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Karen Read claims murder charge in police officer boyfriend's death is double jeopardy

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Karen Read claims murder charge in police officer boyfriend's death is double jeopardy

A Massachusetts woman is asking the state’s highest court to throw out some of the charges against her after her murder trial for the death of her police officer boyfriend ended in a mistrial amid emerging allegations of a corrupt cover-up involving his own colleagues.

Karen Read, a 44-year-old former finance professional, was dating John O’Keefe, a 46-year-old Boston police officer found dead on another Boston police officer’s front lawn in Canton on the morning after a nor’easter in January 2022.

The criminal case against her ended in a mistrial after jurors deadlocked following 26 hours of deliberation, but now prosecutors plan to try her again early next year.

Prosecutors allege that she ran him over with her SUV during a drunken fight and then drove off, leaving him injured but alive until he froze to death.

O’KEEFE FAMILY FILES WRONGFUL DEATH LAWSUIT AGAINST KAREN READ FOR ‘RECKLESS CONDUCT’

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After the jury was dismissed for the day, Karen Read, right, listens as Canton Police Sergeant Michael Lank is questioned by defense attorney Alan Jackson. (Pat Greenhouse/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

She appeared before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court on Wednesday to argue that two of the three charges in her first trial should be dropped under a constitutional ban on double jeopardy, because jurors had only deadlocked on the third.

“Today’s appeal goes to the core issues regarding double jeopardy protection that safeguard defendants, in this case Ms. Read, from the risk of reprosecution for the very same offenses for which a prior jury was discharged,” Read’s attorney, Martin Weinberg, told a panel of judges on the state’s highest court, according to The Associated Press.

Officer John O’Keefe poses for his official headshot. O’Keefe’s girlfriend, Karen Reed, has been accused of murder after he was found dead outside a Massachusetts home in January 2022. (Boston Police Department)

ACCUSED MASSACHUSETTS COP KILLER KAREN READ COMPARES SUPPORTERS TO VIETNAM WAR PROTESTERS AFTER MISTRIAL

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Weinberg said multiple jurors came forward after the mistrial to say that they had deadlocked on the manslaughter charge but believed Read was not guilty of second-degree murder and leaving the scene of a deadly accident. 

However, they had not told the judge.

He asked to have the jurors brought in to testify on the matter. The panel did not announce a decision Wednesday.

Hundreds of Karen Read supporters gather in front of Norfolk County Superior Court before one of her appearances. (Matt Stone/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images)

Read has maintained that she dropped O’Keefe off at Boston Police Officer Brian Albert’s house on a snowy night and went home after a night on the town with friends.

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Early the next morning, realizing he had not come back, she went looking for him with friends. They found his body in the snow on Albert’s lawn.

The defense for Karen Read holds up a poster board containing information they claim exonerates their client in the murder of John O’Keefe. (John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

WATCH: DASHCAM FROM THE NIGHT JOHN O’KEEFE WAS FOUND DEAD

Read has argued that she was framed by the real killers – whom she believes are other members of law enforcement who attacked O’Keefe inside Albert’s home and then threw him outside in the storm. None of those officers have been charged with a crime.

Karen Read arrives at Norfolk Superior Court for a hearing to dismiss murder charges against her. (John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

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The medical examiner found that O’Keefe died from blunt force trauma to the head and hypothermia.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Northeast

Man with machete shot and killed by police, who then find 3 more dead inside home: officials

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Man with machete shot and killed by police, who then find 3 more dead inside home: officials

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Officials in Piscataway, New Jersey, noted Tuesday that an individual with a machete was shot and killed by police, who then found the subject’s mother and grandparents dead inside a home, WABC reported.

Piscataway Mayor Brian Wahler noted that the suspect’s father dialed 911, the outlet noted.

When authorities arrived at the home, the man had a machete, authorities said, according to the outlet. Authorities attempted to utilize tasers against the man but indicated it did not stop the suspect, WABC noted. 

He allegedly charged at law enforcement officers with the weapon, and they opened fire and killed him, the outlet reported.

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Authorities with the Piscataway Police Department responded to a 911 call about someone with a knife. (Kyle Mazza/UNF News/Shutterstock)

After the shooting, police found three people dead in the home, a press release from the New Jersey attorney general’s office notes.

“The Office of Public Integrity and Accountability is investigating a fatal officer-involved shooting that occurred on Monday, January 5, 2026, in Piscataway Township in Middlesex County, New Jersey,” the release states.

Preliminary information indicated that authorities with the Piscataway Police Department had responded to a 911 call from someone who reported a person with a knife, the release indicates.

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Police shot a man armed with a knife Jan. 5, 2026, in New Jersey. (Kyle Mazza/UNF News/Shutterstock)

“Officers subsequently shot and killed a man armed with a knife who they encountered at the residence,” the press release noted.

“A 2019 law … requires the Attorney General’s Office to conduct investigations of a person’s death that occurs during an encounter with a law enforcement officer acting in the officer’s official capacity or while the decedent is in custody. It requires that all such investigations be presented to a grand jury to determine if the evidence supports the return of an indictment against the officer or officers involved,” the release explains.

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Law enforcement shot a person armed with a knife in New Jersey. (Kyle Mazza/UNF News/Shutterstock)

 

According to a post on X, New Jersey State Policemen’s Benevolent Association President Peter Andreyev noted, “We are aware of the horrific crime in Middlesex County tonight. All our members that were involved are being evaluated. Thank you to all who have reached to offer support.”

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Boston, MA

Battenfeld: Michelle Wu should demand better security after Boston Medical Center rape

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Battenfeld: Michelle Wu should demand better security after Boston Medical Center rape


In the middle of Michelle Wu’s orchestrated inaugural celebration, prosecutors described a senseless hospital horror that unfolded at Boston Medical Center – a rape of a partially paralyzed patient allegedly by a mentally ill man allowed to freely roam the hospital’s hallways.

It happened in September in what is supposed to be a safe haven but too often is a dangerous campus. Drug addicts with needles frequently openly camp in front of the hospital, and in early December a security guard suffered serious injuries in a stabbing on the BMC campus. The alleged assailant was finally subdued by other security guards after a struggle.

In the September incident, prosecutors described in court this week how the 55-year-old alleged rapist Barry Howze worked his way under the terrified victim’s bed in the BMC emergency room and sexually assaulted her.

“This assault was brutal and brazen, and occurred in a place where people go for help,” Suffolk County prosecutor Kate Fraiman said. “Due to her partial paralysis, she could not reach her phone, which was under her body at the time.”

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Howze, who reportedly has a history of violent offenses and mental illness, was able to flee the scene but was arrested two days later at the hospital when he tried to obtain a visitor’s pass and was recognized by security. Howze’s attorney blamed hospital staff for allowing him the opportunity to commit the crime and some city councilors are demanding answers.

“This was a horrific and violent sexual assault on a defenseless patient,” Councilor Ed Flynn said. “The safety and security of patients and staff at the hospital can’t be ignored any longer. The hospital leadership must make immediate and major changes and upgrades to their security department.”

Flynn also sent a letter to BMC CEO Alastair Bell questioning how the assailant was allowed to commit the rape.

Where is Wu? She was too busy celebrating herself with a weeklong inaugural of her second term to deal with the rape at the medical center, which is near the center of drug-ravaged Mass and Cass.

If the rape had happened at a suburban hospital, people would be demanding investigations and accountability.

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But in Boston, Wu takes credit for running the “safest major city in the country” while often ignoring crimes.

Wu should intervene and demand better security and safety for the staff and patients at BMC.

Although the hospital is no longer run by the city, it has a historic connection with City Hall. It is used by Boston residents, many of them poor and disabled or from marginalized communities. She should be out front like Flynn demanding accountability from the hospital.

Boston Medical Center, located in the city’s South End, is the largest “safety-net” hospital in New England. It is partially overseen by the Boston Public Health Commission, whose members are appointed by the mayor.

BMC was formed in 1996 by the Thomas Menino administration as a merger between the city-owned Boston City Hospital, which first opened in 1864, and Boston University Medical Center.

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Menino called the merger “the most important thing I will do as mayor.”

When he was appointed CEO by the hospital board of trustees in 2023, Bell offered recycled Wu-speak to talk about how BMC was trying to “reshape” how the hospital delivers health care.

“The way we think about the health of our patients and members extends beyond traditional medicine to environmental sustainability and issues such as housing, food insecurity, and economic mobility, as we study the root causes of health inequities and empower all of our patients and communities to thrive,” Bell said.

But the hospital has been plagued by security issues in the last few years, and a contract dispute with the nurses’ union. The nurses at BMC’s Brighton campus authorized a three-day strike late last year over management demands to cut staffing and retirement benefits.

Kirsten Ransom, BMC Brighton RN and Massachusetts Nurses Association co-chair, said, “This vote sends a clear message that our members are united in our commitment to make a stand for our patients, our community and our professional integrity in the wake of this blatant effort to balance BMC’s budget on the backs of those who have the greatest impact on the safety of the patients and the future success of this facility.”

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Pittsburg, PA

Gov. Josh Shapiro launches re-election campaign; speeches planned in Pittsburgh and Philly

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Gov. Josh Shapiro launches re-election campaign; speeches planned in Pittsburgh and Philly






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