Brain surgeon testifies O’Keefe’s injury came from a fall in Day 20 of testimony in Karen Read Trial

CANTON — A crime lab analyst and a medical doctor took the stand during Day 20 of witness testimony in the Karen Read murder retrial.

Read, 45, of Mansfield, is accused of striking John O’Keefe, her Boston police officer boyfriend, with her Lexus 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.

Before anyone was called to the stand, Judge Beverly Cannone ordered everyone out of the courtroom to address an “issue” with the jury. Cannone didn’t share any details on the nature of the issue.

“An issue has come to my attention that is going to make it necessary that I talk to each one of you individually,” Cannone could be heard announcing.

Judge Cannone cleared the room and ordered the camera off to question jurors.

All 18 jurors returned an hour later to a reminder from Cannone, asking them not to discuss the trial outside of the courtroom.

Karen Read said she could not reveal what the issue was.

“We’ve had these before so just wait for the judge to evaluate and let it play out,” Read said as she left court.

Dr. Aizak Wolf, a Miami brain surgeon t,estified that John O’Keefe’s head injury was from a fall backwards.

“His injuries were very substantial, and it’s more probable than not that at some point he quickly became unconscious,” Wolf detailed.

Asked by prosecutor Hank Brennan whether the injuries were consistent with being attacked with a bat or other object, Wolf said no, because O’Keefe had a “nondepressed skull fracture.”

Wolf said O’Keefe likely lost consciousness quickly but did not die immediately.

Christine Hanley from the Massachusetts State Police lab said she found tiny pieces of taillight in John O’Keefe’s clothes.

“About how how small are we talking about?” defense attorney Alan Jackson asked.

“It’s roughly like the size of a grain of rice,” Hanley explained.

“You saw no blood, no skin, no biological material, no tissue, human tissue or otherwise on any of those pieces that you inspected,” Jackson pressed further.

“I don’t think I noted anything,” Hanley said.

Hanley also analyzed a broken drinking glass from the crime scene.

She said it did not match a single piece of glass found on Read’s bumper

“One piece on the bumper matched a piece found the second week of February by the former trooper Michael Proctor,” Read said.

Court was inititally scheduled for tomorrow – but things have been moving quicker than anticipated so the jury gets a five-day weekend.

Court will not resume until Tuesday.

“I’m going to have a couple of days without an alarm, and without high heels,” Read said.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW

©2025 Cox Media Group