Karen Read, who was acquitted of murder in June, spoke out in her first sit-down interview in the true crime Podcast Rotten Mango.
Read was accused of hitting and killing her boyfriend, John O’Keefe with her car in January of 2022 during a snowstorm. He was a Boston police officer living in Canton.
The defense claimed she was framed by local law enforcement for his death.
During the two-episode podcast that spanned more than 2 hours, she reflected on the trial, retrial, verdict, and life outside the public eye.
She explained, “Based on his injuries, it looks to me like he got into a fight and fell backwards. Someone in that house killed John O’Keefe.”
Read also spoke on her public image, often criticized for not showing enough emotion or empathy in the courtroom.
“I am out of tears about the tragedy of January 29th,” she said. “I have mourned for months and years before the public ever knew me... I would not cry in front of the O’Keefes. I would not cry in front of the prosecution.”
Read claimed in the podcast she was still dealing with financial issues. She reportedly is living with her parents.
She hopes her case will have an impact on other cases across the state.
Read continued, “I want to make an impact on what people think about politics, about the government, about the dangers of a one-party political system which is what Massachusetts is... No competitions, no checks and balances. It becomes anarchy-like.”
In the podcast released this week, she said she and her team were working on a book.
But life has not been as easy as she anticipated after the well-known case.
She finished, “Every hour, I thought about my freedom and whether I could lose it, and those feelings just don’t disappear when a jury foreman says not guilty.”
Read claimed her book will hopefully be published within the next five years.
Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey, whose office led the prosecution of Read, will not seek reelection this year, he announced Monday.
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