DEDHAM, MASS. (WHDH) - Karen Read and her defense team arrived at court in Dedham Monday, as her murder retrial entered its fifth week of testimony.
Read is accused of killing her Boston police officer boyfriend John O’Keefe by hitting him with her SUV and leaving him to die in a snowbank in January 2022. Her lawyers argue she is being framed in a police coverup.
Her first trial last year ended in a mistrial.
DNA expert Nicholas Bradford testified Monday about DNA found on the tail light of Read’s SUV. He said three DNA samples were detected — one of which matches O’Keefe.
Although the other two samples have not been identified, Bradford told the jury there is strong DNA support to rule out Massachusetts State Police Sgt. Yuriy Bukhenik and now-fired Trooper Michael Proctor as contributors.
Digital forensics expert Shanon Burgess was also on the stand. Burgess was tasked with collecting and analyzing system data from Read’s SUV, specifically focusing on a three-point turn and reverse of the vehicle in the early morning hours of Jan. 29, 2022.
He offered the jury a timeline of events. O’Keefe died after spending hours on a snowy Canton lawn, he showed the jury a power point indicating when and where Read and O’Keefe moved in the Lexus after a night of heavy drinking.
Burgess aimed to refute the findings of a defense expert who is expected to testify O’Keefe locked his iPhone roughly 30 seconds after the car moved in reverse outside Brian Albert’s home.
“There was a claim of attempting to synchronize those two clocks that I believe was potentially misleading,” said Burgess.
Burgess said the clock on the Lexus is at least 21 seconds behind the clock on O’Keefe’s iPhone, the defense objected his methods.
When the defense had its chance to cross-examine Burgess after lunch, they honed in on his credentials.
“It states B.S. in mathematics and business administration, correct?” defense attorney Robert Alessi asked.
“That’s what it states there, yes,” Burgess said.
“And you do not have a bachelor of science in mathematics and business administration, do you?” Alessi asked.
“No, I do not,” Burgess responded.
“So, there are two documents about your credentials that are inaccurate, correct?” Alessi asked.
“Yes, they have errors. Yes, that is correct,” Burgess said.
The defense has yet to finish cross-examining Burgess. He is expected back on the witness stand on Tuesday.
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