Thursday marks Day 16 of witness testimony in Karen Read’s murder retrial.
Read, 45, is accused of striking 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.
NOW ON THE STAND: Dr. Irini Scordi-Bello, Office of the Chief Medical Examiner
PREVIOUSLY ON THE STAND: Maureen Hartnett, Massachusetts State Police forensic scientist
Dr. Irini Scordi-Bello, of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, was called to the stand Thursday morning after Maureen Hartnett, a Massachusetts State Police forensic scientist, was dismissed.
Scordi-Bello testified about conducting an autopsy on O’Keefe to determine his cause and manner of death. She pointed out that her office is independent from divisions like the state police and Norfolk District Attorney’s Office.
“There was bleeding or hemorrhage, as we call it, on the eyelids as well as swelling,” Scordi-Bello told the court. “On the back side of the arm, which would be in the back of the diagram, there were multiple abrasions, which I described as ranging from 2 to 3 millimeters and up to seven centimeters.”
Scordi-Bello couldn’t provide an opinion on how the abrasions on O’Keefe’s arm, the bruise on his hand, or the scrape on his right eye occurred.
Scordi-Bello told the court that O’Keefe’s cause of death was blunt force trauma, blunt impact injuries, with hypothermia as a contributing factor. She also said his manner of death was undetermined.
Hartnett on Wednesday testified that she analyzed the clothing O’Keefe was wearing when he was found on Jan. 29, 2022, as well as Read’s Lexus SUV.
The SUV had a broken tail light, scratches, a dent, glass on the bumper, and a single strand of hair, according to Hartnett.
Defense attorney Robert Alessi told the jury the Lexus traveled 60 miles in bad weather before Hartnett analyzed it at the Canton police station. He also asked how the hair and glass didn’t fall off, as she found both at the same time.
“That hair wasn’t secured to that panel, was it?” Alessi asked. “No,” Hartnett responed.
“It, in fact, wasn’t secured in any way on that quarter panel. Right?” Alessi continued. “That’s correct,” Hartnett said.
Alessi then said, “It wasn’t taped.” It wasn’t glued. It wasn’t stapled. It was not affixed in any way whatsoever." Hartnett responded, “No.”
Also on Wednesday, O’Keefe’s 17-year-old niece wasn’t filmed because of her age, but she described being woken up by Read less than two hours before O’Keefe’s body was found in the snow outside 34 Fairview Road in Canton.
“The defendant came into my room,” the teen said, who was 14 at the time of her uncle’s death. “She told me my uncle never came home.”
O’Keefe’s niece added, “She was very, like, frantic. ”The defendant was asking what could have happened and asking, ‘Could I have done something?’"
The teen also told the court that she heard O’Keefe say that his relationship with Read had changed in the weeks leading up to his death.
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.
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