‘Completely inaccurate’: Karen Read denies telling blogger, ‘I’m dead,’ as phone battle continues

DEDHAM, Mass. — The family of John O’Keefe is taking new legal steps to prevent Karen Read from getting her cellphones back.

The family is suing Read in civil court and now wants a full scan of the phones before the Norfolk County District Attorney releases them, the Boston Herald reported.

The request comes as the phones remain at the center of ongoing legal disputes. They were first seized in January 2024 as part of a witness intimidation investigation.

O’Keefe’s family is focused on something Read allegedly told blogger Aidan Kearney, also known as “Turtleboy.” Their lawyers allege Read told him, “I’m dead. I’m f****** dead,” because of what might be on the phones.

Aaron D. Rosenberg, one of Read’s civil attorneys, told Boston 25 News that the allegation against his client is “completely inaccurate.”

“The actual recording reflects a different statement entirely. Because the court referenced the misquotation in a subsequent order, we believed it was necessary to correct the record immediately,” Rosenberg said in a statement. “The plaintiffs’ filing is completely inaccurate.”

In February, Judge Peter B. Krupp denied a request by a special prosecutor to analyze Read’s phones, dealing a blow to the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office.

Despite the warrant to search the phones being denied, the devices remain in the custody of the state police.

Read and her legal team appeared in Dedham’s Norfolk Superior Court in late February, where they argued that prosecutors have held onto her phones long enough and that it’s time for her property to be returned.

Read’s Lexus SUV was returned to her in September 2025, three months after her acquittal. The vehicle was set to be auctioned off in January.

A wrongful death suit filed by O’Keefe’s family in 2024 alleges that Read “outrageously created a false narrative” and the O’Keefe family has suffered “emotional injuries, severe physical pain, anguish, emotional distress, and other harm… caused by defendant Read’s negligence.”

Read has since filed a sweeping lawsuit of her own, accusing multiple Massachusetts State Police troopers and several Canton residents of conspiring to frame her for a crime she says she did not commit.

Read was acquitted of murder last year in O’Keefe’s death in January 2022.

A judge has not yet set a date for the civil trial.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW

©2026 Cox Media Group