DEDHAM, MASS. (WHDH) - Karen Read was back in court Wednesday amid accusations that she killed her boyfriend, John O’Keefe, who was also a Boston Police officer.
As court proceedings continued, Read’s lawyers went head to head with prosecutors, arguing their client has been framed.
Read, 42, of Mansfield, has been charged with motor vehicle homicide and second-degree murder in connection with O’Keefe’s death in January of last year. She has pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors have said Read and O’Keefe had been out drinking with friends on the night O’Keefe died.
O’Keefe’s battered body was later found in a snowbank outside a Canton home.
While prosecutors have accused Read of running O’Keefe over in her SUV after dropping him off, the defense has suggested other people inside the house where O’Keefe was dropped off beat O’Keefe to death before he was attacked by a dog and dumped outside.
The courtroom in Dedham where Read appeared on Wednesday was packed as representatives for the defense and the prosecution both spoke.
“In the months following John O’Keefe’s death, the dog has been gotten rid of, got rid of the evidence in the basement, got rid of the house, the crime scene itself,” said defense attorney Alan Jackson.
“Your honor, I would submit to the court that evidence is literally being destroyed right under our nose,” Jackson continued.
The prosecution responded, saying the defense’s theory doesn’t make sense and saying Read’s defense team is on a “fishing expedition” in pursuit of a conspiracy theory.
“If they’re all in the house and Mr. O’Keefe gets attacked by a dog and then gets dragged out to the bottom of the lawn and left there for dead, then why do they all testify that no one came into the house?” said prosecutor Adam Lally.
Defense attorneys are seeking autopsy results and cell phone data that they said in a filing last month undermines the prosecution’s case against Read.
Read left the courthouse without a word, leaving her attorneys to speak for her.
“We have made substantial progress in this case to the point where anybody familiar with this case knows that Karen Read is innocent,” defense attorney David Yannetti said.
The judge in this case made no decision on the defense’s request on Wednesday and has scheduled another hearing for May 25.
In the meantime, Read remains free on bail.
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