DEDHAM, MASS. (WHDH) - Prosecutors in the Karen Read murder case filed a request to take another look at Read’s SUV as they prepare for a second trial.
Norfolk County prosecutors filed a notice asking for permission to reassemble and reanalyze the multimedia unit and telematics system in Read’s Lexus. Those modules can record data, such as vehicle speed and location.
Read is accused of running over and killing her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe, in early 2022.
Citing a third-party forensic expert, the request claims that “significant” data was likely excluded when the electronics were previously seized and analyzed by Massachusetts State Police detectives.
Prosecutors believe that additional data can still be retrieved to corroborate witness testimony from Read’s first trial. According to court documents, that could include finding out exactly how long Read’s SUV was parked outside the Albert home on Fairview Road that night.
The data could “…assist in identifying the precise locations that the defendant’s Lexus traveled from the time that the defendant struck and killed Mr. John O’Keefe until the time the vehicle was seized,” prosecutors wrote.
The court filing claims that vehicle location data would be more precise than what has been pulled from cell phones and submitted as evidence.
Prosecutors are asking for a hearing and an answer from the judge within the next two weeks. Read is slated to go back on trial in January after her first trial ended in a mistrial.
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