Karen Read’s second murder trial continues with testimony from boyfriend’s mother

The second murder trial of Karen Read, who is accused of causing the death of her Boston police officer boyfriend, entered Day 2 as witness testimony resumed Wednesday.

The second murder trial of Karen Read, who is accused of causing the death of her Boston police officer boyfriend, entered Day 2 as witness testimony resumed Wednesday. Prosecutors say Read backed her SUV into John O’Keefe in 2022 after dropping him off at a party and returned hours later to find him dead. Defense attorneys say she was a victim of a conspiracy involving the police and they plan, as they did in the first trial, to offer evidence pointing to the real killer. Read has been charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter and leaving the scene. A mistrial was declared last year after jurors said they were at an impasse. The second trial has thus far looked similar to the first. It is being held in the same courthouse before the same judge, and dozens of Read’s passionate supporters are again rallying outside. The primary defense lawyers and many of the nearly 200 witnesses will also be the same. Prosecutors are relying on witnesses from the scene in the early days of the trial, counting on testimony from police officers and firefighters who recalled Read making comments that implicated her in the killing. They are also introducing evidence of a broken taillight on Read’s SUV that prosecutors argue was damaged when she hit O’Keefe and possible DNA from O’Keefe found on her vehicle.