Who could testify at Karen Read's trial? Here's a look at key witnesses.
Karen Read's second trial in the death of her boyfriend, former Boston police officer John O'Keefe, starts with opening statements on Tuesday, April 22. Then, testimony will be heard from dozens of witnesses over the next several weeks.
Read is accused of hitting and killing O'Keefe with her SUV in January 2022. Many of the same witnesses from the first trial are expected to play a key role in Read's retrial, according to the list of potential witnesses that's been filed.
What is Karen Read accused of?
Prosecutors accuse Read of killing O'Keefe following a night of heavy drinking, then driving away and leaving him to die in a snowstorm outside a Canton home. Read says she is being framed by several people, including law enforcement, and that O'Keefe was actually killed during a fight inside the home and then dragged outside.
Read has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating under the influence of alcohol, and leaving the scene of personal injury and death. Her first trial ended in 2024 with a mistrial due to a hung jury.
Brian Higgins, Brian Albert and Colin Albert
Throughout the case, Read's defense attorneys have argued that she did not hit O'Keefe with her SUV. They say Brian Higgins, Brian Albert and Colin Albert could have killed him during a fight inside Brian Albert's home and dragged him into the yard to die.
Higgins is an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and Brian Albert is a retired Boston police officer. Colin Albert is the nephew of Brian Albert, and was a teenager at the time of O'Keefe's death.
All three men testified during Read's first trial, and are on the witness list for the second. But there will be one major difference. Judge Beverly Cannone ruled that in the second trial, the defense cannot blame Colin Albert for O'Keefe's death. It's not known if Colin Albert will still be called to the stand following that ruling.
As part of the third-party culprit defense, defense attorneys have claimed O'Keefe's injuries came from Brian Albert's dog. Dr. Marie Russell is on the witness list for a second time. She is expected to testify that she believes O'Keefe's injuries are consistent with an animal attack.
Michael Proctor
Michael Proctor was the lead investigator in the case, working as a trooper for Massachusetts State Police. He is on witness list again for Read's second trial. Earlier this year, Proctor was fired for his conduct during the Read investigation.
A trial board found him guilty of unsatisfactory performance and violating policy on alcoholic beverages.
During Read's first trial, Proctor was forced to read his own text messages that were revealed as part of a federal investigation that has since ended.
In one message, Proctor wrote about Read that "hopefully she kills herself." Another text revealed that Proctor called Read a "whackjob [expletive]." In his testimony, Proctor called the text messages "regrettable."
Karen Read investigators
Other members of law enforcement who investigated the case are on the witness list as well.
Sgt. Yuri Bukhenik, Detective Lieutenant Brian Tully, Lt. John Fanning, and Trooper Joseph Paul from the Massachusetts State Police are potential witnesses.
Bukhenik was one of the lead investigators after O'Keefe's death and was in one of the group text threads that Proctor sent messages to. He forfeited five vacation days following an internal affairs investigation.
Tully was one of Proctor's supervisors and was transferred out of the Norfolk County District Attorney's office as part of an ongoing internal affairs investigation.
During the first trial, prosecutors played 911 calls from the morning O'Keefe's body was found when Canton Police Sgt. Sean Goode was on the stand. Canton Lt. Paul Gallagher testified during that trial about the "unique" handling of the crime scene that has come under scrutiny by defense attorneys. Both officers are on the witness list for the retrial.
Canton Police Sgt. Michael Lank was questioned by Read's attorneys about his ties to the Albert family, and could face similar questions again.
Trooper Paul, a crash reconstructionist, could also testify again this time. The prosecution also added Judson Welcher, an independent crash reconstructionist who does not work for the state police, to their witness list ahead of the second trial.
Jennifer McCabe's Google search
Jennifer McCabe was a key witness during Read's first trial. McCabe was with the group that began searching for O'Keefe when Read discovered he was missing. They eventually found O'Keefe in the snow outside of Brian Albert's home at 34 Fairview Road in Canton.
A Google search on McCabe's phone has become a disputed piece of evidence. At some point, McCabe searched "How long to die in cold," though the query included typos. The prosecution argues that the searches took place at 6:23 a.m. and 6:24 a.m. on January 29, 2022 at the urging of Read after they found O'Keefe. The defense says that they were made at 2:27 a.m., long before Read knew O'Keefe was missing.
Ian Whiffin, a Cellebrite expert, is on the prosecution witness list to make the case that the search time data is misleading because McCabe previously left a browser tab open, then used the same tab later in the morning.
Defense expert Richard Green is expected to testify again in the second trial, giving his opinion is that the search happened around 2:27 a.m.
Jennifer McCabe's daughter Allison broke down in tears during the first trial describing harassment she has faced due to the case. Allison McCabe was not on the prosecution witness list for the second trial, but was added by the defense.
Kerry Roberts, who was also with the group of women when they found O'Keefe, is expected to testify again. Matthew McCabe, Jennifer's husband, is on the witness list as well.
Federal ARCCA experts
Dr. Daniel Wolfe and Dr. Andrew Rentschler, two experts who work for ARCCA, an engineering and crash reconstruction firm, were central figures in tense pretrial hearings ahead of Read's second trial.
Wolfe and Rentschler were hired by the federal government as part of an the investigation into the handling of the case. They testified in the first trial that in their professional opinion, O'Keefe's injuries were not consistent with having been hit by a vehicle.
The prosecution sought to have both excluded from the second trial, alleging that defense attorneys were not being truthful about their relationship with the witnesses. Special prosecutor Hank Brennan said the defense paid the witnesses nearly $24,000 and revealed emails between Read's team and the experts, with Wolfe writing in one email, "If you don't want me to say this, that's fine."
Judge Cannone said she will allow the witnesses to testify, but scolded defense attorney Alan Jackson for "repeated misrepresentations" to the court.
"Turtleboy" won't testify
Aidan Kearney, a blogger who writes under the name "Turtleboy" has become a central figure in Read's case and is on the list of people the prosecution had said it could call to the stand. But that changed during the final pretrial hearing.
Kearney is facing charges for allegedly harassing witnesses in Read's case, though he has pleaded not guilty and argues he is exercising his First Amendment rights as a journalist.
He has regularly been in the courtroom covering hearings and the first trial, though he was required to leave when certain witnesses took the stand.
Prosecutors in Read's case want to use communications between Read and Kearney as evidence. They argue the messages will show "evidence of the defendant's statements and actions to intimidate witnesses from testifying against her as evidence of her consciousness of guilt."
During a March 20 pretrial hearing, Read and Kearney, appeared in court together for the first time at a hearing as they sought to block access to the messages.
On April 16, Kearney's attorney said during the final pretrial hearing that if called as a witness, the blogger planned to invoke his Fifth Amendment right. As a result, prosecutors said they would not need to call him to testify.
Will Karen Read testify?
Karen Read did not testify in her own defense during her first trial. In her second trial, it's likely her own words could be used by the prosecution.
The state said it plans to use media interviews Read has done as part of this trial. That includes a recent documentary released by Investigation Discovery in which Read talks on camera about hiring defense attorney David Yannetti on January 29, 2022.
"And then when I hired David Yannetti, I asked him those questions the night of January 29," Read said in the documentary. "'Like David, what if I ran his foot over or clipped him in the knee and he passed out and went to care for himself and he threw up or passed out?' And David said, 'Yeah, then you have some element of culpability.'"
Prosecutors have also sought raw interviews with Read from Investigation Discovery and other media outlets, hoping to use her own words in court to show that her story has changed over time. That includes potential witness Gretchen Voss, a reporter from Boston Magazine.
Did Karen Read say "I hit him" after John O'Keefe was found?
Several first responders who testified in the first trial that they heard Read say "I hit him" or something similar are on the witness list for the retrial.
Canton Fire Lt. Anthony Flematti, Canton firefighter and paramedic Timothy Nuttall, and Canton firefighter-paramedic Katie McLaughlin are among the potential returning witnesses who have said they heard Read saying "I hit him."
Defense attorneys accused McLaughlin of committing perjury. McLaughlin described herself as an acquaintance of Caitlin Albert, Brian Albert's daughter, but not a friend. Read's attorneys claimed they later received a "deluge" of photographs that they allege show McLaughlin and Caitlin Albert are friends. Caitlin Albert is on the witness list for the second trial as well.
Canton police officer Steve Saraf, the first law enforcement member to arrive at the scene, told a grand jury that Read said at the scene, "This is my fault." During cross-examination in the first trial, Saraf admitted he did not write that in his report from the day O'Keefe died.
Canton police officer Stephen Mullaney, also on the witness list, previously testified that he did not hear Read say "I hit him."
Karen Read and John O'Keefe's family members
Karen Read's father, William Read, and brother, Nathan Read, are potential witnesses. Neither testified during the first trial.
John O'Keefe's brother, Paul O'Keefe, and his wife, Erin O'Keefe, both testified previously and could return to the stand.
Though their testimony happened with cameras off, John O'Keefe's niece and nephew both testified in the first trial about what the prosecution described as a deteriorating relationship between Read and O'Keefe. Both juvenile witnesses are on the list for the retrial as well.
Complete Karen Read witness list
For a full timeline of the Karen Read case, click here.
