Prosecutors at Karen Read's second murder trial on Friday focused on DNA found on items collected from the crime scene and on clothing of her Boston police officer boyfriend.
Read, 45, is accused of backing her SUV into John O’Keefe, 46, and leaving him to die on a snowy night in the front yard of another officer's home after she dropped him off at a party there in January 2022. Her lawyers say she was framed in a police conspiracy and someone inside the home that night must have killed him.
A mistrial was declared last year. Read's second trial on charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter and leaving the scene has so far appeared to follow similar contours to the first.
Police expert details DNA linked to O'Keefe
On Friday, Andre Porto, a forensic scientist who works in the DNA unit of Massachusetts State Police Crime Lab, detailed various items he tested, including the broken rear taillight on Read's SUV.
Porto found three DNA contributors but only O'Keefe was found to be a likely match. He also tested DNA from parts of a broken cocktail glass found in the yard and only O'Keefe was seen as a likely match. Porto also tested a hair found on the taillight. No human DNA was found on a hair recovered from the right rear panel of the SUV.
In the first trial, Nicholas Bradford, of Bode Technology lab in Virginia, conducted DNA analysis and concluded there was “strong support” to indicate O’Keefe’s DNA was found on the hair sample.
Porto also took DNA samples from stains on O'Keefe's jeans, sweatshirt and T-shirt. He found DNA from several sources but the only likely match was O’Keefe.
Under cross-examination by defense attorney David Yannetti, Porto acknowledged that he didn't know the source of the other DNA found on O'Keefe's clothing and other items.
Porto also acknowledged that he was never was asked to test for the DNA on the taillight of Kevin Albert, who is a Canton police officer, or a former Canton police chief. He also said he was not asked to test the broken cocktail glass for the DNA from Brian Albert, a former Boston police officer who owned the house where O'Keefe was found nor Brian Higgins, an ATF agent who attended a party at Albert's house that night.
The defense has suggested that O'Keefe died after getting into a fight at the party and that Albert and Higgins could have been responsible.
Before Porto took the stand, prosecutors played a brief clip from a television interview with Read — something they have done throughout the trial. In this clip, Read recounted how she found a piece of glass perched on O'Keefe's nose “wedged like a splinter.” When she pulled the piece of glass, “it gushed blood down his face.”
Doctor testifies about O'Keefe's head injury
Dr. Irini Scordi-Bello testified Thursday that O'Keefe sustained “a severe injury” to his head. Scordi-Bello performed O’Keefe’s autopsy.
Scordi-Bello said the causes of O'Keefe's death were blunt impact injuries of the head and hypothermia. She said the blunt impact injuries were the primary cause.
Scordi-Bello said she could not, however, determine the manner of death to a reasonable degree of medical certainty.
A defense attorney asked Scordi-Bello Thursday if she evaluated in her autopsy whether O'Keefe appeared to have injuries consistent with a motor vehicle. She said she did, and she said she did not find any.
“Yes, I did examine his lower extremities. That is protocol in any case of suspected impact with a motor vehicle,” she said. “I did not see any evidence of an impact site.”
Scordi-Bello also testified that O'Keefe's head injuries could have been consistent with a fall backward.
Defense questions glass, hair found on Read's car
On Wednesday, Read attorney Robert Alessi pressed Maureen Hartnett, a Massachusetts state police forensic scientist, on the hair and glass found on the bumper of Read's vehicle.
Similar to when Hartnett was questioned during the first trial, Hartnett said she observed a dent in the trunk door, scratches on the rear bumper and a broken taillight, as well as what appeared to be a hair next to the taillight and pieces of glass on the bumper.
The hair and a swab used on the taillight were sent to outside labs for DNA testing, said Harnett, who also analyzed O’Keefe’s clothing.
The defense has long questioned the evidence found on the SUV due to the vehicle being driven or towed roughly 60 miles (97 kilometers) in a snowstorm.
While presenting a photo of the glass on the bumper, Alessia noted that two samples of glass were flagged in the picture but asked Hartnett if it was possible that it was actually one sample. Alessi theorized that it could be a reflection of the lone sample.
"Is it more than a possibility?" Alessi asked, which prompted an objection from the prosecution that was sustained by the judge.
Alessi also pushed Hartnett on the hair, showing her different photos depicting different angles of the hair found — noting that the hair appeared to have moved drastically between the two photos.
Hartnett refused to speculate about why or how the hair could have moved.
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