Killer or Convenient Outsider? The Trial of Karen Read
Karen Read, accused of killing her Boston Police officer boyfriend, is eager for the day when she won’t have to visit a courtroom or wear a suit. Before she returns to the courtroom next month, a new documentary series is giving her the opportunity to tell the American public her side of what happened the night her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, died in January 2022.
The Massachusetts woman is speaking out in an Investigation Discovery (ID) docuseries,
A Body in the Snow: The Trial of Karen Read. The series offers a behind-the-scenes look at Read and her legal team as they attempt to prove her innocence in her 2024 trial. It features a lengthy sit-down with Read and other key voices, including those skeptical of her claims.
“Doing this film is my testimony,” Read says in
A Body in the Snow. “I know the events of that morning, I know what I said and I didn't say, and I haven't been able to say it. It's incredibly frustrating. I want to say what happened exactly as it happened.”
A gripping new docuseries,
A Body in the Snow, has reignited debate over one of Massachusetts' most controversial murder cases. Released less than a month before her retrial begins in April 2025, the series examines the case against Read, who stands accused of killing Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe. Prosecutors argue Read struck O’Keefe with her SUV and left him to die in the snow, while the defense claims she was framed by law enforcement insiders protecting their own.
The Night That Changed Everything
The first episode lays out the night of January 28, 2022, when Read and O’Keefe were out drinking before heading to fellow officer Brian Albert’s house. Read insists she dropped O’Keefe off but never hit him. “I did not drive my car into John. I didn’t reverse it. Did not hit John with my car,” she states unequivocally.
When asked if there was any possibility his death was an accident, she doesn’t hesitate: “There is zero chance this was an accident. There was zero chance John was hit by a vehicle.”
Hours later, O’Keefe’s body was found outside Albert’s home, covered in snow with skull fractures, bruises, and claw-like marks. The prosecution claimed she ran him over and left, playing a voicemail from that night where an intoxicated Read slurred, “John, I f--king hate you! You’re a f--king pervert.”
Read faces charges of second-degree murder, vehicular manslaughter, and leaving the scene of a fatal accident. If convicted, she could receive a life sentence, with additional penalties for manslaughter and fleeing the scene.
A Chilling Accusation
The docuseries also delves into the day after O’Keefe’s death, when Read visited his family. She remembers a moment that changed everything. John’s brother, Paul O’Keefe, described John’s injuries to her: “My brother looked like he went five rounds with Tyson.”
Then, John’s mother, Peggy O’Keefe, leaned over the kitchen island and coldly stated, “I think he looks like he got hit by a car. He looks like he got hit by a car.”
That moment set off alarm bells. Read’s brother, Nathan, who was also present, noticed a shift. “After a couple of minutes, Paul’s cell phone rang, and he left the room. The way he looked at Karen when he came back in that room, it was like time stopped,” Nathan recalls. “Oxygen left the room at that point, and there were some serious looks of guilt thrown at Karen and subsequently at my father and I.”
Read immediately realized she wasn’t welcome. “I could read the room, and I was not wanted there. I looked at my dad and said, ‘I gotta get out of here. They think I did this.’”
The Cover-Up Theory
Read’s legal team alleges that O’Keefe was beaten inside the house and later dumped outside. They point to a deleted Google search from within Albert’s home that read, “Ho[w] long to die in cold?” three hours before O’Keefe was found.
“There is no doubt that someone at 34 Fairview Road knows exactly what happened to John O’Keefe,” said Read’s attorney, David Yannetti. “But instead of investigating, they went straight for the easiest scapegoat—Karen.”
Then there were the text messages from lead investigator Michael Proctor, who referred to Read as a “wack job,” said he wished she would kill herself, and joked about searching her phone for nude photos. He was later suspended, but the damage was done.
A Trial That Became a Media Frenzy
Director Terry Dunn Meurer, who embedded with Read’s defense team for 11 weeks, told
Fox News Digital that one moment stood out to her during filming. “Karen was looking at her computer,” Meurer recalled. “She’s looking at the video of the last evening before John O’Keefe died. She goes, ‘Oh, poor John. He’s not with us anymore. I used to feel sad when I would look at this. But now … I’ve got to save myself.’”
Meurer insisted that Read and her legal team had no control over the final product of the series. While the series includes interviews with some of O’Keefe’s friends, his family and the prosecution declined to participate.
The Mistrial and What’s Next
After nine weeks of testimony, the jury deadlocked, leading to a mistrial in July 2024. Read’s retrial is set to begin on April 1, 2025. Meanwhile, Paul O’Keefe has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against her, which has been delayed until after the retrial.
In an October 2024
Vanity Fair interview, Read addressed the accusations from O’Keefe’s family: “Paul and Peg, if you think I killed John, that means you misjudged me for two years and entrusted two young family members in my care. Then in the blink of an eye, you now think I’m a cold-blooded killer who took away your son?”
Meurer remains doubtful that the full truth will ever come out. “We have bits and pieces and varying stories and versions of stories that have emerged,” she said. “Alcohol played a huge role that night—Karen, John, the witnesses—everyone.”
Read, who never testified in her first trial, uses the series as a way to speak publicly for the first time. “I just want to go away and be alone, I don’t want any more court clothes or any more experts,” she says at the beginning of the final episode. “I just want to be done.”
Where to Watch
Episodes 1 and 2 of
A Body in the Snow: The Karen Read Trial are currently streaming on MAX. Episodes 3 and 4 premiered on Investigation Discovery and MAX on Tuesday, March 18-last night.
With Read’s retrial looming, the docuseries shines a new light on a case that has divided opinions across the country. Whether she’s a murderer or a scapegoat remains the question that will soon be answered.
#KarenRead #JohnOKeefe #TrueCrime #Corruption
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