Auction for Karen Read's Lexus SUV called off due to low bidder turnout
Karen Read's now famous Lexus SUV drew the eyeballs of the nation for years as she fought in court to prove her innocence. On Thursday, the vehicle was up for auction, but it was called off 30 minutes before a bid even came in.
"Usually that would be followed by some boos, and sighs and awes," said auctioneer Justin Manning while addressing bidders and Read supporters at Manzi Appraisers in Woburn, Massachusetts.
Manning told the crowd the owner, Bill Brusard, was presented an offer prior to the auction. He chose to take the deal after hearing that the bidder turnout was in the single digits. Brusard is the owner of JB Auto, which is the same group that worked to repair the vehicle. The number of Karen Read supporters and trial followers far outweighed the total number of bidders.
"I know what they did to the car," said Danielle Archer, a follower of the trial who came, but didn't plan to bid. "I don't know how they put it back together."
Manning says Brusard was expected to give the proceeds from the auction back to Karen Read. He added that the deal went through with a group, but it's unclear who that is or what their intentions are. The Alcatraz East Crime Museum in Tennessee says they were in talks to purchase the car last year but decided to pass. It became less of a fit once they realized the car had been repaired.
"There has been steady interest from those two groups prior to today, and I think today was a little bit more investor-driven group than those type of groups," said Manning.
He expects the deal to be official in the coming days.
Read was charged with murder in the 2022 death of her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O'Keefe and stood trial twice. She was accused of hitting O'Keefe with her SUV during a blizzard after a night of heavy drinking and leaving him to die in the snow outside of a Canton, Massachusetts home.
Read's first trial ended in a mistrial due to hung jury. During her retrial in 2025, Read was acquitted of the most serious charges and found guilty of operating under the influence of liquor. She received one year of probation.
