DEDHAM, Mass. — Karen Read’s murder retrial will enter its 15th day on Tuesday as a new witness is expected to take the stand in Norfolk Superior Court.
Read, 45, of Mansfield, is accused of striking John O’Keefe, her Boston police officer boyfriend, with her SUV and leaving him to die alone in a blizzard outside of a house party at the home of fellow officer Brian Albert following a night of drinking.
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On Monday, jurors once again saw Sgt. Yuri Bukhenik on the stand all day.
Court went later than usual so they could finish questioning him and not bring him back for a fourth day.
Much of the focus was on Read’s Lexus SUV.
Bukhenik says Karen’s right rear taillight was shattered when he and former state trooper Michael Proctor had her Lexus towed to the Canton Police Station.
Read’s attorneys have long suggested the taillight was tampered with and pieces were brought back to the crime scene at 34 Fairview Road in Canton.
In his final line of questioning, defense attorney Alan Jackson asked if Bukhenik ever considered Brian Higgins, the ATF agent who exchanged flirtatious texts with Read, to be a possible suspect in O’Keefe’s murder.
Bukhenik says he never considered Higgins to be a suspect because of the “totality of evidence” he says State Police have that point to Karen Read killing O’Keefe.
Prosecutors allege Read intentionally backed into O’Keefe after she dropped him off at a house party and returned hours later to find him dead. The defense has claimed that she was a victim of a vast police conspiracy and that O’Keefe was fatally beaten by another law enforcement officer at the party.
A mistrial was declared last year after jurors said they were at an impasse and deliberating further would be futile.
Read has pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating under the influence, and leaving the scene of a crash resulting in death.
Get caught up with all of the latest in Karen Read’s retrial.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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