Killer or convenient outsider? 'Unexpected celebrity' Karen Read's trial explored in new Fox Nation series

Forty-six-year-old Boston police officer John O’Keefe laid lifeless on the lawn of a colleague’s home in January 2022, dead from blunt force trauma to the head and hypothermia.

His then-girlfriend Karen Read, a former finance professional, stood accused of fatally running him over in a drunken fight before fleeing the scene — but the jury in her case, deadlocked after a 26-hour deliberation, wasn’t convinced.

“I tried to save his life at six in the morning. I was covered in his blood. I was the only one trying to save his life,” Read told a group of reporters at the time. 

She had become an “unexpected celebrity,” of sorts, PopCrime TV host Lauren Conlin said, offering her perspective in Fox Nation’s latest true-crime deep dive, “Karen Read: Killer or Convenient Outsider?” 

Crowds hoisted up signs demanding she be set free, proclaiming her innocence. The widespread defense of someone accused of murder, Conlin added, was unexpected.

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“She’s very compelling,” former NYPD inspector Paul Mauro said. “She genuinely seems perplexed and genuinely upset.”

But was Karen Read John O’Keefe’s killer or just a convenient outsider in the case? Firsthand accounts from the people who best knew the couple – and the case – shed some light on the mystery – the twists and turns of the crime, the trial and what to expect from Read’s retrial – in the Fox Nation series hosted by Judge Jeanine Pirro.

“John and Karen appeared to have a normal relationship, but we don’t know what goes on behind closed doors,” said Conlin. The couple met at a party in the early 2000s and dated briefly, but reconnected during the COVID pandemic and their relationship quickly became serious. 

As a nor’easter barreled toward the town of Canton, Massachusetts, heavy snowfall and gusting winds loomed, but the couple didn’t plan on hunkering down to wait out the storm.

O’Keefe went to a bar with some friends and Karen arrived later. They mingled with another group, left, went to another house to socialize, and the night descended into chaos that ended with O’Keefe dead in a snowbank and a mystery that divided the community.

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Some echo Read’s claim that the blame was pinned on her as part of a massive cover-up, including close friend, Jon Silveira.

He says Read and O’Keefe had a great relationship and the finger had been pointed at the wrong person. 

“She’s just a phenomenal person, a phenomenal friend, someone you could always count on. She’s extremely hard-working. She always does much more than what would be asked,” he said.

“This is a massive cover-up, protecting powerful people, pinning it on an innocent person to destroy her life,” he said. 

But Mauro isn’t convinced. 

“The idea that all of these people got together to frame Karen Read just doesn’t hold water.” 

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Brendan Kane, a close friend of O’Keefe’s, thinks the act was intentional. 

“Do I think she intended to scare him or hit him? I do,” Kane said. “She was mad. She was seeing red.” 

But even after a deadlocked jury, court entanglements for Karen Read could be far from over. Within hours, the district attorney’s office declared their intention for round two. 

What’s next for her? Silveira says “bring it on,” insisting Read will continue to receive support just as she did in the first case. Those in O’Keefe’s corner want another shot at a conviction, a chance for closure so his family can finally grieve.

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