Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - Karen Read: 7 Critical Moments from Closing Arguments in Boyfriend Cop Murder Trial

Starting point is 00:00:00 Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this law and crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Ladies and gentlemen, there was a cover-up in this case, plain and simple. Following eight weeks of testimony and more than two years of allegations of a police frame-up by Karen Reed, the defense and prosecution make their final pitches to the jury. I hit him. I hit him. I hit him. I hit him. What's the words of the defendant? Four times. Will Karen Reid be convicted of driving drunk and killing her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O'Keefe? I'm Anjanette Levy, and this is Crime Fix.

Starting point is 00:00:43 It's been a long eight weeks for the Commonwealth, the defense, and John O'Keefe's family in Karen Reid's murder trial. Reid faces charges of second degree murder, motor vehicle manslaughter while driving under the influence, and leaving the scene of a fatal crash. Reid's case has become a sensation of sorts on social media, with people rallying to her defense, believing that she was framed. The Commonwealth says it's simply not so, despite the lead investigator saying terrible, awful things about Karen Reid in text messages on his personal phone. Reid is accused of backing her Lexus SUV into John O'Keefe, going 24 miles per hour while drunk,

Starting point is 00:01:24 and then leaving him to die in the snow after the two had exchanged text messages earlier in the day and argued the relationship was ending, according to the prosecution. In Massachusetts, the defense goes first in closing arguments. The Commonwealth goes last since it has the burden. Alan Jackson started by telling the jury that they'd been lied to throughout the entire trial. Four words that sum up the hopes of those who have tried to deceive you. Conflicts of interest, doesn't matter. Just look the other way. Magic hairs, magic glass, look the other way. Late night calls and Google searches, falsified affidavits,

Starting point is 00:02:06 inverted videos, butt dials galore. Just look the other way. That's what they want. That's what they're counting on. But the uncontrovertible fact is you have been lied to in this courtroom. And your job is to make sure you don't ever, ever look the other way. Your singular duty is to stare down the evidence and do it unflinchingly and do it unwaveringly. You see, you're the only thing standing between Kieran Reed and the tyranny of injustice. It's a job you didn't ask for, probably a job you didn't want. But it's the greatest responsibility we have as citizens here in America. Lest the government stop answering to us and we start answering to the government.

Starting point is 00:02:59 Jackson told the jury that Karen Reid was a patsy for the real killers of John O'Keefe. This falsehood of the tongue leads to that of the heart. And in time, it depraves all its good dispositions. What does that mean? It means that it's been observed that to tell an untruth, to exaggerate, to make a false claim, it's a cancer. One lie begets another, and it's a malignancy that grows over time. And that, folks, is how a cover up is born. That's how a Massachusetts state trooper says in whispered tones to his friends when he thought no one was looking or listening, how he would make a case, how he would make it cut and dry no matter the truth, how he

Starting point is 00:03:41 would make sure to put quote serious charges on the girl. In other words, pin it on the girl. So pinning it on the girl, according to Jackson, was the plan of the lead investigator, Massachusetts State Trooper Michael Proctor. And the case was assigned to one Michael Proctor. You have to believe that when the Alberts found that out, they thought they hit the lottery. They thought they hit the lottery. What are the chances? The department where my brother works, that would have been great to investigate this case, but that department's been recused. That's tough luck.

Starting point is 00:04:19 But the guy who catches the case is Michael Proctor, a guy we go back with for decades. At such a break, they probably thought, when this is over, we need to get that dude a gift. Oh, wait a minute. They didn't think that. They said it out loud. I want to touch briefly on the additional physical evidence or some additional physical evidence presented by the Commonwealth in this case. You'll recall Christina Han hanley she established to a scientific certainty the glass on the bumper which was told to you an opening statement was going to have something to do with this case the glass on the bumper was going to match that cocktail glass she told you unequivocally the glass on the bumper did not match the cocktail glass they came from two different sources the glass on the bumper has nothing to do with the cocktail glass so that glass on the bumper had to get there somehow.

Starting point is 00:05:10 It didn't get there by being broken from the cocktail glass. See the point? It had to get on the bumper somehow. It didn't jump up there by itself. And what's really interesting is that there was one piece on the bumper, one, only one, that matched something else in the case. It was a perfect match to a piece of glass that was supposedly found at the scene. Who do you think had possession of that matching glass? Michael Proctor. So the glass on the bumper had to be placed there.

Starting point is 00:05:42 And the only person who had anything close to matching the pieces that had to be placed there is Michael Proctor. You do the math. Jackson reiterated the defense's claim that Trooper Proctor orchestrated the cover-up to help his friends, the Alberts, who lived at 34 Fairview Road. The defense has claimed through expert testimony that John O'Keefe died as the result of being beaten inside the Alberts' home and that scratches on his arm were caused by the Albert family dog, Chloe. I draw your attention to the waterfall tape. If you want to take another look at it, it's at the 1157 mark. Take a look at that tape. He's just about to leave. Higgins is just about to leave. He points over at John and he motions for him. Come on. Come on. Come with me. And then at 12.20, he texts him, you coming here? This is a person he doesn't really know and didn't really talk to

Starting point is 00:06:38 that entire night. Ask yourself, why was Higgins so insistent that John go to 34 Fairview that night? And then there's that sparring and fighting that he and Brian Albert were engaged in. Of all the things they could be doing, this is what they were doing just minutes before John O'Keefe walked into that house at 34 Fairview. We know that once John actually did walk in the door, it's about two steps, four feet or so, two steps for an adult male to reach that basement door. Remember, everybody was gathered in the kitchen. That's what Nicole Albert said.

Starting point is 00:07:22 And every single witness agreed that at some point, Brian Higgins and Brian Albert left the group and went to another room. Where did they go? Where did they go together? Another important point. Chloe was not upstairs. Brian Albert slipped in testimony that he provided. Quote, I was watching Chloe downstairs monitoring her because of the other people in the house. She's not good with strangers. Remember that testimony. Life doesn't happen biweekly, so why should your payday?

Starting point is 00:07:57 I have a way for the money you earn to be in your hands today. It's called Earn In and they're sponsoring this show. Earn In is an app that lets you access your pay as you work you can get up to $100 per day or up to $750 per pay period it's very simple download earnin and verify your paycheck then you can access up to $100 a day as you work and even leave an optional tip any money you access plus tips are automatically

Starting point is 00:08:26 repaid from your next paycheck. You could use that cash for anything that comes up. Maybe a dinner out with friends, groceries, everyone needs those, right? Maybe you need to pay your rent or pick up some new clothes. It could be anything really. Using Earnin is easy. You can download it in the Apple App Store or in Google Play. More than three and a half million people already use it. Why not join them? So try Earnin today. That's spelled E-A-R-N-I-N when you go to the Apple App Store or Google Play. And when you download the Earnin app, type Crime Fix under podcast when you sign up. Again, type Crime Fix. Make sure you do that under podcast.

Starting point is 00:09:06 Earnin is a financial technology company, not a bank, and it's subject to your available earnings, daily max, pay period max, and location. Log on to earnin.com slash TOS for details. Bank products are issued by Evolve Bank and Trust, member FDIC. Jackson told the jury that O'Keefe was not hit by Karen Reid's SUV. What evidence do they actually have to prove that that SUV ever hit John?

Starting point is 00:09:35 The answer is none. They don't have any. There's no evidence whatsoever that Karen Reid's vehicle ever struck John O'Keefe or that Karen Reid ever wanted to strike John O'Keefe or that Karen Reed ever wanted to strike John O'Keefe. In fact, every single piece of material evidence in this case unequivocally proves the opposite. John went into that house, that SUV was not damaged by hitting John, and John's injuries did not come from being hit by a car. That's what the evidence actually shows. The Commonwealth knows that and they've known it for a long time and Proctor knows that. Because of that, the Commonwealth just resorts to

Starting point is 00:10:11 character assassination and talking for weeks on end about the snow. Then Jackson offered a more detailed account of how he believed O'Keefe was attacked in the Albert home. Commonwealth's best and brightest, Trooper Paul, John absorbed the entirety of the collision, a whole collision, with that three-and-a-half-ton SUV entirely with his right arm, launching him some 30 feet. But amazingly, the arm suffered no break, no fracture, and didn't even get a bruise. So how are those injuries properly explained?

Starting point is 00:10:44 The evidence is simple. John got into an altercation. He was punched. He tried to defend himself by putting his hands up. He may have even scratched his own nose by putting his hands in front of his face to defend himself. His hands were bruised in the covering up. Five minutes, Mr. Jackson. Thank you, Your Honor. As he continued, he got hit, punch went through, and he fell to the ground, fracturing his skull. At some point during that altercation, the dog got a hold of him, and the dog was pulled away. Every single injury is answered. Every single injury is explained by that.

Starting point is 00:11:29 Ladies and gentlemen, given what we know about the facts and the physical evidence in this case, the actual truth in this case, how did this happen? How did we end up here? We ended up here because of relationships, insider trading, playing the who-do-you-know game, and building a tall blue wall. Then it was the Commonwealth's turn. Adam Lally began his closing by reminding the jury of Karen Reid's own words

Starting point is 00:11:53 the morning she found O'Keefe in the snow. I hit him, I hit him, I hit him, I hit him. With the words of the defendant, four times, you are testimony from four different witnesses who overheard and observed those statements from the defendant on January 29th, 2022. You heard testimony from firefighter Timothy Nuttall. He was trying to bag Val Mask, Mr. O'Keefe. He was working on resuscitative efforts to try to save Mr. O'Keefe's life. He asked if anyone saw anything or knew what happened, and the defendant said, I hit him. I hit him. I hit him. I hit him. Firefighter Anthony Famati was asking if anyone had information on why Mr. O'Keefe was there in the snow. The defendant repeatedly said, I hit him.

Starting point is 00:12:46 I hit him. Oh my God, I hit him. Firefighter Katie McLaughlin was tasked by firefighter Flamati with asking for biographical information and for what the cause was of the traumatic injuries that all the firefighters testified that they observed on Mr. O'Keefe. She asked the defendant. The defendant said, I hit him repeatedly. Firefighter McLaughlin asked for clarification. You did what? And the defendant repeated, I hit him. Jennifer McKay stated initially

Starting point is 00:13:21 over the phone when speaking with the defendant that the defendant said, could I have hit him in the car while they're on the phone with Ms. Roberts going from Mr. McCabe's house to Mr. O'Keefe's house? Did I hit him? Could I have hit him? Once on scene, once asked, as Ms. McCabe described by an EMT, for name, age, things like that related to Mr. O'Keefe, what caused the trauma? She indicated in her testimony that the defendant said repeatedly, I hit him. Lally then moved to Trooper Proctor's text messages about Karen Reed. They're basically the elephant in the room. Let me first just address Trooper Proctor. The text messages for Trooper Proctor are unprofessional, they're

Starting point is 00:14:05 indefensible, they're inexcusable. However, as distasteful as those messages are and their content is, I submit they had no bearing whatsoever or impact whatsoever

Starting point is 00:14:21 on the integrity of the entirety of the investigation that Massachusetts State Police collectively, collectively conducted. Lally then reiterated that as terrible as those text messages are, Trooper Proctor said in one that he hoped Karen Reed might take her own life, while on the stand he said it was just a figure of speech. Lally said it is not evidence of a frame-up. As was asked of Trooper Proctor on cross-examination, these were texts from his personal phone that he never thought would see the light of day. He was asked whether or not he ever thought that he would be asked about these in a courtroom, put to him as sort of a safe space, a safe place for him to discuss, if you will. What do you not see in those text messages?

Starting point is 00:15:08 You don't see any discussion or any illusion of any conspiracy, of inframing of the defendant, of any planting of any evidence, no evidence whatsoever. Why? Because it didn't happen. There is no conspiracy. There is no cover-up. There is no evidence of any of that beyond speculation, rampant speculation and conjecture on behalf of the defense. Lally then showed the jury the text messages between Reed and O'Keefe that day.

Starting point is 00:15:38 They showed a relationship ending. There was arguing, and Lally said it all came to an end after a night of drinking when Karen Reed dropped O'Keefe off at 34 Fairview and backed into John O'Keefe. So within minutes of that vehicle's data, going 24.2 miles an hour in reverse for 62 and a half feet, the defendant leaves that voicemail seething in rage as she's screaming, John, I hate you. 1240 to 1242, Ms. McCabe is texting Mr. O'Keefe. She tries calling Mr. O'Keefe, gets no answer. You will call from her testimony around this time frame, about 1240. She was unsure whether the vehicle was actually still out front or if it had gone at that point. But she was looking for John because she had seen the defendant's vehicle in front of the house and no one had come in. So she was wondering where her friend, Mr. O'Keefe, was.

Starting point is 00:16:35 12.55, the defendant texts John, see you later. 12.59, the defendant calls, leaves another voicemail for Mr. O'Keefe. Exhibit 637, he's not elected. John, I'm here with your f***ing kids. Nobody knows what the f***ing white f***ing pervert. But somebody did know where Mr. O'Keefe was, the defendant. Knew exactly where he was. She had driven him there. She struck him

Starting point is 00:17:05 there. She left him and died. Lally basically argued to the jury that there was a cover-up, but it was Karen Reed who orchestrated it. Lally argued that she came up with a cover story for evidence that made her look guilty, including the now infamous How Long to Die in the Cold Google search by Jennifer McCabe. The defendant asked Ms. McCabe to Google how long to die in the cold Google search by Jennifer McCabe. Bennett asked Ms. McCabe to Google how long to die in the cold. She did so at 6.23 and 6.24 in the morning. You have the testimony of Ms. Hyde and Mr. Whitton as to SQLite databases, P-List databases, KnowledgeSea databases, StateDB tabs, as far as all of them. Also from Truper Marino as well. These searches were unequivocally done at 6.23, 6.24 in the morning

Starting point is 00:17:50 and not at 2.27 and 40 seconds in the morning. They were not deleted by user. That is not what deleted means. Frankly, Mr. Green, the last question that I asked Mr. Green is was he aware that Selbright and by Selbright, the person who designed that being Mr. Whiffen, had to alter exactly how their software worked because of people like Mr. Green misinterpreting the data, as he did in this case. And what did Mr. Green say? Yes. But those questions, as far as how long to die

Starting point is 00:18:30 in the cold, I would submit nearer the questions that the defendant asked Firefighter Whitley in the back of the ambulance, if you recall those. She asked Firefighter Whitley how long to die in the cold without a jacket. She knew how Mr. O'Keefe was dressed. She knew when she left him to die in the cold how he was dressed. And Lally argued that Karen Reid's actions, the little things that she did, added up to show her guilt. It's after the defendants arrived back at One Meadows Ave, after her phone was reconnected with Mr. O'Keefe's Wi-Fi. And you can hear the footsteps. Part of that may be in the garage. Part of that might be in the house. Why is it that the defendant has no issue with wearing shoes in the house when Mr. O'Keefe has that stretchable? Because she knows where he is.

Starting point is 00:19:19 She knows it's not an issue. He's not coming home because she hit him with her SUV, and she left him in the snow. John Adams once wrote, facts are stubborn things. And whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of the facts and the evidence. What the constellation of the facts and the evidence ineluctably demonstrate here is that the defendant drove her vehicle in reverse for 24.2 miles per hour for 62 and a half feet, struck Mr. O'Brien, causing those catastrophic head injuries, leaving him incapacitated. Mr. Lally, I have to stop you. You've gone over. I literally have one sentence. One sentence I'll give you. From that facts and

Starting point is 00:20:08 that evidence, I would submit an elective who demonstrates their guilt on each of the indictments before you. And I would ask that you find this. So what will the jury decide? It's really up to those 12 men and women after hearing closing arguments and of course, eight weeks of testimony. With second-degree murder in Massachusetts, the jury, if the members choose to convict, could find Reed intended to kill John O'Keefe, or they could find that she didn't intend to kill him, but should have known her actions could have resulted in his death when she backed up her SUV at such a high rate of speed. There's also the charges of leaving the scene of a fatal crash and motor vehicle manslaughter while driving under the influence. That's it for this episode

Starting point is 00:20:51 of Crime Fix. I'm Ann Jeanette Levy. Thanks so much for being with me. I'll see you back here next time.

Pet Camera - EBO Air 2

Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - Karen Read: 7 Critical Moments from Closing Arguments in Boyfriend Cop Murder Trial

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.

Your Ad Here

Pet Camera - EBO Air 2

Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - Karen Read: 7 Critical Moments from Closing Arguments in Boyfriend Cop Murder Trial

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.