Sign up for the Today newsletter
Get everything you need to know to start your day, delivered right to your inbox every morning.
Turtleboy blogger intimidated Karen Read witness through pizza house security camera, authorities say
Aidan Kearney's defense attorney argued the blogger's conduct may have been “unwise,” but it wasn't illegal: “He’s talking into a window at 10:30 at night.”
Turtleboy blogger Aidan Kearney is facing a new witness intimidation charge as authorities allege he targeted a witness in the Karen Read murder case by speaking into a security camera outside the man’s pizza shop.
Filed Wednesday, the new count comes as Kearney, 43, fights to dismiss his prior witness intimidation charges linked to Read’s case. He returned to Norfolk Superior Court Thursday for a bail hearing, agreeing to stay away from witnesses in the case and keep his distance from the Canton pizzeria at the heart of the latest allegations.
“Your honor, there are two Aidan Kearneys,” special prosecutor Robert Cosgrove alleged during the hearing, attempting to contrast “Courtroom Aidan Kearney” with the polarizing blogger whose outspoken support of Read has embroiled him in legal battles and tested the limits of the First Amendment.
Advertisement:
Kearney has published nearly 500 installments of his “Canton Coverup” series on Read, who is accused of backing her SUV into her boyfriend — Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe — in a drunken rage outside a fellow Boston officer’s home in Canton in January 2022. Kearney has promoted the defense team’s alternate theory of a law enforcement coverup, filming his own tense confrontations with witnesses in Read’s case.
Prosecutor compares Turtleboy’s conduct to ‘water torture’
According to Cosgrove, Kearney paid a visit Tuesday to D & E Pizza & Subs in Canton, a restaurant owned by witness Chris Albert. Albert’s brother, Brian, owned the home where O’Keefe’s body was found, and Read’s lawyers have attempted to link Chris Albert’s son, Colin, to their third-party culprit defense.
Previously:
Stopping in front of D & E Pizza & Subs Tuesday, Kearney allegedly stared into a surveillance camera for about 25 seconds before critiquing the timeline Chris and Colin Albert have offered for their whereabouts the night O’Keefe died, authorities said in a court filing.
Advertisement:
“It was Colin, Chris,” Kearney allegedly said. “I just want to know. I just want to know why Colin took so long to get to your house. Why, Chris? Please tell me why. Colin did it, you can tell me. You can tell me, Chris, I know you didn’t do it. I don’t want to scare you.”
According to Cosgrove, Chris Albert was concerned Kearney might come back to the pizza shop to confront him or his son. Cosgrove also highlighted comments Kearney made about witnesses in the Read case during a YouTube livestream last week: “I have successfully made it so that no matter where they go in public, … people will always look at them funny. And they’ll always be like, ‘Oh, there’s the people that murdered John O’Keefe.’”
Cosgrove likened Kearney’s interactions with witnesses to “water torture.”
“It’s not the current drip; it’s the accumulation,” he said, adding, “Whatever one thinks of this video, it has to be placed in that context.”
Turtleboy’s attorney says conduct was ‘unwise,’ but not illegal
Cosgrove argued Kearney should be required to stay away from and have no contact with the witnesses, also requesting a condition barring him from defaming them. He suggested a “nominal” $1,000 cash bail, even as he noted Kearney has been diligent about appearing for court dates.
Advertisement:
“I have no reason to think that he will not show up to court in the future,” Cosgrove acknowledged. “I think he regards it as another opportunity to put on the ‘Aidan Kearney Show’ outside.”
Defense attorney Tim Bradl wasted no time firing back.
“Well yeah, you’re darn right he wants to put on the ‘Aidan Kearney Show.’ It’s his First Amendment right to do so,” Bradl asserted. He also accused prosecutors of trying to suppress speech critical of the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office and Massachusetts State Police detectives.
“How far are we going to let the commonwealth surf this wave?” he asked.
Bradl argued Kearney did not violate any existing court orders during the incident outside D & E Pizza & Subs. Kearney’s comments outside the pizzeria contained no threats or “fighting words,” Bradl noted.
“He’s talking into a window at 10:30 at night,” Bradl continued. “You might not do it, I might not do it. Unwise? Sure.”
He said Kearney would agree to an order to stay away from witnesses, though he proposed excluding courthouses so Kearney could continue covering Read’s case without fear someone might use the order to “flush” him out of the courtroom.
Advertisement:
Judge Michael Doolin ultimately issued an order to that effect, also requiring Kearney to stay 100 yards away from D & E Pizza & Subs. He did not set cash bail.
Kearney will be arraigned on the newest witness intimidation charge March 18 in Stoughton District Court. His next court date in Norfolk Superior Court is April 30.
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