Karen Read: Jurors get look at wounds of cop boyfriend she's accused of killing

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Editor's note: This page contains a summary of updates on the Karen Read retrial for Thursday, May 15. For the latest updates on the Karen Read trial, visit Paste BN's coverage for Friday, May 16.

Jurors at the Karen Read murder trial in Massachusetts got the closest view yet of the battered body of the man at the heart of the case - a cop whom prosecutors say was hit with Read's SUV and left for dead.

Prosecutors projected photos of the bloodied and bruised body of Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe, 46, as they continued to argue that Read, 45, hit her boyfriend with her black Lexus in a drunken rage and left him in the snow.

Read’s lawyers say she was framed for the death that happened in January 2022 outside the Canton, Massachusetts home of a fellow Boston cop.

O’Keefe’s wounds are a key point in the trial which hinges on the question of whether he was hit by Read or was hurt some other way. Read’s lawyers have previously argued O’Keefe was beaten by other cops and that some wounds came from an animal attack.

Prosecutors called Massachusetts Medical Examiner Irini Scordi-Bello to testify about the wounds found all along the officer’s body. Some were consistent with a fall backward, she said. But cuts to his arm, eyelid and nose are not evidence of a fall and “could be consistent” with a punch, according to Scordi-Bello.  

He died from blunt force trauma and hypothermia, Scordi-Bello said, based on the autopsy.

The medical examiner’s testimony about O’Keefe’s wounds comes at a point where jurors have already heard about Read’s drinking the night before O’Keefe died, a bombshell admission Read allegedly made to first responders and a day after jurors saw the damaged state Read’s vehicle was in after O’Keefe’s death.

The Norfolk County case is Read’s second trial over O’Keefe’s death. A trial in 2024 ended in a hung jury. The years-long whodunnit legal saga has garnered massive intrigue from true-crime fans across the country, spurring an array of podcasts, movies and television shows.

Here's what else happened on Day 16 of the trial out of Dedham, Massachusetts.

Jury dismissed, questions emerge over new information

Judge Beverly Cannone dismissed the jury for the day a few minutes before 4 p.m. to hear arguments from the defense team about new information they received from the forensic company Aperture about the infotainment system in Read's Lexus.

Amended data from the system shows a time that is a few seconds different from the original, defense attorney Robert Alessi said. Even though it is small, the change alters the timeline analysis and the defense's case, Alessi told Cannone. He asked that the report be excluded from the trial.

Prosecutors are pushing for the information to be included. They argue the data does not change the analysis. They said it is an example of the variance between the clock on the Lexus and an iPhone.

Prosecutors also asked for more time to review new materials from the engineering and crash reconstruction firm ARCCA they received on May 7. The prosecution requested that the Aperture witness testify after the ARCCA witnesses. The defense said granting that request would be an "extraordinary situation."

Are O'Keefe's injuries consistent with a motor vehicle accident?

Read’s defense team appeared to question whether O’Keefe could have died in a different location from where his body was found. Attorney Robert Alessi asked Scordi-Bello about whether hypothermia can be caused by something other than cold weather.  

She suggested sepsis, or the body's extreme response to an infection, would be among the only other reasons for hypothermia other than cold exposure. Scordi-Bello told defense attorney Robert Alessi that she does not come up with “hypothetical scenarios” for how a person could have died and relies instead on anatomical evidence combined with police reports. 

Asked by the defense about whether the injuries to O’Keefe’s head were consistent with falling backward on cold, frozen ground, Scordi-Bello said they were.  

“A fall backwards could very well produce that injury,” she told the jury.  

O'Keefe, however, would not have sustained cuts to his right arm, eyelid and nose from falling backward and hitting his head, Scordi-Bello confirmed. The injuries to O'Keefe's eye "could be consistent" with a punch, she said.

Ulcers found in O'Keefe's stomach supported the medical examiner's conclusion that O'Keefe died partially from hypothermia. Scordi-Bello told the defense it was "possible" the ulcers could have been caused by alcohol consumption.

During the prosecution's redirect, Scordi-Bello said she became aware during her assessment that Read allegedly said "I hit him, I hit him, I hit him," on the morning O'Keefe's body was found. She also was told that pieces of Read's taillight were found by O'Keefe's body.

Prosecutor Hank Brennan grilled Scordi-Bello about whether the bruise on O'Keefe's knee and injuries to his eyes could have been consistent with a "sideswipe" and cuts from glass. She said "anything is possible."

O’Keefe cause of death: Blunt head trauma, hypothermia  

Scordi-Bello testified about injuries found on O’Keefe’s body during an autopsy, including a cut on his right upper eyelid, scrapes and tears on his nose, bloody and swollen eyelids, and cuts ranging from a few millimeters to up to seven centimeters on his right arm.  

O’Keefe also had abrasions on the back of his head and on the outside of his right knee. None of the scrapes, she said, were more than skin-deep. His ribs appeared to be fractured from resuscitations attempts. He died from blunt force trauma and hypothermia, Scordi-Bello said, based on the autopsy. The medical examiner’s office could not determine whether his death was the result of an accident, homicide or something else. O’Keefe’s body temperature had dropped to 80.1 degrees, from a normal temperature of roughly 96.8 degrees. 

Based on her autopsy, Scordi-Bello said O’Keefe died from blunt force trauma and hypothermia. The medical examiner’s office could not determine whether his death was the result of an accident, homicide or something else. 

At some point after the blunt force trauma to his head, O’Keefe likely fell unconscious, Scordi-Bello said.  

Defense questions Proctor’s role in evidence collection 

Hartnett confirmed during cross-examination she reviewed pieces of O’Keefe’s clothing collected from the crime scene by Michael Proctor, the lead investigator who sent crude text messages while investigating O’Keefe’s death. Proctor was fired in March for unrelated reasons.  

Read’s attorneys appeared to question whether Proctor properly handled the evidence. During earlier testimony from a Massachusetts state trooper, Read’s defense seemed to raise the possibility that Proctor planted pieces of her taillight at the crime scene. 

How to watch the Karen Read trial  

CourtTV has been covering the case against Read and the criminal investigation since early 2022, when O'Keefe's body was found outside a Canton, Massachusetts home. 

You can watch CourtTV’s live feed of the Read trial proceedings from Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Massachusetts. Proceedings begin at 9 a.m. ET.