DEDHAM, Mass. — A former Canton police officer who was working dispatch on the night when John O’Keefe died was combative on the witness stand on Monday after the defense in Karen Read’s murder retrial tapped her to testify.
Read, 45, of Mansfield, is accused of striking O’Keefe, her Boston police officer boyfriend, with her Lexus SUV and leaving him to die alone in a blizzard outside of a house party in Canton at the home of fellow officer Brian Albert on Jan. 29, 2022, following a night of drinking.
Read attorney Alan Jackson was questioning Dever about what she saw inside the Canton Police Department’s sally port, but the exchange quickly turned heated when Jackson asked her if she wanted to be in the courtroom.
Dever responded that she had “no idea why I’m here."
Dever said she could see the video feed inside the sally port garage while working dispatch, but when pressed about what she saw the day she ended up working late due to O’Keefe’s death, she said, “I’m telling you, I did not see anything.”
Dever said she could see the video feed inside the sally port garage while working dispatch, but when pressed about what she saw the day she ended up working late due to O’Keefe’s death, she said, “I’m telling you, I did not see anything.”
Read’s team has long argued that Read was framed and suggested that investigators planted evidence against their client, including possibly Read’s vehicle, which was brought into the sally port garage.
Dever said that she told federal agents in August 2023 that she saw ATF agent Brian Higgins and former Canton Police Chief Kenneth Berkowitz inside the garage. While Dever said she made that comment “in good faith,” she told the jury that she later realized she couldn’t have seen them because the two went into the garage after she had finished her shift.
Dever attributed the “false memory” to multiple media reports surrounding the case and said she retracted her statement.
Dever also confirmed she had a conversation with Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox about the murder case at some point before taking the stand in the retrial, but she denied getting guidance with her testimony.
“He just wanted me to tell the truth,” Dever said of Cox.
Under cross-examination, Dever told the prosecution that she was confused why she was on the stand and said someone on Read’s legal team threatened to charge her with perjury for changing her testimony on who she saw in the sally port.
“How did they respond?” Special Prosecutor Hank Brennan asked on cross-examination.
“They became very aggressive,” Dever said. “Raising their voices, and the one word that I can very definitely remember is they said that they would charge me with perjury.”
Dever added, “They wanted me to say that statement, although I knew at that point it was not an accurate statement given the timeline.”
Jackson denied Dever’s accusation, pointing out that it falls on prosecutors, not defense attorneys, to file criminal charges against people.
“You’re a police officer, correct? Who charges people with crimes?” Jackson asked. “Have you ever seen a defense attorney charge someone with a crime?”
Dever responded," Personally, no."
Dever later admitted to Jackson that she never obtained a report from the FBI documenting her perjury claim.
Outside of court on Monday afternoon, Read had her own thoughts about Dever’s testimony.
“Are you suggesting that Dever may have been coaxed into changing her testimony?” Boston 25 News Investigative Reporter Ted Daniel asked.
“Yes,” Read responded. “When she was called into the commissioner’s office, the story was completely changed. It was recanted.”
Read added, “We subpoenaed her to testify to what she told other authorities and just wanted her to be as honest with us as she was with them. And today, she’s now telling us that was a lie.”
When asked, “You never told her [Dever] to lie?” Read said, “Never.”
Prosecutors allege Read intentionally backed into O’Keefe after she dropped him off at the house party and returned hours later to find him dead. The defense has claimed that she was a victim of a vast police conspiracy and that O’Keefe was fatally beaten by another law enforcement officer at the party.
Read has pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating under the influence, and leaving the scene of a crash resulting in death.
A mistrial was declared last year after jurors said they were at an impasse and deliberating further would be futile.
Reporting from the Associated Press was included in this article.
Get caught up with all of the latest in Karen Read’s retrial.
Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW