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Day 13 of the trial of a woman accused of murdering her police officer boyfriend in Massachusetts ended on a cliffhanger on Thursday, when a key witness testified to waking up to the sound of screaming on the morning the victim’s body was found.
Karen Read, a financial analyst and former Bentley University professor, is on trial charged with the second-degree murder and manslaughter of Boston police officer John O’Keefe.
Prosecutors allege that Ms Read ran over O’Keefe in her car while drunk, leaving him for dead in the snow outside a fellow police officer’s home in the early hours of 29 January 2022.
Ms Read’s defense claims that she is being framed by police as part of a sprawling cover-up involving prominent law enforcement family, the Alberts.
On Thursday, Matthew McCabe testified that he spent the night before O’Keefe died at a bar with Ms Read, O’Keefe and some other officers, before going back to the Albert home. The next morning, he woke to the sound of screaming.
The testimony came after Ms Read lost her cool with her defense team on Wednesday, rolling her eyes and giving a strong reaction during a break in the trial.
Karen Read was ‘framed’, defence attorneys say
During opening statements on the first day of the trial, Ms Read’s attorney said she was framed for the death of John O’Keefe.
Court ends abruptly for the day
Following Mr McCabe’s testimony of hearing screams in his bedroom on the morning of 29 January 2022, the day John O’Keefe died, the court session ended.
Attorneys had approached the bench to speak with the judge off-mic before she called proceedings to a close for the day.
Matthew McCabe said he woke up to ‘screams’ in bedroom
Matthew McCabe told the court that he had gone to bed with his wife Jennifer McCabe around the same time that night, after getting home from the Alberts’ home.
“I woke up to screams in my bedroom,” he explained before court ended for the day without further questioning.
Karen Read argues she was framed
Ms Read’s attorneys argue she has been framed in a large cover-up, claiming a law enforcement official who investigated the case has personal ties to the family of retired detective Brian Albert, outside whose home O’Keefe was found. Her attorneys also claim O’Keefe’s injuries were consistent with a severe beating, rather than with being struck by a car.
Read more here:
WATCH: Prosecutors believe Karen Read killed John O’Keefe
During opening statements two weeks ago, prosecutors laid out the evidence they say proves Ms Read ran her boyfriend over and left him for dead.
McCabe was at a local bar the night John O’Keefe died
Matthew McCabe explained how he and a group of friends were at the bar until around midnight the night of the alleged murder.
He explained that the group at The Waterfall included his wife Jennifer, along with members of the Albert family: Nicole, Chris and Julie Albert, as well as a few other friends.
At some point later on in the evening, he said Mr O’Keefe and Karen Read showed up, along with other members of the Albert family.
Prosecutors call next witness Matthew McCabe
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has called the next witness to the stand: Matthew McCabe.
Mr McCabe is the husband of Jennifer McCabe and both were at the Alberts’ home on Fairview Road where John O’Keefe was found on 29 January 2022, according to NBC 10 Boston.
He was friends with Mr O’Keefe and Ms Read by extension.
Colin Albert says he had ‘never’ threatened John O’Keefe
Prosecutors asked Colin Albert if he had ever had any issues with the victim, including whether they had argued about women.
The witness replied to each question with “never”.
He was then asked about people writing about him online, which he said began around a year ago.
“People on Twitter, Instagram, social media were just coming at my family, calling us murderers, harassing us, turning up to our doorsteps, our sports games,” he said. “We couldn’t leave the house without people taking pictures of us.”
Defence argues police did not investigate Alberts
The defence presented a photo of Colin Albert with grazed knuckles from February 2022, which he claimed happened when he fell over while with friends.
Defence attorney Alan Jackson said this wasn’t true, instead saying the injury showed the witness had been in a fight around the time the photo was taken, not long after Mr O’Keefe died.
Mr Jackson said police did not do enough to investigate those inside the Alberts’ home on 29 January 2022 and that Colin Albert’s injury backed his assertion that the witness has violent tendencies.
Read has strong reactions during Wednesday’s court proceedings
The incident happened after testimony and Read rolled her eyes and then looked sharply at her lawyers.
Source: independent.co.uk
