What you should know about the Karen Read murder trial in Boston

The high-profile trial of a woman accused of hitting her boyfriend, a Boston police officer, with her SUV and leaving him to die in a snowbank finished the sixth week on Thursday.

John O’Keefe, 46, died in the Boston suburb of Canton in the early hours of January 29, 2022. Prosecutors said Karen Read, 44, dropped him off at a co-worker’s house party after a night of drinking, hit him while turning around and drove away.

Read has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and other charges. Her defense team argues that she was framed by someone who beat O’Keefe to death in the house and that the homeowner’s relationships with local and state police tainted their investigation.

A look at the facts and legal arguments:

THE PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE: LAST IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Several witnesses described that shortly before O’Keefe was found that morning, Read asked desperately, “Did I hit him?” or later said: “I hit him.” Others said the couple had a stormy relationship and O’Keefe tried to end it.

Read told authorities she and O’Keefe had argued the morning before he died, state trooper Yuri Bukhenik testified Wednesday. He said Read ended her interview when he asked her to detail what happened after she dropped O’Keefe off. When asked how her SUV’s taillight was damaged, she replied, “I don’t know. It happened last night.”

The damaged taillight was the focus of much of the testimony this week, with investigators describing where and when they found several pieces of clear and red plastic in the snow near O’Keefe’s body.

Christina Hanley, a forensic scientist with the Massachusetts State Police crime lab, testified she analyzed small amounts of clear and red plastic material she took from O’Keefe’s clothing. She said the materials matched in color and other characteristics to a portion of the taillight of Read’s SUV that she had examined. She said they could have come from the taillight or from another source with the same characteristics.

The defense: sloppy or suspicious handling of evidence

Read’s lawyers have claimed that O’Keefe was beaten in the house, bitten by a family dog ​​and then left outside. They have portrayed the investigation as sloppy and undermined by the investigators’ relationship with police officers at the house party.

The defense argues that investigators focused on Read because she was a “convenient outsider” who kept them from considering other suspects. The suspects they have incriminated so far include Brian Albert, the owner of the house where O’Keefe died, his nephew Colin Albert and Brian Higgins, a federal agent who was also at the party.

On Monday, Read’s attorney suggested that glass fragments found on the bumper of Read’s SUV and a hair found on the outside of the vehicle may have been placed there. Maureen Hartnett, a state police forensic scientist, testified that the items were “situated” on the SUV, even though it had been driven 50 miles in a snowstorm and towed.

The defense also raised allegations of evidence tampering when questioning Lt. Kevin O’Hara, a state police trooper who searched the property hours after it was unlocked. On Thursday, the defense questioned Bukhenik about security camera videos of the SUV after it was seized by police. Read’s attorney, Alan Jackson, highlighted a clip of video that showed someone “loitering” around the taillight and asked Bukhenik if parts of the video appeared to have been deleted.

“I can’t say what happens to the video,” he replied.

Bukhenik also reviewed O’Keefe’s security camera footage showing Read’s SUV pulling out of the driveway early on the morning of Jan. 29. The defense claims Read’s taillight was damaged when it struck O’Keefe’s car as she drove off to look for him. Bukhenik acknowledged that the video appears to show the rear tire of O’Keefe’s vehicle wobbling slightly as the SUV backs up toward it. He previously testified that authorities found no damage or debris on or around O’Keefe’s car.