Court video, updates: Jurors see Read, O’Keefe embrace at bar hours before his death

DEDHAM, Mass. — The prosecution on Wednesday is showing new video evidence in Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham as witness testimony continues on Day 7 of the Karen Read murder trial.

Read, 44, of Mansfield, is facing charges including second-degree murder in the death of her Boston police officer boyfriend John O’Keefe.

• WATCH LIVE: Streaming coverage of Wednesday’s witness testimony begins at 9 a.m.
• Also streaming on Facebook, X, and YouTube
• Live court updates from Boston 25′s Ted Daniel

New evidence presented on Day 7 includes surveillance video from inside CF McCarthy’s in Canton that shows Read and O’Keefe embracing just hours before his body was found in the snow at 34 Fairview Avenue.

Video shows Karen Read, John O'Keefe embracing at Canton bar hours before his death

Witnesses called to the stand so far: Canton Police Lt. Charles Rae, Canton resident Michael Camerano, Canton resident Katherine Camerano, Canton resident Curt Roberts, Canton resident and bartender Rebecca Trayers, and Canton resident Nicholas Kolokithas.

Karina Kolokithas, the wife of Nicholas Kolokithas, is currently on the stand.

PLAY-BY-PLAY FROM DAY 7 OF TESTIMONY (Wednesday, May 8, 2024):

3:25 p.m.

• While speaking with Read at Waterfall, Kolokithas said Read praised O’Keefe for stepping in for his niece and nephew.
• “She seemed willing to go,” said Kolikathis regarding Read going somewhere after the bar. Kolikathis said Jennifer McCabe jokingly put her arm around Read and told her “you’re coming with me” — referencing the Fairview Road home.

3:05 p.m.

• Karina Kolokithas is the next witness called to the stand.
• She says she was also at the Waterfall with Read and O’Keefe. Also says she recalled drinking water that night due to her propensity for migraines.

3 p.m.

• Brian Albert and Brian Higgins are seen on surveillance seemingly “play fighting” at the Waterfall. Kolikathis is seen watching in the video but says he doesn’t remember.

2:45 p.m.

• Kolokithas says Read and O’Keefe were very loving toward each other while at the Waterfall to the point where his wife asked, “Why aren’t you like that with me.”

2:35 p.m.

• Kolokithas says he was with a large group of people at the Waterfall Bar & Grill, the second bar Read and O’Keefe went to shortly before his death.
• Kolokithas testifies that Brian Albert, who lived at 34 Fairview Avenue, invited everyone at the table over to his home. The bar’s surveillance shows the group at the table near the top of the picture.

2:20 p.m.

• Canton resident Nicholas Kolokithas is called to the stand.

2:14 p.m.

• Trayers returns to stand following the court’s lunch break, taking questions from Read’s attorney Alan Jackson.

1 p.m.

• Judge Beverly Cannone calls for a lunch break. Testimony will resume at 2 p.m.

12:45 p.m.

• Trayers testifies that O’Keefe was with a group at the Waterfall around midnight/close, including Brian Albert and Brian Higgins. She says she is familiar with Higgins and the Albert family.
• Brian Albert lived at 34 Fairview Avenue in Canton, where O’Keefe was later found in the snow.

12:35 p.m.

• Rebecca Trayers, Canton resident and bartender at the Waterfall Bar & Grill, takes the stand.
• Waterfall Bar & Grill is the second bar Read and O’Keefe went to before his death.

12:25 p.m.

• Curt Roberts says he woke up to his wife, Kerry Roberts, on the phone with Read around 5 a.m. He says Read sounded frantic. They later learned O’Keefe was in an ambulance.

12:15 p.m.

• Roberts says he greeted O’Keefe and Michael Camerano at the bar. He testifies Read was with them with either a wine or vodka drink in hand.

12 p.m.

• Curt Roberts, of Canton, called to the witness stand.

11:55 a.m.

• Katherine Camerano reads texts she sent to Read on the night of O’Keefe’s death.
• Camerano says Read texted her at 6:34 a.m., “He’s dead. He’s in the snow.”

11:35 a.m.

• Katherine Camerano says she received a frantic call from Read between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. while working an overnight shift on Jan. 29, 2022.
• “She was screaming… she just kept saying, ‘Where’s Mike?’”
• Camerano says she called her husband, Michael, several times because O’Keefe never came home from CF McCarthy’s after drinking with Read.

11:20 a.m.

• Court returns from morning recess with Katherine Camerano, of Canton, on the stand. She is the wife of Michael Camerano, who testified earlier in the morning that he was with Read and O’Keefe as they drank at a bar hours before O’Keefe’s body was found.

10:52 a.m.

• Judge Beverly Cannone calls for a morning recess.

10:30 a.m.

• Surveillance video inside CF McCarthy’s shows Read greet O’Keefe warmly. Camerano says they ordered drinks and that he had to leave early to attend to his son.

10:25 a.m.

• Camerano testifies that he and O’Keefe both ordered Bud Lights at CF McCarthy’s. He says Read then joined the group and was drinking vodka.

10:10 a.m.

• Jurors are shown home surveillance video showing O’Keefe and Camerano moving cars so Read could pull into O’Keefe’s garage before the snowstorm arrived.

• They later headed to CF McCarthy’s in Canton for drinks. Surveillance video shows O’Keefe and Read together inside hours before his body was found.

9:50 a.m.

• Camerano says Read lived at O’Keefe’s home, but not on a full-time basis.

9:40 a.m.

• The jury is shown texts between Camerano, his wife, and O’Keefe.
• The prosecution presents text messages of the two congratulating each other on Jan. 28, 2021, after Camerano’s daughter and O’Keefe’s niece were both accepted to Bishop Feehan.

9:30 a.m.

• Michael Camerano, a friend of John O’Keefe, takes the stand. He has two kids who would play with O’Keefe’s niece and nephew.
• Camerano lived 5 minutes from O’Keefe. His daughter and O’Keefe’s niece were in 8th grade together.

9:15 a.m.

• Prosecution shows new dashcam video that shows Read’s Lexus SUV in O’Keefe’s driveway a couple of hours after his body was found in snow in Canton.

• Ring video also shows officers conducting a well-being check.
• Canton Lt. Rae said he left after 5 minutes and went back to the police station. No one was home after he rang the doorbell.

9:10 a.m.

• Canton Police Lt. Charles Rae, who went to check on O’Keefe’s niece and nephew, returns to the stand

PREVIOUS STORY:

Testimony on Wednesday is expected to start with a new dashcam video that shows Read’s Lexus SUV in O’Keefe’s driveway a couple of hours after his body had been found in the snow in the front yard of 34 Fairview Road in January 2022.

The prosecution has previously said that daylight video shows damage to Read’s taillight. In court Tuesday, the defense continued questioning why evidence of the broken taillight wasn’t found until days later.

Tuesday’s testimony focused on a busted cocktail glass and a piece of broken taillight in the snow. The prosecution said the taillight and other evidence led them directly to Read.

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Karen Read

The defense has argued that Read is a scapegoat for a well-connected group of people, who were at a party inside 34 Fairview Road in Canton on the night of O’Keefe’s death. Read’s attorneys have long argued that O’Keefe was beaten up inside the home and then dragged outside.

Prosecutors claim Read struck O’Keefe with her luxury Lexus SUV while making a three-point after dropping him off at the home. They allege she fled the scene and left him to die in a blizzard in January 2022.

Photos of items that police used to store and collect evidence at the scene of O’Keefe’s death, including red solo cups, a leaf blower, and a grocery bag, were shown in court on Monday.

Last week, jurors traveled to Canton for a tour of the crime scene outside retired Boston Police Officer Brian Albert’s former home, where the body of O’Keefe was found.

Also, a focus during last week’s testimony was Read’s demeanor and the words she uttered at the crime scene. Testimony from two police officers and two firefighters described Read as distraught and screaming and that O’Keefe had no pulse and wasn’t breathing.

RELATED VIDEO:

Witness testimony in Karen Read murder trial from Tuesday, May 7, 2024

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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