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DEDHAM, MASS. (WHDH) - Jennifer McCabe returned to the witness stand in the ongoing Karen Read murder trial Tuesday, sitting for cross examination after initial testimony on Friday and a long weekend away from Norfolk Superior Court.
McCabe’s husband, Matthew, finished his testimony on Friday. Jennifer took the stand after Matthew and finished direct examination with Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally moments before court adjourned for the day.
After a day off from court proceedings on Monday, Jennifer faced intense cross examination through all of Tuesday’s proceedings.
The McCabes were at a party at the home of Brian and Nicole Albert on Fairview Road in Canton the night Boston police officer John O’Keefe died. The next morning, Jennifer was one of the women who, along with Read, found O’Keefe unresponsive in a snowbank outside the home.
Prosecutors claim Read, who was dating O’Keefe, killed her boyfriend by running him over with her SUV as she dropped him off at the party after a night of drinking.
Read has pleaded not guilty and her defense has said she is being framed, saying O’Keefe actually died after a fight inside the Alberts’ house.
In its theory, the defense has claimed the McCabes were involved in a cover-up after O’Keefe’s death, which the McCabes have denied.
Read greeted by supporters as she returns to courthouse
Read reentered the courthouse in Dedham moments before 9 a.m. Tuesday.
Under sunny skies, she was greeted by a crowd of supporters holding signs.
A fixture of Read’s high-profile trial, supporters have been ordered to stay outside a 200-foot buffer zone around Norfolk Superior Court, itself.
Judge Beverly Cannone first ordered the buffer zone in an effort to limit jurors and witnesses from being influenced by demonstrators’ messages. Then, the state Supreme Judicial Court on May 2 upheld Cannone’s order, ruling that the buffer zone could remain in place.
As a fourth week of trial proceedings got underway Tuesday, the day’s crowd of supporters outside the buffer zone still numbered more than a dozen.
Defense expected to focus on Google search from Jennifer McCabe
Jennifer on Friday described frantic moments as she and Read searched for O’Keefe after Read woke up and could not find her boyfriend on the morning of Jan. 29, 2022.
Jennifer said Read told her she and O’Keefe got into a fight and she left him at the bar where the couple was spending time on Jan. 28.
Jennifer said Read on multiple occasions in-person and in phone calls screamed “Did I hit him?”
Once they found O’Keefe’s body, Jennifer said, she heard Read tell an EMT “I hit him.”
As first responders were moving O’Keefe to the ambulance, Jennifer said, she Googled “How long does it take to die in the cold?”
Jennifer said she made the search at Read’s request after they found O’Keefe.
As the case continues, though, Jennifer’s search and its timing are expected to be a focus for the defense.
Jennifer McCabe faces cross examination
Defense attorney Alan Jackson began cross examining Jennifer on Tuesday.
As questioning continued, Jennifer said she never heard Read’s engine revving while she was sitting in the Alberts’ house that night and she never heard any screaming.
She said O’Keefe never entered the home and said she did not see a body as she left the party at the Alberts’ house near 2 a.m.
“When you looked out that window with that clear and good view, there was no body, was there?” Jackson asked.
“I never saw a body,” Jennifer said at one point. “I wish I had.”
“Sounds like that’s a little rehearsed,” Jackson responded.
“Not at all,” Jennifer said.
In another exchange, Jackson said “The truth of the matter is you’ve manufactured this new story to the jury because it helps you out.”
Jennifer responded — “Absolutely not.”
At another point, Jackson sparred with Jennifer over why she never told a grand jury Read said “I hit him” at the scene.
“You know that you never testified to that to the grand jury in April of 2022,” Jackson said. “Don’t you?”
“I don’t know that as a fact,” Jennifer said. “I would have to reread 222 pages, or however long it is.”
Later, Jackson asked about Jennifer deleting calls she made from her phone to O’Keefe around the time prosecutors say he was murdered.
“You sanitized your phone because you didn’t want the police to know who you had been calling or the fact that you had been calling John O’Keefe’s phone incessantly,” Jackson said. “Correct?”
“Incorrect,” Jennifer said. “I willingly turned over my phone.”
“After you deleted your phone call logs,” Jackson said. “Correct?”
“Absolutely not,” Jennifer said.
As Read and her defense team left the courthouse, Jackson was asked by 7’s Steve Cooper how he felt the day’s proceedings went.
“Phenomenally well,” Jackson said.
Asked a similar question, Read responded similarly — “Very well.”
Jennifer remained on the stand when proceedings ended for the day near 1 p.m. She is expected to return to the stand for more cross examination on Wednesday.
This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.
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