Northeast
Second Karen Read juror faults 'sloppy police investigation' in John O'Keefe murder case
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A second Karen Read juror has come forward after arriving at not guilty verdicts on most of the charges she faced in the death of her Boston police officer boyfriend, John O’Keefe.
“It could just be bad police work, but if anyone had done their job correctly, we wouldn’t be in this position,” Paula Prado, who was Juror No. 11, told ABC News. “It would either be proved or disproved right away.”
Another of the 12 jurors explained the panel’s reasoning Thursday, a day after her second trial came to a close. He also explained brief confusion Wednesday afternoon that arose out of a verdict that jurors later retracted before it was read in court. Judge Beverly Cannone sealed that one. Within minutes, jurors had a verdict for real.
“Everything on that initial slip was the same as the slip that was presented,” Juror No. 4, identified only as “Jason,” told TMZ Live. He said they pulled the first slip back over the OUI charge – operating under the influence of liquor, of which jurors found her guilty.
KAREN READ MURDER CASE VERDICT REACHED AFTER DEADLOCKED FIRST TRIAL
WATCH: Juror No. 4’s interview
“In our deliberations, we had decided there was enough evidence and proof that she was driving under the influence,” he said.
Cannone ordered that the jurors’ names remain sealed for 10 days, but she said individual jurors could come forward on their own, if they wanted.
Jurors found Read not guilty of murder, manslaughter and fleeing a deadly accident in a trial that stretched on for more than 30 days of testimony and four days of deliberations. The lesser included charge of OUI is the Massachusetts term for drunken driving.
“I don’t know what happened to John,” Jason said. “I was only presented a limited scope of what happened at the night, and I can only base my opinion off of the evidence that was shown in the courtroom. So, I don’t really know if there was a cover-up or not.
Karen Read exits Norfolk County Superior Court in Dedham, Mass., Wednesday, June 18, 2025. Read was found not guilty in the murder of her boyfriend, John O’Keefe. (Richard Beetham for Fox News Digital)
“I know that’s the big conspiracy around it, but I don’t really know. All I know is there was a lot of holes in the investigation. Whether they were deliberate holes or not deliberate holes, it’s kinda hard for me sitting back to know that — you know, what actually happened.”
He said the defense claim that O’Keefe could have been killed by someone in the house — in an attack that involved a dog — was an “example of reasonable doubt.”
“We were tasked with finding … with deciding this person’s fate based on the proof in the evidence that the commonwealth was able to present, and there was a lot of holes,” he said.
Officer John O’Keefe (Boston Police Department)
He said another important factor for the jury was video that showed Read’s taillight.
“We could see from the car, after the alleged incident happened, when we could see the taillight it was lit up red, where it shouldn’t just have been red,” he said. “I don’t believe that the SUV collided with John O’Keefe.”
Still, he added, there was no way for jurors to know whether claims of a “corrupt” police investigation were true.
“I don’t know that there was any corruption going on,” he said. “But do I know that there wasn’t enough proof or evidence secured by the police to convict Karen Read? Absolutely.”
Also Thursday, Massachusetts State Police brass broke their silence on the years-long case marred by investigative missteps and the firing of a state trooper who played a central role in the case.
Massachusetts State Trooper Michael Proctor faces a tough cross-examination by lawyer Alan Jackson during the Karen Read murder trial in Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Mass., June 12, 2024. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via Imagn)
Read was accused — and acquitted — of killing her boyfriend by slamming an SUV into him and leaving him to die on the ground during a blizzard after a drunken argument. Jurors found her guilty only of drunken driving, for which she received a sentence of one year probation and outpatient treatment.
Col. Geoffrey Noble, the state police commissioner, said the entire department sends its condolences to O’Keefe’s family.
“The events of the last three years have challenged our department to thoroughly review our actions and take concrete steps to deliver advanced investigative training, ensure appropriate oversight and enhance accountability,” Noble said in a statement. “Under my direction as colonel, the state police has, and will continue to, improve in these regards.”
He said the goal is to deliver “excellent” service and maintain public trust.
Karen Read and John O’Keefe pose for an undated photograph. (Karen Read)
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Jurors did not appear to trust the investigation after four days of deliberation, when they rejected the prosecution’s case almost entirely.
MASSACHUSETTS TROOPER MICHAEL PROCTOR ‘TERMINATED’ FROM STATE POLICE
The lead investigator on the case, former State Trooper Michael Proctor, lost his job in March after an internal investigation concluded he shared confidential and sensitive law enforcement information with civilians in a group text, the contents of which were also lewd in nature and mocked Read’s health issues.
Supporters of Karen Read gesture as she departs Norfolk Superior Court during jury deliberations Tuesday, June 17, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (Charles Krupa/AP Photo)
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It was Noble who announced the firing, days before Read’s second trial began. Her first trial ended with a deadlocked jury last year after the texts were read in court and Read’s defense exposed other glaring flaws in the investigation.
“It is incumbent upon me, as well as every member of this department, to hold one another accountable when any member compromises our mission by failing to uphold our values,” he said at the time.
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Noble and the department were also sued by true crime reporters and some of Read’s supporters over the enforcement of a “buffer zone” around the Dedham courthouse that their lawyers called unconstitutional.
Separately, local police in Canton, Massachusetts, were subjected to an external audit that recommended increased training and oversight while dispelling claims of a conspiracy to frame Read for O’Keefe’s death.
A federal investigation into the case ended without charges against members of either law enforcement agency.
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New York
Man Sentenced to 115 Years for Killing N.Y.P.D. Officer in Queens
A man was sentenced to 115 years in prison on Monday for the fatal shooting of a New York City police officer who had ordered him to step out of a car in Queens in 2024.
More than 200 people, mostly police officers, packed a courtroom in State Supreme Court in Queens to hear Justice Michael Aloise sentence Guy Rivera in the killing of Jonathan Diller, 31, who was promoted to the rank of detective after his death.
“It took me five minutes to calculate these numbers,” Justice Aloise said. “It’s going to take you a lifetime to calculate the damage you did and the grief that you caused.”
He said that Mr. Rivera had determined his own fate “the second you pulled that trigger.”
Detective Diller’s wife, Stephanie, who sat among the officers in the courtroom, read a statement in court just before the sentencing, speaking of the pain and loss that she and her son, Ryan, now 3, have suffered. Ms. Diller, who testified during the trial, spoke directly to Mr. Rivera as he sat at the defense table.
“This is the last moment I will allow you to take from me,” she said as tears rolled down her cheeks. “You took my husband, Jonathan. You took the future we planned together. The life we were building, the years we were supposed to share together.”
“What you did to Jonathan” she said, “gave me and our son a life sentence without him.”
A jury found Mr. Rivera, 36, guilty earlier this month on four charges, including aggravated manslaughter, in Detective Diller’s death, but acquitted him of the most serious charge, first-degree murder. The decision, after a three-week trial in Queens, stunned the dozens of police officers present when it was announced in the courtroom on April 1.
To find him guilty of murder, the jury had to decide whether they believed Mr. Rivera had intended to kill Detective Diller when he pointed his gun at him in the Far Rockaway section of Queens on March 25, 2024. They ultimately determined that Mr. Rivera had intentionally pulled the trigger, but did not intend to kill him.
Mr. Rivera did not speak at his sentencing at the advice of one of his lawyers, Jamal Johnson, who told Justice Aloise they would appeal the conviction.
Mr. Johnson, a lawyer with the Legal Aid Society, said after the hearing that Justice Aloise’s statement at sentencing showed the court “had already made up its mind about sentencing well before the trial was conducted.”
During the trial, prosecutors said that before the fatal shooting, Detective Diller’s partner, Sgt. Sasha Rosen, saw Mr. Rivera and another man, Lindy Jones, come out of a store and get into a car. Mr. Rivera had an L-shaped object in the pocket of his sweatshirt that resembled a firearm, prosecutors said.
Detective Diller approached the vehicle and asked Mr. Rivera repeatedly to comply with orders. When he did not, Sergeant Rosen reached in to pull him out of the car.
Then Mr. Rivera fired, the jury found. The defense argued that Mr. Rivera’s gun went off accidentally when Sergeant Rosen pulled him out, striking Detective Diller. Prosecutors said Mr. Rivera then turned his gun on Sergeant Rosen, but the weapon jammed.
Justice Aloise did not allow the jury to see video that, the defense contended, showed Mr. Rivera’s arm was broken during his confrontation with the police.
That evidence would have directly undermined the prosecution’s contention that Mr. Rivera was physically able to pull the trigger when he tried to shoot Sergeant Rosen, they said.
In all, Mr. Rivera was sentenced to 25 years to life for the aggravated manslaughter conviction; 40 years to life for the attempted murder of Sergeant Rosen; and 25 years to life for each of the gun possession counts. He was ordered to serve those sentences consecutively.
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On Monday, after the sentencing, dozens of police officers smiled and embraced one another as they left the courtroom. The prosecutors who tried the case and Melinda Katz, the Queens district attorney, hugged several of Detective Diller’s family members.
Jessica Tisch, the police commissioner, called the sentence “obviously the right result, for him and for anyone who kills a New York City police officer.”
Outside the courthouse, members of the Police Benevolent Association, the police officers’ union, said they were pleased with the sentence.
“The verdict in this case did not send the right message to the Diller family and every police officer who wears the uniform,” said Patrick Hendry, the union president, who spoke at the foot of the courthouse stairwell, backed by nearly 100 police officers.
“But this sentence,” he said, “it sent the right message.”
Boston, MA
Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” musical returns to Boston for first time in 25 years
Say bonjour to the return of “Beauty and the Beast.” The national tour has been in Boston before, but this is the first time in 25 years that Disney is behind the production.
Kyra Belle Johnson stars as Belle, the bookworm who doesn’t quite fit into her quiet village.
“I think part of treating her like a real person is finding the humor and finding the faults and breathing and being present on stage every night,” Johnson said.
As Mrs. Potts, Kathy Voytko embodies the beloved teapot.
“When I was talking to my daughters about, ‘How do you feel about mom being gone for the better part of a year?’ They said, ‘Well, geez, mom, we’re gonna miss you, but it’s Mrs. Potts,’” Voytko explained.
The actors told WBZ-TV that Disney’s involvement in this tour makes a noticeable impact, with Voytko saying, “There is nothing like a Disney-produced Disney production because the magic in the show, the attention to detail, the loving recreation of the movie that we all know and love, plus some elements of surprise.”
Johnson added, “They care about this piece of art so much… And they’re really precious with it, but at the same time, they’re open with it.”
Book writer Linda Woolverton worked with the cast in the rehearsal room to make sure the piece felt modern.
“She literally changed some scenes and lines specifically for us and our versions of these characters to make it seem grounded and real,” Johnson explained.
And Johnson gained extra insight into Belle’s life by visiting the Alsace region of France, which inspired the original Disney animators.
“Walking in the town and having like a storefront and then the leaning building that was this like blue and the wooden windows and somebody leaning out of it talking to somebody on the street. These are real places, it’s not just like a made-up place in your head.”
The wonder she felt is echoed in the audience’s response.
“This is a gate for a lot of new theater lovers. We get a lot of people who this is their first show,” said Johnson.
“It’s for everybody,” added Voytko. “It’s for adults, it’s for married couples, it is for a date night, it for a pack of pals who just want to see something nostalgic from their youth and it makes it a thrill for us every single day.”
You can see Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” at the Citizens Opera House in Boston through Sunday.
Pittsburg, PA
NFL Draft in Pittsburgh sets onsite attendance record, third-best viewership mark
A historic number of people flooded into Pittsburgh for the NFL Draft on Thursday.
Around 320,000 fans attended the opening round of the draft on Thursday night just outside of Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, which marked an attendance record for round one of the draft, ESPN announced on Monday afternoon. In total, about 805,000 people attended the three-day event.
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ESPN also said that about 13,2 million people tuned in to watch the first round of the NFL Draft on Thursday night, which made it the third-most watched opening round under the current format, which started back in 2010. Only the 2025 and 2020 editions of the draft drew a bigger audience on the first night.
The league said that a record amount of merchandise was sold throughout the NFL Draft weekend, too, though it did not provide a figure or metric there. The previous record on that front was set last season in Green Bay.
The Las Vegas Raiders used the No. 1 overall pick on Indiana quarterback and reigning Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza on Thursday night. Mendoza, who led the Hoosiers to the national championship earlier this year, was not in attendance in Pittsburgh. Instead, he celebrated with his family from home in Miami.
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The NFL Draft will be held next spring in Washington D.C. for the first time in modern history. It’s expected to be held on the National Mall. Washington D.C. held the draft one other time back in December 1940.
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