Related
DEDHAM, MASS. (WHDH) - Jurors heard testimony from three new witnesses in the highly-anticipated murder trial of Karen Read Tuesday.
The defense also cross examined a Canton police officer who first took the stand Monday afternoon.
With no court proceedings scheduled Wednesday, Tuesday’s testimony marked the second day in what is expected to be a weekslong trial, with first responders describing their actions and observations immediately after John O’Keefe’s body was found in January 2022.
Read, 44, of Mansfield, has pleaded not guilty to several charges including second degree murder in connection with the death of her boyfriend, O’Keefe, in Canton.
Prosecutors have alleged Read killed O’Keefe, a 46-year-old Boston police officer, by hitting him with her car during an argument and leaving him to die in a snowbank outside the home of a fellow Boston officer.
Read’s defense has said she is being framed, asserting O’Keefe was beaten inside the home of the fellow officer before being left outside. The defense has said a law enforcement cover up ensued involving numerous individuals and agencies.
Jury selection began in the case last week. On Monday, parties gathered in Dedham for opening statements and initial witness testimony from O’Keefe’s brother, Paul; Paul’s wife, Erin; and Canton Police Officer Steve Saraf. After declining to cross examine Paul and Erin, the defense assembled to question Saraf.
Defense cross examines Canton police officer after testimony
Saraf was working overnights the day of the alleged murder. On the witness stand Monday afternoon, Saraf said he arrived on the scene and found Read with blood on her face, seemingly from trying to perform CPR. Saraf said Read was screaming “This is all my fault.”
The prosecution showed video during Saraf’s testimony taken from Saraf’s police cruiser. In the video, Read is heard screaming and walking around frantically.
Asked after court about her experience seeing the video, Read told 7’s Jonathan Hall she has “seen it many times.”
“It’s always difficult,” she said.
Court proceedings were scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Tuesday. With traffic snarling roads around the courthouse, court officers said the trial would start late.
The jury entered the courtroom moments before 9:30 a.m. and cross examination began shortly thereafter. The defense finished its questioning of Saraf near 10:15 a.m. after probing what the defense claimed were discrepancies between Saraf’s grand jury testimony and his testimony on Monday.
The defense also highlighted what it believed were crucial omissions from Saraf’s police report about the day O’Keefe died.
“In April of 2022, for the first time, you attributed the phrase ‘This is my fault, I can’t believe this happened,’ to my client,” said attorney Alan Jackson. “Correct?”
“That’s correct,” Saraf responded.
“Nowhere in your official report did you say that,” Jackson continued. “And nowhere in your interview with Trooper [Michael] Proctor the next day did you say that.”
“That’s correct,” Saraf said again.
“Do you think that was a pretty important omission on your part?” Jackson asked.
“It was an oversight,” Saraf said.
Paramedic describes emergency response in Canton
Fellow Canton Police Officer Stephen Mullaney took the stand as the prosecution’s next witness. Mullaney was the second officer on scene after O’Keefe’s body was found and testified to his memories of the scene.
The defense finished cross examining Mullaney near 11 a.m. Following a brief break in proceedings, the prosecution called Canton Firefighter and Paramedic Timothy Nuttall to the stand. Nuttall was a first responder at the crime scene and remained on the stand until shortly after 12:30 p.m.
Nuttall said he asked Read and two other women a question while he was trying to monitor O’Keefe.
“‘Did anybody see anything? What happened?’” Nuttall said. “There was one individual that replied several times ‘I hit him. I hit him.’”
Nuttall said the woman who said “I hit him” had blood on her face. His description came a day after Saraf, the Canton police officer, said he saw Read with blood on her face.
After court, Read denied saying the exact words Nuttall said he heard.
“I did not,” she said.
Asked if Nuttall was making the story up, Read responded.
“Could I have hit him?” she said.
Back in court, one of Read’s lawyers told the jury Nuttall’s story changed after he initially told a state police investigator he overhead Read say “I hit him” to one of her friends — not directly to him.
“I had heard several times ‘I hit him,’” Nuttall said. “In terms of who that was directed towards, again, [I was] focused on patient care.”
Nuttall testified he did not call the police to tell them what he heard.
Asked outside the courthouse if he could poke holes in Nutall’s testimony, Jackson said “That’s pretty obvious.”
“You heard the testimony,” Jackson said. “We’re not concerned about any of the witnesses. None of the Commonwealth’s witnesses are concerning us.”
Canton Fire Department Lt. Anthony Flematti took over as the prosecution’s next witness before proceedings wrapped up for the day at 1 p.m.
7NEWS legal analyst discusses first day of testimony
Before parties reconvened Tuesday morning, 7NEWS legal analyst Tom Hoopes weighed in on the defense’s decision to not cross examine Paul O’Keefe and Erin.
“If these people helped you, then you don’t ask any questions unless you know for sure they can help you more,” Hoopes said.
Hoopes continued, saying the defense “must think they have something good,” based on its allegations of a cover-up.
“If you’re going to say that to a jury, then you better be able to back it up, or you’re going to have no credibility,” he said.
Hoopes said the first few witnesses were the prosecution’s way of building context for the jury.
Moving forward, he said he expects the prosecution to bring in additional information to build out its case.
“Once they put the scaffolding on the house, then they’re going to start putting in the windows and the doors and everything else,” he said. “Then, they will have witnesses who have meaning and say important things.”
While testimony and cross examination continues in the Read trial, a 200-foot buffer zone will remain in place around Norfolk Superior Court following an order from Judge Beverly Cannone.
This is a developing story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest updates.
(Copyright (c) 2025 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)