CANTON, Mass. — Jurors in the Karen Read murder trial briefly stepped outside Dedham’s Norfolk Superior Court on Friday morning and traveled to Canton for a tour of the crime scene where the body of Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe was found on a stormy winter night.
All 12 jurors in the case took a 20-minute bus ride south to Canton for a court-conducted view of 34 Fairview Road. They were asked to take detailed notes on everything they were shown.
Prosecutors say Read dropped O’Keefe off at a house party at that address just after midnight on Jan. 29, 2022. As Read made a three-point turn, she allegedly struck O’Keefe and drove away, leaving him to die as a blizzard raged.
Massachusetts State Police troopers blocked off the neighborhood while jurors got an up-close look at the luxury Lexus SUV Read was said to be driving when the alleged incident unfolded.
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Video and photos of the LX 570 in question showed some small rusted imperfections on the rear of the vehicle and a missing rear right turn signal assembly.
Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally had asked the jurors to take note of the vehicle’s center console, which appeared to have been stripped of various accessories.
The state is using Read’s cracked right taillight as evidence she ran down O’Keefe in reverse with her SUV after a night of drinking.
Lally tells jury there will be a vehicle at the view and he wants them to take note of the center console in the vehicle.
— Ted Daniel (@TedDanielnews) May 3, 2024
Read’s lawyers plan to argue during the trial that someone other than Read was responsible for O’Keefe’s death but have only floated a theory that he was beaten inside 34 Fairview Road and left for dead outside.
The defense has criticized investigators for failing to search the house where the party was held to see if a fight had occurred and argued his injuries were consistent with being beaten up.
Brian Albert, a retired Boston Police Officer, was living at the home at the time of O’Keefe’s death. O’Keefe was found on Albert’s front lawn hours after Albert hosted a gathering that O’Keefe was invited to.
Albert went to “great lengths to dispose of critical evidence by making sure, Chloe, his family dog of seven years, simply disappeared,” the defense has alleged. Albert later sold the family home.
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