Karen Read supporters, critics clash outside court as jurors fail to reach verdict in police officer's death
Karen Read trial: Jurors begin deliberations
The fate of Karen Read was handed Tuesday to jurors who must decide whether she ended a rocky romance by angrily striking her boyfriend with her SUV and leaving him mortally injured in the snow, or is a victim of police corruption, framed to cover up a fight at the home of his fellow Boston officer.
Supporters and critics of Karen Read, on trial for the murder of John O’Keefe, her onetime Boston Police officer boyfriend, clashed Friday outside a Massachusetts courthouse where jurors failed to reach a verdict in the case.
"Free Karen Read!" supporters shouted as detractors held signs that said "Rot in Jail" and "Guilty."
"You look at the evidence, the fact that the laws of physics dictate that he wasn’t touched by a car," a supporter of Read, 44, told Fox News Digital Friday.
"You have both the state’s (medical examiners) saying that the injuries were not due to a car accident, and then you have two forensic pathologists that’s for the defense also saying the same thing. The fact that this was brought to trial is ridiculous."
FILE - Karen Read supporters waved goodbye as Reads car left at the conclusion of the third full day of jury deliberations in her murder trial. (Photo by Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
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One of her critics, holding a sign that said "Karen Read Killed a Man," told Fox News Digital, "I feel like in the criminal justice system there never is a smoking gun. There shouldn’t be. It’s the totality of evidence that either exonerates or incriminates someone, and the totality of the evidence points to Karen Read and no one else, from her vehicle data to the victim’s GPS data, to the taillight near the scene, to the taillight in his clothing. The DNA results. Everything points to Karen."
Read's critics claim some of her supporters have harassed O'Keefe’s family.
"Every day, these witnesses are getting death threats. It is just disgusting to John’s memory," Julie Guinto told reporters outside the courthouse.
Her supporters are blaming police "corruption."
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"This is unbelievable. The poor woman has been framed," Michael Ward told reporters. "This not only hasn't been proven, but what's been proven is she's innocent."
Read is accused of angrily plowing into O’Keefe, 46, with her SUV while drunk in January 2022 and leaving him to die in the snow.
Jurors — six men and six women — in the two-month trial are expected to return for a fifth day of deliberations in the Dedham courtroom outside Boston Monday after failing to reach a verdict Friday in the case that has drawn national attention.
Read’s defense team has argued she was framed by colleagues of O’Keefe who killed him and dumped his body.
Many of Read’s supporters have shown up every day of her trial, but Friday was the first day they were confronted by those who believe she’s guilty.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.