Karen Read, the Massachusetts woman accused of mowing her cop boyfriend down with her SUV, has broken her silence — as she detailed what she claims unfolded the night he was found dead.
Read, 44, spoke out for the first time for an interview with ABC’s “20/20” — which is set to air Friday night — following the January 2022 death of her Boston police officer beau, John O’Keefe.
The alleged killer, who is accused of running O’Keefe, 46, down and leaving him for dead in a blizzard, professed her innocence and accused law enforcement of a cover-up tied to his death, according to a clip from the full interview.
Read, who admitted the pair had been arguing prior, recalled the moment she and two friends laid eyes on O’Keefe lying on the ground the night of Jan. 28, 2022.
“I jumped out the passenger side, and I fell into the street. His eyes were shut, and he had spots of blood in different areas on his face, and he was still — not stiff, but still,” Read said.
“It was cold. I felt cold, but I didn’t feel dangerously cold and it was just an odd feeling to know that ‘I’m OK. I’m not dying, but he’s here with me, and he’s dying, and I can’t warm him up’.”
Meanwhile, Read also alleged investigators were covering up the true nature of O’Keefe’s death.
What to know about the Karen Read murder case
- Karen Read, 44, was charged with second-degree murder for allegedly mowing down her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe, as she was dropping him off to meet friends in Canton, Mass., on Jan. 29, 2022.
- The night of O’Keefe’s death, the couple had been out on a bar crawl, with Read allegedly consuming seven drinks in just 90 minutes, according to reports.
- Prosecutors claim that after Read drunkenly ran over her boyfriend, she drove off and left O’Keefe to die outside as a snowstorm was set to sweep in.
- Read’s lawyers argued she was framed in a sweeping law enforcement cover-up and that O’Keefe actually died after getting into an altercation with his officer friends.
- The two-month trial that had 74 witnesses featured stunning revelations, including “unprofessional” messages by the lead detective, and crowds of fawning supporters who cheered Read outside court each day.
- On July 1, 2024, Judge Beverly Cannone declared a mistrial in the case, since the jury was not able to reach a unanimous verdict after five days of deliberations.
- Read faced up to life in prison if she had been convicted on the top count of murder.
Read and her boyfriend had been bar-hopping earlier that night before she dropped him off outside the home of a fellow cop, where his body was later found, her defense team has previously argued.
Her lawyers have claimed O’Keefe was killed inside the home and that those involved chose to frame her because she was a “convenient outsider.”
Want to learn more about Karen Read’s murder trial? Click down below
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- Karen Read sued by family of Boston cop boyfriend she’s accused of killing
- Karen Read’s bid to have charges tossed in cop boyfriend murder case rejected by judge
Asked why there would be a possible cover-up, Read told 20/20: “Because he’s dead.”
The interview comes after Read’s sensational two-month criminal trial ended in July when the judge declared a mistrial after jurors said they were deadlocked.
Read, who has pleaded not guilty, is now awaiting a Jan. 27 retrial on charges of second-degree murder, and manslaughter while operating a motor vehicle under the influence and leaving the scene of a fatal accident.
