Jury Near Boston Deadlocks in Murder Case Against Karen Read

The jurors said they were “deeply divided” over whether Ms. Read killed her boyfriend, a Boston police officer; prosecutors said they would try the case again.

A judge in Massachusetts declared a mistrial on Monday in the high-profile murder case against Karen Read, the suburban woman who was accused of killing her boyfriend, a Boston police officer, after a night out drinking.

The circumstances surrounding the death of the boyfriend, John O’Keefe, during a blizzard in 2022 became an obsession for people in the Boston region and a global audience of true-crime fanatics, as well as conspiracy theorists who are certain that Ms. Read has been framed.

The jurors began deliberating early last week, and twice signaled to the court that they were having trouble reaching a unanimous verdict. In a note to Judge Beverly J. Cannone of Norfolk Superior Court on Monday morning, they wrote that they had “fundamental differences in our opinions,” and that “consensus is unattainable.”

The judge then read them last-ditch instructions about the importance of reaching a verdict. But hours later, the 12 jurors declared themselves deadlocked, and Judge Cannone declared a mistrial. Prosecutors said in a statement that they intended to try the case again.

In their final note to the judge on Monday afternoon, the jurors indicated that it was not a matter of a lone holdout.

“Our perspectives on the evidence are starkly divided,” the six men and six women wrote. “The deep division is not due to a lack of effort or diligence, but rather a sincere adherence to our individual principles and moral convictions.”