Karen Read trial live: Witness who heard Read say ‘I hit him’ grilled during cross examination
Ms Read is accused of running over her police officer boyfriend and then fleeing the scene in 2022
The trial of a woman accused of murdering her police officer boyfriend in Massachusetts continued on Tuesday as a witness who claimed she heard the defendant say “I hit him” multiple times sat for a cross examination.
Karen Read, a financial analyst and former Bentley University professor, is on trial charged with the second-degree murder and manslaughter of Boston police officer John O’Keefe.
Prosecutors allege that Ms Read ran over O’Keefe in her car while drunk, leaving him for dead in the snow outside a fellow police officer’s home in the early hours of 29 January, 2022.
Ms Read’s defense claims that she is being framed by police as part of a sprawling cover-up involving prominent law enforcement family, the Alberts.
Jennifer McCabe was with Ms Read when they discovered O’Keefe’s body lying in the snow in front of the home of Brian and Nichole Albert, where a group went after a night out at a local bar.
McCabe, who Google searched “hos (sic) long to die in cold” the morning that O’Keefe’s body was found in the snow, was questioned by the defense about her statements and actions after his death.
Did a professor run over her police officer boyfriend and leave him to die in the snow – or is she being framed?
Karen Read loses it on defense team as trial over the alleged murder of her cop boyfriend drags on
Surveillance footage shows Boston cop and girlfriend Karen Read in bar hours before she allegedly murdered him
WATCH: ‘Karen Read was framed’, defence claims in Massachusetts murder trial
What happened the night John O’Keefe died?
Witness accounts of the night O’Keefe died were revealed in early April in court documents unsealed following a request from The Boston Globe.
Ms Read and O’Keefe met a friend, Jennifer McCabe, at a local bar the evening of 28 January 2022, according to witness statements. As the bar closed, the group was invited to the home of Nicole Albert and her husband Brian, a former fellow Boston police officer.
Ms Read told police she subsequently dropped O’Keefe off at the Alberts’ home. Ms Read said she went home afterwards due to stomach problems.
In the early hours of the morning on 29 January 2022, Ms McCabe said Ms Read called her in distress. The finance professor said she had tried to contact O’Keefe and could not reach him, Ms McCabe told authorities. They later met up with another friend, Kerry Roberts, who received similar calls from Ms Read.
Ms Roberts told police Ms Read called and said her boyfriend was dead, claiming he may have been hit by a snowplough. Ms McCabe also told police Ms Read asked her, “Could I have hit him?”
The group then said they found O’Keefe unresponsive lying in the snow in front of the Alberts’ home. Ms Roberts began CPR, and Ms McCabe called the police.
After paramedics arrived, witnesses said Ms Read repeatedly asked if her boyfriend was dead. Responding troopers also observed Ms Read had a broken taillight.
ICYMI: Lead investigator’s claims unveiled during first day of trial
During the first day of the trial, the court heard that lead investigator Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor told friends he had searched the suspect’s phone for nudes.
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Karen Read murder probe’s lead investigator says he ‘searched her phone for nudes’
How did John O’Keefe die?
Prosecutors allege that, after going to some bars, she dropped O’Keefe off at the home of retired detective Brian Albert for an after party.
There, she allegedly intentionally ran him over with her black Lexus SUV while intoxicated and fled the scene.
However, Ms Read’s attorneys have claimed that she is being framed by police as part of a vast conspiracy and cover-up.
Her attorneys claim O’Keefe was actually beaten up by people at the after-party and thrown outside, arguing that his injuries were consistent with a severe beating, rather than with being struck by a car.
An autopsy found that O’Keefe had several abrasions on his right forearm, two black eyes, a cut on his nose, a two-inch laceration to the back of his head and multiple skull fractures. Hypothermia was also a contributing factor in his death.
WATCH: Karen Read loses it on defense team as trial over alleged murder of her boyfriend drags on
A murderous romance or a frame job? Things to know about Boston’s Karen Read murder trial
A highly anticipated trial began in Massachusetts this week involving a woman accused of striking her Boston police officer boyfriend with her SUV and leaving him for dead in a snowbank.
John O’Keefe died in a suburb about 20 miles (32 kilometers) from Boston on Jan. 29, 2022.
The case has garnered national attention because the defense alleges state and local law enforcement officials have framed her and allowed the real killer to go free.
Here are the facts and legal arguments in the case:
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A murderous romance or a frame job? Things to know about Karen Read murder trial
ICYMI: ‘I can say today, with 100% certainty, that she said ‘I hit him, I hit him, I hit him’’
Jennifer McCabe, the women who Google searched “hos (sic) long to die in cold” the morning that John O’Keefe’s body was found in the snow, sat for cross examination on Tuesday morning.
During her first appearance last week, Ms McCabe said “Ms Read stated she had hit [O’Keefe].”
On Tuesday, Ms Read’s defence attorney, Alan Jackson, reminded Ms McCabe that she did not make the comments during grand jury testimony she gave in 2022, and asked where Ms McCabe testified that Ms Read said she hit O’Keefe.
Ms McCabe insisted that regardless of where she said it, she still heard it.
“I don’t know if I said it in the grand jury but I can say today, with 100% certainty, that she said ‘I hit him, I hit him, I hit him,’” she said.
Defense presses Jen McCabe over exact phrasing of her grand jury testimony
On Tuesday, Alan Jackson, the defense attorney for Karen Read, questioned Jen McCabe about the exact phrasing of her words to a grand jury that convened to bring charges agaisnt the defendant.
He pointed out that Ms McCabe told the jury earlier in the trial that she heard Ms Read say “I hit him” three times, but that in her grand jury testimony she says she recalled hearing Ms Read say “Did I hit him? Could I have hit him?”
Ms McCabe said she was “answering the question” she was asked by Mr Jackson, and not reciting what she said to the grand jury.
“The truth of this matter is that you manufactured this story for the jury because it helps you out,” Mr Jackson said.
Ms McCabe said that was “absolutely not” her intention.