Read is from Mansfield, Massachusetts. The 44-year-old was an adjunct professor at Bentley College, teaching finance, but was fired from her job after she was arrested.
Read and O'Keefe were dating for two years, according to Court TV. In the trial, the relationship has been painted as tumultuous, with arguments "what Read fed O’Keefe’s two adopted children, and that he witnessed a 2021 fight the couple had in Cape Cod over how O’Keefe treated her," according to the . A witness also testified that Read became angry after she thought O'Keefe had kissed another woman during a vacation to Aruba.
Prosecutors say Read and O’Keefe had been drinking at a Canton bar with friends and acquaintances before they got into an argument. They say she hit him with her SUV outside the home of Brian Albert, who was hosting an after-party, shortly before 12:30 a.m.
Karen Read trial:Funeral for police officer found dead in Canton draws hundreds of mourners to Braintree
But Read's lawyers say Read dropped O'Keefe off at Albert's home, and that O'Keefe was fatally beaten inside before his body was planted on the front lawn. They say she was then framed for his death.
On Feb. 1, 2022, Read was arrested; she was freed on bail the next day.
The intrigue and scandal the case has generated gets the attention of the online world, as true crime YouTubers, TikTokers and internet sleuths begin following the Read case.
Aidan Kearney, the Holden blogger known as Turtleboy, covered the case extensively, and was part of drawing attention to the trial. Kearney is facing multiple counts of witness intimidation tied to allegations he harassed witnesses in Read’s case. He has accused some of the witnesses who testified – including Brian Albert, the Boston officer who owned the home – of being true culprits in the case. Kearney has publicly posted his attempts to contact some of the witnesses, spoke of many of them using crude language and brought followers to “protests” outside their homes.
More:Judge bars Turtleboy from being present for some witnesses in Karen Read murder trial
In May, Kearney was barred from covering some of the testimony in person, with the judge ruling his presence could have a "chilling" effect.
The trial began on April 21, with witness testimony beginning on April 29.
Another person to know in the case is Michael Proctor.
The defense team has focused scrutiny on Proctor, a state police trooper who led the investigation of O'Keefe's death, accusing him of planting evidence at the crime scene.
During the trial, Proctor was asked to read text communications he had with others regarding Read. These communications revealed what the defense said is a bias against Read in the midst of the investigation. Proctor was also revealed to have made crude jokes, including searching for nude pictures of the defendant when going through her phone.
