Family connected to the home where a Boston police officer’s body was found outside in the snow testifies

DEDHAM, Mass. (AP) — A highly anticipated process The case of a woman accused of hitting her boyfriend, a Boston police officer, with her SUV and leaving him dead in a snowbank outside a home entered its ninth day Friday in Massachusetts.

John O’Keefe died on January 29, 2022 in the Boston suburb of Canton.

The case has drawn national attention because the defense claims that state and local law enforcement officials framed her friend Karen Read and released the real killer.

A look at the facts and legal arguments:

WHAT ARE THE FEES?

Karen Read, 44, of Mansfield, Massachusetts, was charged with second degree murderincluding in connection with the death of John O’Keefe, 46. The 16-year police veteran was found lifeless in front of the home of a retired Boston police officer.

After a night of drinking at several bars, Read dropped O’Keefe off at a house party shortly after midnight, prosecutors say. As she made a three-point turn, she struck O’Keefe before driving away, according to prosecutors. Hours later she returned and found him in a snowbank.

Prosecutors are trying to prove Read’s actions were intentional. To that end, Norfolk Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally said evidence would show the couple’s tempestuous relationship had begun to “sour” in the month before O’Keefe’s death and that the two got into arguments.

Read’s lawyers have alleged there was a cover-up involving members of multiple law enforcement agencies. They say O’Keefe was beaten inside the house, bitten by a dog and then left outside.

Did family connections interfere with the investigation?

Prosecutors called the former homeowners Friday to testify about the events that led to O’Keefe’s discovery.

Brian and Nicole Albert, a couple who lived in the Canton home until last year, testified that they met with relatives at a local bar on the evening of January 28, 2022. They said they saw O’Keefe walk in with Read and sit next to Nicole Albert’s sister and husband.

They said people seemed to be having a good time. They did not speak to Read, but Nicole Albert said she saw no signs that Read was under the influence of alcohol. Brian Albert, a retired Boston police officer, said he knew who O’Keefe was and that their relationship was “cordial.”

Both Brian and Nicole Albert said their son would be celebrating his birthday soon. When the bar closed, family and friends gathered inside to pay him a visit. It was snowing outside. They said O’Keefe and Read didn’t come to the house. The group had a few drinks and the Alberts testified that everyone left and went to bed at 2 a.m. on January 29th.

On January 29, Nicole Albert’s sister, Jennifer McCabe, burst into the bedroom between 6 and 6:30 a.m. She appeared hysterical and said, “He’s out in the snow. We found him outside in the snow. We don’t know if he’s okay,” remembers Nicole Albert.

Albert said she replied, “What are you talking about?” and at first thought something had happened to a family member.

The Alberts described themselves and their family members as being in a state of shock.

“It was an incredibly chaotic morning,” said Brian Albert.

The couple spoke at their home with Lt. Michael Lank. Brian Albert said he knew Lank, but not socially.

Did phone calls play a role?

Earlier Friday, another family member, Julie Albert, was questioned by the defense about 67 telephone conversations she had between February and September in 2022 with the sister of the lead investigator in the case, Trooper Michael Proctor. One call was made the day Read was arrested and three calls were made the day she was charged.

Julie Albert is married to Brian Albert’s younger brother Christopher. She also confirmed that she had Proctor’s personal cell phone number and that the two had a brief telephone conversation after she was interviewed by him on February 10. She said she had his number from years ago.

Julie Albert also confirmed that she had given McCabe Lank’s personal cell phone number.

Earlier this week, the defense focused on Lank’s relationship with Christopher Albert, a high school classmate.

Read’s defense team has focused heavily on the connections between the police and the Albert family. They try to argue that those relationships influenced the investigation and blinded state and local law enforcement officials to the possibility that someone else killed O’Keefe.