in his attempt to push the double jeopardy issue, Read could still be tried again on the vehicular manslaughter charge.
However, the charge of homicide does not depend on intent, and all prosecutors must prove reckless conduct.
If Jackson is successful in his attempt to push the double jeopardy issue, Read could still be tried again on the vehicular manslaughter charge.
When her trial began, Read received an outpouring of support from true crime fans who camped outside the courthouse with signs reading “Free Karen Read.”
Many began wearing pink in support of Read, prompting a judge to issue an order banning any clothing or accessories that could be perceived as encouraging and prohibiting them from coming within 200 feet of the courthouse.
Others have been seen protesting against Read with signs reading “Karen Read killed a man!” and “Karen Read is guilty!”
DailyMail.com has contacted Rocci and Jackson for comment.
