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Karen Read case: Docuseries finale reveals Read’s emotions as she awaited her fate
The fifth episode of “A Body in the Snow” shows a tearful Read worrying about her future and her family as jury deliberations in her first trial stretched on.
Where Karen Read wore a steel-faced expression throughout much of her first murder trial and greeted her roaring supporters with an air of cool confidence, her behind-the-scenes behavior in the finale of “A Body in the Snow” reveals a more emotionally complex portrait of the woman at the center of this sensational case.
The fifth episode of Investigation Discovery’s new true crime docuseries follows Read and her lawyers as they await a verdict following her trial in the January 2022 death of her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe. As jury deliberations stretched on, Read is shown crying in the arms of one of her defense attorneys, Alan Jackson.
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“The stuff that goes through your mind is like, ‘Should I go to the bathroom?’ Because if I’m handcuffed, like, I’m not going to be able to go to the bathroom,” Read says in the episode. “I haven’t hugged my dad today.”
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“It’s not going to happen,” Jackson reassured her.
“It’s amazing that it took until now for you to break down like that,” defense attorney David Yannetti chimed in. “I mean, it just speaks to your incredible strength.”
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Read added, “Just the stuff that goes through your mind is [expletive] wild. It’s weird.”
“It’s not going to happen,” Jackson repeated.
“I know, but even with a 5% chance, it’s enough to be like, ‘S***, I’m not really prepared for this,’” Read said. “I’m not, like, physically [prepared]. I’m mentally, but not, like, physically.”
The 45-year-old is accused of backing her SUV into O’Keefe in a drunken rage while dropping him off at a house party in Canton following a night of bar-hopping. Prosecutors allege Read left her boyfriend to die in a blizzard early on Jan. 29, 2022, but her lawyers contend she was a “convenient outsider” framed in a vast law enforcement conspiracy. They’ve suggested O’Keefe was attacked after entering the home, owned at the time by a fellow Boston police officer.
Read’s first trial ended with a hung jury last July, and she’s due to stand trial again next month.
‘If it’s the worst-case scenario, I’ll have to keep fighting’
Airing over three nights this week, “A Body in the Snow” recapped the case and trial with behind-the-scenes shots and candid commentary from Read and her lawyers, as well as family and friends of both her and O’Keefe. As shown in the finale, Read’s confidence in an acquittal began to slip as jury deliberations stretched on and jurors reported they were at an impasse.
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“I just don’t know what more we can do,” she said. “I just want to go home and eat dinner and, you know, have a drink.”
Read reflected on the possibility of a verdict as both sides were summoned back to the courthouse July 1.
“I’ve known I’ve got to face this verdict this whole time,” she said. “I just hope everybody cannot pass out from the anxiety of it, and, you know, my parents will be OK. And if it’s the worst-case scenario, I’ll have to keep fighting.”
In that moment, she told the off-camera interviewer, “My anxiety is high. I’m trying to think positively about this jury, but my life is in their hands and I just want to know what’s happening to my life.”
Read’s case ultimately remained unresolved as Judge Beverly Cannone declared a mistrial July 1 in light of the deadlocked jury. A defiant defense team addressed reporters on the steps of the courthouse, vowing to keep up the fight.
“Folks, this is what it looks like when you bring false charges against an innocent person,” Jackson said, per video from NBC10 Boston. “The commonwealth did their worst. They brought the weight of the state based on spurious charges, based on compromised investigation and investigators, and compromised witnesses. This is what it looks like.”
Privately, as shown in the docuseries, the attorneys’ reactions were more mixed.
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“We don’t think a mistrial is justice,” Yannetti said. “I don’t think anybody does. In our view, justice means that Karen not only walks out of the courtroom, but doesn’t face any charges anymore.”
Jackson called the mistrial a success but stopped short of declaring victory. He added: “A victory will be an acquittal.”
Read expressed concern about the trial’s impact on her family and friends.
“I can’t imagine what this is doing to my parents,” she said. “You know, I just walked out of that courthouse halfway free. It’s better than being in jail, but it’s untenable. It’s untenable for me and for my 75-year-old parents, and for everybody else who cares about me.”
The finale also shows Read’s tearful goodbye with her attorneys as all parties retreated to recover from the prolonged court battle.
“This routine I’ve had, as miserable as it’s been — and it’s been like living in purgatory — but I’ve taken this odd comfort in surrounding myself with this case,” she says in the episode. “And I feel like I’m always fighting, and it’s helped get me through this. And now I’m losing that — it’s just the weirdest feeling.”
But as the credits roll, she vows: “The fight will continue.”
How to watch ‘A Body in the Snow’
All five episodes of “A Body in the Snow” are available to stream via Investigation Discovery and Max.
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