A key witness in the Karen Read retrial takes the stand for a second day of testimony. Here’s what we’ve learned so far
CNN
A key witness in the retrial of Karen Read returned to the stand Wednesday for a second day of testimony, as she recounts the hours leading up to the death of Read’s boyfriend John O’Keefe – and the moment the off-duty Boston police officer’s body was found lying in the snow.
A key witness in the retrial of Karen Read returned to the stand Wednesday for a second day of testimony, as she recounts the hours leading up to the death of Read’s boyfriend John O’Keefe – and the moment the off-duty Boston police officer’s body was found lying in the snow. Jennifer McCabe, a self-described “typical” small-town mother to four daughters, is a central figure – to both the prosecution and the defense – in the case against Read, who is accused of striking O’Keefe with her vehicle and leaving him to die outside a Canton, Massachusetts, home in January 2022. McCabe was present for nearly every key moment the night of O’Keefe’s death: first, the gathering of family and friends at a local bar ahead of a snowstorm; then, the after-party at McCabe’s sister’s home; and finally, the search for O’Keefe early the following morning, when his body was found on her sister’s lawn. For prosecutors, McCabe offers a firsthand account of these events, and a window into Read’s “hysterical” behavior that morning. But defense attorneys are sure to use McCabe on cross-examination to raise the specter of wrongdoing by individuals within her sister’s home at 34 Fairview Road. Read’s defense claims she is the victim of a vast cover-up, and they have accused off-duty law enforcement officers inside the home of killing O’Keefe and framing Read. Her first trial ended with a deadlocked jury. She has again pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and leaving the scene of a collision resulting in death. No one other than Read has been charged in O’Keefe’s death. Indeed, McCabe testified Tuesday that O’Keefe never entered the home, though she saw what she believed to be Read’s SUV parked outside. When McCabe texted O’Keefe to ask whether he and Read were coming inside, he never responded, she said.
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