5 key details about the Karen Read case: Details about A Body in the Snow subject explored |Sportskeeda Lite

Karen Read, a 45-year-old woman from Massachusetts, was charged with the murder of her boyfriend, John O'Keefe in 2022. O'Keefe, who was a cop working with the Boston Police Department, was found dead at a colleague's residence on January 29, 2022, under mysterious circumstances.

Karen, John, and some friends had gone to a local bar. According to The Boston Globe, after a night of bar hopping, Read drove O'Keefe to the house of Brian Albert, who was also a fellow police officer. The group that had gone bar hopping was set to meet back up at the Albert residence. After dropping her boyfriend off, Karen Read reportedly went back home.

At around 4:30 am the next morning Karen had called O'Keefe's niece to tell her that he hadn't returned home. The niece then called Brian Albert's sister-in-law and O'Keefe's friend, Jennifer McCabe to tell them that O'Keefe wasn't home and that Read was worried.

When McCabe, Karen Read, and another woman went out looking for John O'Keefe at around 6 am, they found his dead and frozen body outside Albert's house. While Karen was initially charged with the murder of her boyfriend, after two years of trial, the jury didn't find her guilty.

A new docuseries titled A Body in The Snow: The Trial of Karen Read was released on Investigation Discovery on March 17, 2025, at 9 pm ET. It is now available for streaming on Hulu and Max.

The docuseries dives into the complete investigation behind John O'Keefe's murder, and the series of court trials. It also has Karen Read's testimony about her experience following O'Keefe's death and when she was on trial.

5 key details about Karen Read's case

1) John O'Keefe died due to blunt force trauma and hypothermia

Autopsy reports revealed that John died due to blunt force trauma (Image via Pexels)

Karen, John, and a few friends went to a bar in Canton on the night of January 28, 2022. The prosecutors report stated that Karen was driving intoxicated having consumed alcohol at the bar. The couple had a troubled relationship and often got into heated arguments.

After spending time at the bar, Karen dropped off O'Keefe at Brian Albert's house as some of their friends were also set to meet them there. Brian was one of John's colleagues from the Boston Police Department. However, when John didn't show up to Brian's house and neither did he return home, Karen and a few others went out to look for him.

They found his frozen dead body outside Albert's house and called paramedics. According to a paramedic, Karen got hysterical after seeing the body and claimed that she had hit him.

"I hit him. I hit him," she allegedly said.

John O'Keefe's autopsy reports arrived on January 31, 2022, and revealed that John O'Keefe died due to blunt force trauma to the head. The report also stated that hypothermia could be another cause of death as he had allegedly been exposed to an extremely cold environment.

2) DNA evidence from broken tail light bought major evidence in the case

Prosecutors claimed that DNA evidence from Karen's tail light had the victim's DNA (Image via Pexels)

CBS News reported that on the day of the murder, Karen Read allegedly told someone that she had a crack in the backlight of her SUV. Surveillance cameras from John O'Keefe's driveway showed that Karen's SUV was parked extremely close to John's car.

Prosecutors in the case provided DNA evidence from Karen's broken tail light, which was a match to John O'Keefe. They claimed that the broken pieces of the tail light from Karen Read's SUV were also found in O'Keefe's clothing.

3) Karen Read was arrested on charges of murder and driving under the influence of alcohol

Reports from forensic toxicologist reports revealed that Read was driving under the influence of alcohol (Image via Pexels)

Authorities claimed that they had found a cocktail glass as well as broken pieces of a tail light at the crime scene. Forensic toxicological reports from Read's blood revealed her blood alcohol content was more than the legal limit. She was arrested and presented before the Stoughton District Court on charges of murder and driving under the influence.

A Norfolk County grand jury, charged Karen Read of second-degree murder and homicide while driving under the influence of alcohol on June 10, 2022. She was also charged with leaving the scene of personal injury and death, as per CBS. The Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Massachusetts ordered her bail for $100,000, which she paid, and was eventually released.

4) Norfolk Superior Court Judge Beverly Cannone declared Karen Read's case to be a mistrial

Judge Beverly Cannone declared Read's case as a mistrial (Image via Pexels)

As per a CBS Article, a jury of six men and six women deliberated for 23 hours and informed the Norfolk Superior Court Judge Beverly Cannone that the case was dismissed due to fundamental disagreements. CBS News reported that Judge Beverly Cannone declared Karen Read's case to be a mistrial on July 2, 2024.

Karen Read's attorneys in the case David Yannetti and Alan Jackson filed a motion to dismiss two charges against her. They pleaded that Karen Read should not be found guilty of second-degree murder, or leaving the scene where the victim is injured or dead.

However, as per an NBC Boston article, Judge Beverly Cannone denied the motion in a 21-page ruling.

"After careful consideration, this Court concludes that because the defendant was not acquitted of any charges and defense counsel consented to the Court's declaration of a mistrial, double jeopardy is not implicated by retrial of the defendant. The motion is therefore DENIED," the judge said.

5) The lead investigator in Karen Read's case got suspended

The lead investigator in Read's case was suspended (Image via Pexels)

As per CBS News, Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor was the lead investigator in Karen Read's case. Following the declaration of the mistrial, Proctor was suspended from the case, without any pay, and was transferred from the State Police Detective's Unit.

He was assigned to the Norfolk Cunty District Attorney's Office detective unit, and appointed to the field services division in South Boston. Colonel John Mawn Jr. posted via the X account of Massachusetts State Police and wrote that their focus was on "delivering the highest level of police services with professionalism and integrity."

“This follows our previous decision to open an internal affairs investigation after information about serious misconduct emerged in testimony at the trial. This investigation is ongoing,” he added.

As per GBH, State Trooper Michael Proctor admitted in the court, to sending vulgar messages to Read, during the court trial. As per CBS News, Proctor abused her, and her family members through text messages. In one of the text messages, Proctor called her a "whackjob," adding that he hoped she took her own life.

Reportedly, a group of civilians protested outside the State Police barracks. Karen Read's case soon gained attention in the national news, mainly through social media.

A Body in The Snow: The Trial of Karen Read is available for streaming on Hulu and Max.

Check our other articles to know more details on the docuseries.