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Defense: Wounds suffered by BPD officer on night of death were from dog, not fight with girlfriend

DEDHAM, Mass. — The wounds suffered by Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe on the night of his death were the result of a dog attack, not a fight with his girlfriend, Karen Read, defense lawyers claimed Wednesday.

Read is charged with murder in O’Keefe’s death.

Below is a highlight of evidence presented by the defense and prosecution in court:

UPDATE (3 p.m., May 3, 2023)

Judge sets a return date of May 25 for Karen Read to return to court after the defense claimed Boston Officer John O’Keefe suffered wounds in a dog attack on the night of his death in January 2022. Prosecutors responded to the defense’s claims, calling it a " fishing expedition.”

UPDATE (2:45 p.m., May 3, 2023)

Jackson fired back at Lally, saying the defense’s argument is not a fishing expedition. He added that O’Keefe “looked like he had gone 10 rounds with Mike Tyson.”

UPDATE (2:30 p.m., May 3, 2023)

Lally called Read’s defense team’s argument the “very epitome of a fishing expedition.” He added that none of the medical professionals notes bite marks or evidence of a fight.

“Arm injuries have always been described as blunt force trauma, not road rash.”

UPDATE (2:15 p.m., May 3, 2023)

Prosecutor Adam Lally says he’s filed the appropriate paperwork to expedite testing and evidence should be from the lab and produced by early May.

Lally blamed the defense for not responding to emailed questions about a strand of hair he says was found on Read’s taillight and that investigators are trying to see if the DNA matches O’Keefe.

Another member of Read’s legal team, Alan Jackson, spoke about motions to get documents from Canton Animal Control, alluding to autopsy photos that he said show “claw marks and bite marks from an animal.”

Jackson said the defense hired a medical examiner who “concluded with certainty” that O’Keefe’s arm wounds were from an animal attack, likely from a dog that was present at Albert’s home on the night of the alleged murder.

Jackson said the Albert family registered the German shepherd, Chloe, in 2019 and that it was “re-homed” out of state in May 2022.

UPDATE (2 p.m., May 3, 2023)

The legal team defending a Mansfield woman charged with killing her Boston police officer boyfriend asked the state to turn over evidence in his death investigation and stated that their client has been “falsely accused” in the murder case.

Karen Read’s lawyer, David Yannetti, asked for prosecutors to turn over Officer John O’Keefe’s clothing, autopsy samples, and data from the SUV Read was driving when authorities allege she was driving on the night O’Keefe was struck outside of Brian Albert’s Canton home and left to die in a blizzard.

Yannetti added that video from the Canton Public Library would show Read’s taillight intact after the prosecution claimed she hit O’Keefe with it.

Jackson said the defense hired a medical examiner who “concluded with certainty” that O’Keefe’s arm wounds were from an animal attack, likely from a dog that was present at Albert’s home on the night of the alleged murder.

Jackson said the Albert family registered the German shepherd, Chloe, in 2019 and that it was “re-homed” out of state in May 2022.

UPDATE (1:50 p.m., May 3, 2023)

Karen Read walks into Norfolk District Court court for a motion hearing.

Previous story below

The case against a Mansfield woman accused of fatally striking her Boston police officer boyfriend and leaving him to die in a blizzard outside of a home in Canton last year returns to court Wednesday with the prosecution and defense expected to release new details.

A motion hearing is slated to happen in Norfolk District Court in Deadham in the murder case against Karen Read, who prosecutors say struck Officer John O’Keefe with her SUV in January of 2022 and left him in the snow. Read’s defense team has argued that she’s being framed and O’Keefe’s death was some sort of cover-up.

Read’s lawyers say autopsy photos show O’Keefe was not hit by a car, but was severely beaten and had marks on his arms that appear to be dog bites. They also claim that O’Keefe’s phone shows he went inside the home and traveled three flights of stairs inside the house.

According to prosecutors, the medical examiner who performed an autopsy on O’Keefe detailed that she “observed no signs of an altercation or fight from her examination” and went on to describe his “right arm injuries as scratches caused by a blunt object.”

The defense says one of the witnesses made an incriminating Google search hours before she claimed O’Keefe’s body was discovered.

In a filing Monday, prosecutors responded for the first time to multiple claims made by Read’s team, saying that the Google search “Ho(w) long to die in cold”, did not occur at 2:27:40 a.m.”

In fact, in the new filings, the prosecution argues that the defense incorrectly interpreted the cell phone data. People inside Brian Albert’s Canton home told police O’Keefe never came inside.

Read’s defense disputes that claim, saying their data pulled from O’Keefe’s phone shows not only did he go inside but he traveled 3 flights of stairs once in the house.

The prosecution has an answer for that too.

In the records released on Monday, prosecutors say their data shows O’Keefe hadn’t even arrived at the house when that movement on his phone was recorded, saying “Mr. O’Keefe’s phone would have (been) ascending/descending within the Fairview residence, prior to his arrival.”

Last week, 25 Investigates reported that the cause of O’Keefe’s death was never determined.

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

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