Court video, updates: Day 17 of witness testimony in Karen Read’s retrial

DEDHAM, Mass. — Friday marked Day 17 of witness testimony in Karen Read’s murder retrial.

Read, 45, 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 in Canton at the home of fellow officer Brian Albert following a night of drinking.

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Andre Porto and Ashley Vallier, forensic scientists with the Massachusetts State Police crime lab, were the first witnesses called to the stand Friday after Dr. Irini Scordi-Bello, of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, offered a full day of testimony on Thursday.

Porto told the jury that he conducted DNA testing on the broken drinking glass found near O’Keefe’s body outside 34 Fariview Road, Read’s taillight, and a hair found on the exterior of her Lexus SUV, as well as O’Keefe’s shirt and jeans.

Porto reported finding O’Keefe’s DNA, along with one to two other contributors. The defense wanted to know if the crime lab ever sought to find out who the other contributors of DNA were.

Defense attorney David Yanetti asked, “This was John O’Keefe’s jeans, correct?” Porto answered, “Based on the description, yes.”

Yanetti continued, “So, he was one of the three contributors?” Porto responded, “He was included in the profile, yeah.”

“Who were the other two?” Yanetti pressed. Porto said, “I don’t know, there could be anybody.”

Before Porto and Vallier took the stand, the prosecution played a clip from an ID docuseries interview with Read where she described finding O’Keefe on the ground at 34 Fairview Road with a piece of glass on his nose.

“He had a piece of glass, but perched on his nose, like, just wedged like a splinter would be,” Read said in the clip. “And I just pulled it. And as soon as I pulled it, it just gushed blood down his face.”

Judge Beverly Cannone dismissed the jury for the day around 12:30 p.m. and said that testimony would resume on Monday.

On Thursday, Scordi-Bello told the court that during an autopsy, she found the cause of O’Keefe’s death was blunt impact injuries to the head and hypothermia, however, she wasn’t able to reach a manner of death.

Graphic images were shown in court, but not to the public. He had lacerations to his arm, a bruise on his hand, and bleeding under his eyes.

Day 17 of Karen Read's retrial after medical examiner testifies about John O'Keefe's death

Scordi-Bello claimed O’Keefe’s body temperature was around 80 degrees when he arrived at Good Samaritan Hospital in Brockton on Jan. 29, 2022.

While he did show signs of hypothermia, Scordi-Bello said it’s unclear what killed O’Keefe and was asked if a punch could be to blame.

“Is that injury consistent or inconsistent with a punch?” defense attorney Robert Alessi asked. She answered, “Could be consistent.”

Special prosecutor Hank Brennan pushed back against the line of questioning.

“Did you provide an opinion that it could be consistent with a punch?” Brennan asked. “I did provide that opinion,” Scordi-Bello replied.

After the jury was dismissed for the day, the defense claimed they were given inconsistent evidence by the state pertaining to a timestamp.

The defense claims this is due to O’Keefe’s phone running 30 seconds off.

Judge Cannone said she would evaluate whether or not the defense needs more time to prepare.

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.

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