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The second week of Karen Read’s trial began with 2 more Canton officers testifying
Lt. Paul Gallagher and Sgt. Sean Goode took the stand as the prosecution continues to present its case to the jury.
On the stand Monday:
- Sgt. Michael Lank, Canton Police Department (without jurors present)
- Sgt. Sean Goode, Canton Police Department
- Lt. Paul Gallagher, Canton Police Department
4:30 p.m. update: Canton police sgt. questioned about 2002 incident
Before Monday’s court session wrapped up for the day, lawyers on both sides questioned Canton Police Sgt. Michael Lank without the jury present.
Lank said he’s known Tim and Chris Albert — two of Brian Albert’s brothers — since childhood and has socialized with Chris, though “it’s been many years.” Lank said he has a “civil” relationship with Brian Albert, who owned the home where John O’Keefe’s body was found.
Defense attorney Alan Jackson questioned Lank about a 2002 incident in which Lank allegedly intervened in a fight on Chris Albert’s behalf. Jackson noted that Lank was among the first officers to speak with Brian and Nicole Albert the morning O’Keefe died.
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“He never should have walked in that front door,” Jackson said. “He should have said to his supervisors, ‘I have a relationship with the Albert family. I’ve known these folks for too long. I grew up with his brother, or brothers. I’ve known them my whole life. I’m probably not the right person to make the decisions about this investigation.’”
Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally pointed out that Lank was also involved in a 2012 investigation that resulted in charges against Tim Albert.
“Any purported bias from an incident from 22 years ago involving a brother who wasn’t even present at the home on the night in question does nothing but confuse the jury as to what the issues are and creating this sort of bias out of thin cloth that has no basis whatsoever in the facts of this case,” Lally argued.
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Cannone disagreed, but said she wants to review relevant police reports before deciding Tuesday morning whether jurors in Karen Read’s trial will hear about the 2002 incident.
4 p.m. update: Higgins went to police station at 1:30 a.m. the day O’Keefe died, sergeant testifies
John O’Keefe’s family wiped away tears as prosecutors played a recording of a 911 call documenting the frantic moments after O’Keefe’s girlfriend, Karen Read, and two other women found the Boston police officer’s body on a snowy lawn in Canton in January 2022.
Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally played the clip as part of his line of questioning for Canton Police Sgt. Sean Goode, who responded to the scene.
On the morning of Jan. 29, 2022, Goode said officers spoke with homeowners Brian and Nicole Albert inside 34 Fairview Road. He said the couple seemed “like they were generally in shock,” though his description was cut short by an objection from the defense.
The interior of the Alberts’ home “seemed like a normal house,” he added.
Goode testified that he didn’t hear Read say “I hit him” at the scene that morning, nor did he see any pieces of broken tail light in the snow at the time. He said police used crime scene tape to secure the area while investigators were on site but did not post an officer there to guard the scene after officials left.
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Goode also testified that he saw Brian Higgins enter the police station earlier that morning, just after 1:30 a.m. Higgins, a federal agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, was among the group that drank with Read and O’Keefe at a Canton bar on Jan. 28, 2022, and returned to the Alberts’ home afterward.
Though Higgins had a satellite office at the Canton Police Department, Goode testified that he had no clue why the ATF agent showed up at the police station so early in the morning.
“You didn’t know where he was coming from?” defense attorney David Yannetti asked.
“No,” Goode replied.
“You didn’t know what he had done that night?” Yannetti prompted.
“Absolutely not,” Goode said.
“You didn’t know who he had been with that night?” Yannetti asked.
“No,” Goode answered.
However, he also denied that it was unusual to see Higgins come into the station at 1:30 a.m. on a weekend. Goode was unsure how long Higgins remained at the police department.
Yannetti pressed Goode about his ties to Alberts, and the police sergeant testified that he knew of Brian Albert and had worked for roughly 18 years with Albert’s brother Kevin, a Canton police officer. He also confirmed that he went to high school with Courtney Proctor — whose brother, Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor, led the investigation into O’Keefe’s death — and the sister-in-law of Brian Albert’s brother Chris.
12:30 p.m. update: Canton police collected blood samples in red Solo cups, lieutenant testifies
After John O’Keefe was rushed to Good Samaritan Medical Center on Jan. 29, 2022, Canton police investigators searched the lawn in front of 34 Fairview Road and collected several blood samples in red Solo cups borrowed from a neighbor, police Lt. Paul Gallagher testified.
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Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally displayed a photo taken outside the home that morning, which Gallagher said showed “light pink” spots of “frozen or coagulated” blood in the snow, as well as a broken cocktail glass.
Gallagher told the court he saw footprints leading from the street to the area where O’Keefe’s body was found and said he didn’t observe any tracks leading from that area to the house. He also described using a leaf blower to clear snow from the crime scene, exposing the broken glass and drops of blood.
Defense attorney Alan Jackson seemed skeptical when Gallagher said O’Keefe’s death marked his first time processing a snowy crime scene.
“In 30-plus years, you’ve never processed a crime scene in the snow?” Jackson asked.
“No, I have not,” Gallagher answered.
“Lucky you,” Jackson replied.
Gallagher explained that Canton police often outsource crime scene processing to Massachusetts State Police or county detectives. He confirmed the cups used to collect blood samples were red Solo cups obtained from a Canton police lieutenant who lived across the street from the crime scene. Gallagher further asserted that the police station wouldn’t have had the sort of plastic containers investigators wanted to utilize for evidence collection that morning.
“We took six samples, individual samples,” he said. “Our philosophy was, ‘We’ll let the crime lab extract it the way they best see fit.’ Those six samples were bagged and then transported back to Canton police headquarters and placed into evidence.”
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Jackson raised concerns about whether the cups were sterile and sealed from possible cross-contamination. He showed a photo of the cups sitting uncovered in a brown paper Stop & Shop bag on a garage floor at the police station.
“Do you think it’s standard practice for a police department to borrow red Solo cups from a neighbor to gather evidence?” Jackson asked.
“Of course not,” Gallagher replied. “Nothing about the scene was standard.”
He said he did not see any pieces of broken tail light in the snow and did not search inside 34 Fairview Road for the rest of the broken cocktail glass or any matching glasses.
“As a matter of fact, you didn’t search the house for any physical items, did you?” Jackson asked.
“Of course not,” Gallagher replied.
“Is that because that house belonged to a Boston police officer?” Jackson asked.
“No, it’s because it requires probable cause, as you know, which we did not have,” Gallagher answered.
“Or at least you didn’t think you had it at that time,” Jackson pressed.
“We knew we didn’t have it,” Gallagher maintained.
He confirmed police did not seek a probable cause warrant from a judge and never asked the homeowners for consent to search the house.
Jackson turned his attention to the Canton Police Department’s decision to step back from the murder investigation and allow State Police to take over. He questioned whether the recusal was due to the relationship between local police and homeowner Brian Albert’s family, which Gallagher denied.
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“The reason was we had a Boston police officer on another Boston police officer’s lawn, or property, and that property owner was the brother of somebody in our investigative unit,” Gallagher said.
“That’s one way to put it,” Jackson retorted. “Another way to put it would be because of the Albert family having a relationship with the Canton Police Department.”
Gallagher later told the court he didn’t believe the Canton Police Department had a conflict of interest, but said he was concerned about the appearance of a conflict.
9:45 a.m. update: Judge to revisit photos showing Canton firefighter with homeowner’s daughter
Ahead of Monday’s witness testimony, defense attorney David Yannetti told Judge Beverly Cannone that Read’s lawyers received a “deluge” of evidence over the weekend documenting Canton firefighter Katie McLaughlin’s relationship with Caitlin Albert, whose family owned the home where John O’Keefe’s body was found.
McLaughlin testified Friday regarding what she saw and heard at 34 Fairview Road the morning O’Keefe died. While she told the court she and Albert are “acquaintances” who went to high school together, Yannetti alleged Monday that Albert and McLaughlin were teammates on the high school track team and were photographed together at a baby shower in 2021.
“It’s very clear to us that Katie McLaughlin perjured herself,” he said.
Cannone previously shot down the defense team’s request to show jurors photos of McLaughlin and Albert socializing among a group of people. Yannetti pushed back on that ruling Monday, urging the judge to reconsider.
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“My belief, my strong belief, is that we need to determine this today,” he said. “And the reason is that Caitlin Albert is coming up as a witness for the commonwealth. She faces the same areas of cross-examination that Katie McLaughlin faced, and these photos are relevant to her cross-examination.”
Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally said prosecutors expect to call Albert to the stand mid-week. Cannone said she will address the matter of the photos Monday or Tuesday.
Livestream via NBC10 Boston.
The Karen Read murder trial enters its second week Monday, with more witnesses expected to take the stand.
Last week, jurors heard from several first responders who were at 34 Fairview Road in Canton on Jan. 29, 2022, some of whom either tended to Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe or spoke to Read, O’Keefe’s “visibly distraught” girlfriend.
Read, 44, is accused of backing her SUV into O’Keefe while dropping him off at an afterparty following a night of drinking. Prosecutors allege she left her boyfriend of two years to die in the snow outside a fellow Boston police officer’s home following the collision. However, lawyers for the Mansfield woman say she was framed, that O’Keefe was actually beaten inside the home and possibly attacked by the family’s dog, and that witnesses and law enforcement engaged in a coverup.
More on Karen Read:
Read has pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree murder, motor vehicle manslaughter while driving under the influence, and leaving the scene of a collision causing injury and death.
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Much of the testimony last week focused on her demeanor and alleged statements after O’Keefe was found cold and lifeless outside 34 Fairview Road.
Read was taken to Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton for a mental health evaluation after allegedly making suicidal statements, and Canton firefighters Jason Becker and Daniel Whitley both testified Friday that her mood appeared to fluctuate on the trip to the hospital.
“She would have periods of calmness, and then other periods she would appear agitated because she didn’t want to go to the hospital,” Becker said. “But all in all, she was cooperative with us.”
Read’s lawyers also grilled Canton firefighter and paramedic Katie McLaughlin on her relationship with Caitlin Albert, whose family owned the home where O’Keefe’s body was found. McLaughlin testified that she and Albert are “acquaintances” who went to high school together, but defense attorney Alan Jackson tried unsuccessfully to show the jury multiple photos of the two women socializing among a group of people.
Jackson argued the photos showed McLaughlin’s alleged “bastardization of the truth” regarding the nature of her friendship with Albert and should therefore be admissible.
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