Court doc: Karen Read had ‘close communication’ with Turtleboy blogger

As her case wound its way through the courts last year, Karen Read — the Mansfield woman accused of killing her Boston police officer boyfriend — allegedly spent hours on the phone with Aidan Kearney, leaking non-public information to the controversial “Turtleboy” blogger.

Their communication allegedly began last April and included information about witnesses, autopsy photos, feedback on Kearney’s blogs, and even the home address of a Massachusetts State Police trooper who investigated Read’s case, according to newly unsealed court documents.

The allegations are laid out in a search warrant application seeking access to two of Read’s cell phones, which authorities seized last week. Special prosecutor Kenneth Mello previously confirmed authorities seized the devices in connection with a separate criminal investigation into Kearney, who is accused of intimidating witnesses in Read’s murder case.

According to an affidavit filed with the search warrant application, investigators sought Read’s phones on the suspicion that she committed witness interference and conspiracy to intimidate a witness through her communication with Kearney. Specifically, the affidavit alleges that Read made an agreement with Kearney to provide “information, photography, material relative to her criminal defense, and editorial oversight of blog posts and videos intended to harass, intimidate and cause emotional harm.”

Lawyers for Read did not immediately respond to a request for comment. As of Wednesday afternoon, she had not been charged in connection with the latest allegations.

The background on Karen Read and Turtleboy

Read, 43, is accused of backing her SUV into Boston police officer John O’Keefe while dropping him off at a home in Canton after a night of drinking. Prosecutors allege that she left O’Keefe to die in a blizzard early on Jan. 29, 2022, but her lawyers have alleged a widespread coverup, suggesting other afterparty guests are to blame.

Kearney, 42, adopted the defense team’s claims and has since become the face of the “Free Karen Read” movement, though prosecutors say his advocacy crossed the line into witness intimidation on several occasions.

Read is scheduled to go to trial in March and faces charges of second-degree murder, motor vehicle manslaughter while driving under the influence, and leaving the scene of a collision causing injury and death. Kearney has pleaded not guilty to several counts of witness intimidation, picketing witnesses, and conspiracy to intimidate witnesses in Read’s case. 

Read’s college friend allegedly served as an intermediary

In October, investigators spoke with a California woman who attended Bentley University with Read and had reached out to Read to offer support following her arrest in 2022. The college friend “stated Karen openly shared her defense theories about the case, which [the friend] stated she believed at the time,” according to the affidavit.

After a friend of Kearney’s defended Read on Facebook, Read’s college friend made contact with the woman in April and learned that Kearney was interested in reporting on the case.

Read allegedly expressed an interest in working with Kearney and instructed her friend to download the encrypted messaging app Signal. According to the affidavit, Read would message her college friend on Signal, and the friend would copy and paste the message or take a screenshot and send it to Kearney. 

The messages allegedly began “tell TB [Turtleboy],” “From Karen,” or “Not for public but you and Aidan can see…”

Communicating through the friend, Kearney would check with Read to see if he could use certain material in his blogs and videos — for example, a Jan. 29, 2022, 911 call reporting the discovery of O’Keefe’s body, according to the affidavit. 

The court document also noted that another person acted as an intermediary between Read and Kearney on other occasions.

Kearney communicated directly with Read and her lawyers, according to the affidavit

The affidavit alleges that Kearney regularly made contact with Read and her lawyers over the course of several months, even as he questioned the defense team’s theories “on several occasions.” 

According to investigators, Read arranged a seat for Kearney at her May 3 hearing in Norfolk Superior Court, and the blogger allegedly joined Read and her lawyers for lunch afterward. 

Yet “in public settings, Kearney and the attorneys for Karen Read have denied communicating or mischaracterized the nature of their communication,” the affidavit claims, citing a September Boston magazine article where both Kearney and the defense team denied being in contact. 

Read and her college friend reportedly had a falling out last June, and investigators allege that Kearney and Read at times communicated directly without an intermediary.

Kearney’s phone records allegedly showed 189 calls with a phone number belonging to Read, totaling more than 40 hours.

“The frequency and duration of the calls increased greatly beginning in the end of June,” according to the affidavit. “The communication continued through the fall and winter of 2023 with the last entry of these phone communicating [sic] occurring on December 21, 2023.”

Kearney’s phone records also allegedly revealed communication with David Yannetti and Alan Jackson, two of Read’s attorneys. 

Kearney allegedly told a former girlfriend about his communication with Read

Investigators also spoke with another woman who had previously been in a romantic relationship with Kearney, according to the affidavit. She alleged that Kearney told her that he spoke to Read every day and “described Read as difficult, controlling, and [said she] gets irritated with him.”

The same woman also alleged that Kearney assaulted her in December after she received a summons to appear before a grand jury in connection with his pending witness intimidation case. 

A judge revoked Kearney’s bail on Dec. 26 after the blogger was arraigned on new charges of witness intimidation and domestic assault and battery. He pleaded not guilty to the charges and has been in custody since.

Abby Patkin

Staff Writer

Abby Patkin is a general assignment news reporter whose work touches on public transit, crime, health, and everything in between.

Want to leave a comment?

Create an Account Or sign in to your account

To comment, please create a screen name in your profile

To comment, please verify your email address

Conversation

This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com