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DEDHAM, MASS. (WHDH) - Jurors heard from a state police homicide detective and a pair of forensic scientists from the state police crime lab as the Karen Read murder trial marked its 20th day of testimony Wednesday.
Taking the stand near 12:30 p.m., Trooper Sgt. Yuriy Bukhenik followed testimony from state police crime lab workers Ashley Vallier and Christina Hanley.
While on the stand, Bukhenik showed jurors the clothing Boston police officer John O’Keefe was wearing the night he died, prompting tears from at least one person in the courtroom.
Read is facing charges including second degree murder after prosecutors said she hit O’Keefe with her SUV and left him to die after dropping him off outside the Canton home of Brian and Nicole Albert.
O’Keefe was dating Read when he died.
Read’s defense has said she is being framed, saying O’Keefe was actually beaten to death during a party inside the Albert home.
State police forensic scientist continues testimony
Vallier first testified on Monday as the third in a series of witnesses who work for the Massachusetts State Police.
During testimony, jurors saw photos of damage to Read’s SUV and pictures of broken tail light plastic found at the crime scene in Canton.
Back on the witness stand Wednesday, Vallier viewed more pictures of broken tail light plastic and explained her process for examining such evidence.
Vallier said she is able to look at broken edges of objects to see if they fit together, “kind of like a jigsaw puzzle.”
The prosecution showed pictures of a reassembled tail light cover from Read’s SUV and Vallier said she concluded the pieces were “at one time together as a larger unit.”
On cross examination, defense attorney David Yannetti asked Vallier which state trooper delivered the evidence in this case to the state police crime lab where she worked.
After initially saying she did not know what happened to the evidence before it came to the lab, Vallier checked her records and said it was State Police Trooper Michael Proctor who submitted the evidence.
The defense has frequently questioned witnesses about Proctor as it seeks to bolster its allegations of a cover-up and frame job.
Questioning Vallier, Yannetti said some of the pieces of plastic that Vallier examined were found nearly two weeks after O’Keefe died.
Yannetti elicited additional testimony from Vallier, who said a piece of the tail light was missing after her reconstruction efforts.
New state police crime lab worker testifies
After Vallier, Christina Hanley testified next.
Hanley said she uses specialized equipment to analyze samples of evidence. In the Read case, she said she examined four samples of glass, including a drinking glass found by O’Keefe’s body, clear pieces of glass recovered from Read’s bumper, pieces of glass found in the Alberts’ yard, and additional glass found in the road outside their home.
On cross examination, defense attorney Alan Jackson asked Hanley about the chain of custody for the evidence she examined.
When Jackson mentioned evidence submitted by Trooper Proctor, the prosecution objected, prompting a sidebar discussion.
Hanley completed her testimony near 12:15 p.m.
State police homicide detective begins testimony
Bukhenik said he is a former US Marine who helped handle security for the presidential helicopter around 2004. He became an Attleboro police officer before he eventually started working as a state police trooper and homicide detective.
On the witness stand, Bukhenik testified about meeting with Trooper Proctor at Canton police headquarters as the investigation got underway. He said he then traveled to the crime scene on Fairview Road, where O’Keefe had been found.
Bukhenik said he was debriefed by Canton police Sgt. Sean Goode, who had been at the crime scene.
“We learned that Mr. O’Keefe’s body had been transported to Good Samaritan Hospital,” he said.
Bukhenik said investigators traveled to the home of Jennifer and Matthew McCabe, who had been at the Alberts house the night O’Keefe died.
He said he and Proctor spoke to Brian Albert and the McCabes in separate interviews. Then, they traveled to Good Samaritan in Brockton to view O’Keefe’s body.
Bukhenik said O’Keefe’s clothing lay at the foot of his bed after being cut off by EMTs. He soon spoke about O’Keefe’s injuries, prompting objections from Jackson.
Having already seen photos of O’Keefe’s clothing, jurors on Wednesday saw the actual shirt O’Keefe wore on the morning of Jan. 29.
Bukhenik pulled O’Keefe’s shirt from a taped evidence bag and helped it up in the courtroom. Bukhenik also displayed a Nike sneaker, O’Keefe’s jeans, and his sweatshirt.
O’Keefe’s sister-in-law was seen crying as the process unfolded. His mother had to leave the courtroom.
After a lunch break, Bukhenik showed the jury photos from O’Keefe’s autopsy. Read looked at the screen but showed no visible emotion.
As testimony continued, Bukhenik said he traveled to Dighton to visit Read’s father’s home. He said he saw damage to Read’s SUV’s tail light and interviewed Read. Though she agreed to be interviewed, Bukhenik said, Read did not want to get into too much detail in her conversation with investigators.
Bukhenik said Read told him she had a fight with O’Keefe on the morning of Jan. 28 over what O’Keefe’s niece and nephew, who he was caring for, had for breakfast.
That night, Bukhenik said, Read told him she dropped O’Keefe off at the party at the Alberts’ house. When asked if she saw O’Keefe go into the home, Bukhenik said, Read told him she did not. Bukhenik said Read told investigators she made a three point turn and left the scene.
When Bukhenik asked Read about the damage to her SUV’s tail light, he said she responded — “I don’t know. It happened last night.”
Security video from Read’s father’s home showed the back of her car as police seized it and put it on a flatbed. Bukhenik said the rear tail light was illuminated, with a white light visible at the edge.
Another video showed the tow truck arriving at Canton police headquarters with Read’s car on its flatbed.
This is a developing story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest updates.
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