The latest on the Karen Read murder case
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Karen Read trial: Canton plow driver says he didn’t see anything outside 34 Fairview that morning
During cross-examination, special prosecutor Hank Brennan questioned Brian Loughran's memory and whether a blogger's coverage had an impact on his testimony.
On the stand Wednesday:
1 p.m. update: Karen Read, Turtleboy offer comments outside the courthouse
With Karen Read’s retrial running ahead of schedule, Judge Beverly Cannone gave jurors the day off Thursday to avoid the sweltering temperatures.
Read’s trial will resume Friday with a full day of testimony.
Read spoke with reporters briefly as she left the courthouse, reflecting on witness Karina Kolokithas’s testimony about her interactions with John O’Keefe in the hours before his death.
“I think the video speaks for itself,” Read said, seemingly referring to surveillance footage from the couple’s bar outing on Jan. 28, 2022. “Happy, loving, affectionate, no tension.”
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She said she’s thankful for the day off Thursday, which gives her team some additional time to prepare. Asked when the defense may rest its case, she replied, “Tuesday, give or take.”
Turtleboy blogger Aidan Kearney also offered reporters a response to special prosecutor Hank Brennan’s claims that an unnamed “online blogger” had threatened Canton snowplow driver Brian Loughran into giving testimony favorable to Read’s defense.
While Brennan didn’t refer to Turtleboy by name, his description of the blogger’s viewpoints and fan base were a close match for Kearney’s.
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Brennan’s allegations are “completely baseless,” Kearney said as he exited the courthouse.
He denied threatening Loughran, adding, “I think the bigger question is, why did a ‘blogger’ — as Hank Brennan calls me — speak with the plow driver before [former Massachusetts State Police Trooper] Michael Proctor did?”
12:40 p.m. update: Karen Read and John O’Keefe were affectionate the night he died, witness says
John O’Keefe and Karen Read appeared affectionate as they drank together at a bar just hours before O’Keefe died, according to a Canton woman also present at the Waterfall Bar & Grille that night.
Karina Kolokithas testified that she and her husband were at the Waterfall with Read, O’Keefe, Jennifer and Matthew McCabe, and several others the evening of Jan. 28, 2022, and recalled a cheerful atmosphere.
“It was fun,” Kolokithas told jurors. “It was a good time.”
She explained she was friendly with McCabe and O’Keefe through their children’s sports teams; while he had no kids of his own, O’Keefe had taken custody of his young niece and nephew after both their parents died just months apart.
Kolokithas said she returned home after attending her daughter’s high school basketball game the evening of the 28th, but her husband wheedled her into joining him at the Waterfall.
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After arriving at the bar around 9:30 p.m., Kolokithas said she found her husband there with the McCabes. She recalled Jennifer McCabe introducing her to several of the Alberts, including Nicole and Brian Albert — McCabe’s sister and brother-in-law.
When O’Keefe and Read arrived, O’Keefe appeared “very happy” that his niece had been accepted into a private Catholic school. Kolokithas said she spoke mostly with Read while at the bar, testifying that she was drinking water and Read had a clear glass that she believed contained liquor.
She said Read seemed engaged while they spoke, describing the conversation as “very coherent.” Asked about Read’s apparent sobriety, Kolokithas added, “She seemed fine to me.”
At one point, she said, O’Keefe gave Read a kiss on the forehead — an interaction that left an impression on Kolokithas due to its tenderness.
“It just stood out to me,” she recalled. “I was like, ‘Wow, that’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen.’”
Answering a question from defense attorney David Yannetti, Kolokithas said she was not aware that night of Read’s prior interactions with Brian Higgins, another man present at the bar outing. Higgins and Read had flirted over text and even shared a kiss in the weeks leading up to O’Keefe’s death.
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Yannetti played surveillance footage from the Waterfall, and Kolokithas identified several individuals in the clip, including Higgins and Read. In the video, Brian Albert’s brother, Chris, could be seen grabbing Higgins’s arm as Higgins looked toward O’Keefe.
Yannetti asked Kolokithas whether she noticed a gesture Higgins made.
Higgins “put his left arm up,” she replied. Yannetti asked if it appeared Higgins was “summonsing” someone, but Judge Beverly Cannone sustained an objection from prosecutors before Kolokithas could answer.
As they left the bar, Kolokithas said Jennifer McCabe put an arm around Read and told her, “You’re coming with me,” which she found strange. She said she last saw Read and O’Keefe walking toward Read’s parked car.
Yannetti asked Kolokithas whether she had any concerns about Read’s ability to drive that night.
“I had talked to her all night, and I did not notice anything strange about her,” Kolokithas replied. “Like, I didn’t think anything of it.”
During a brief cross-examination, special prosecutor Hank Brennan confirmed Kolokithas saw Read walking toward the driver’s seat of the vehicle. At Brennan’s prompting, she also confirmed O’Keefe was kind, generous, thoughtful, and soft-spoken.
Cannone called the lawyers to a sidebar after Kolokithas concluded her testimony.
11:55 a.m. update: Canton plow driver says he saw nothing outside 34 Fairview Road the morning of Jan. 29, 2022
Disputing allegations that his memory is faulty, Canton snowplow driver Brian Loughran testified he saw nothing on the front lawn of 34 Fairview Road when he initially passed through the area around 2:45 a.m. on Jan. 29, 2022.
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A Canton native, Loughran recalled plowing the Fairview Road neighborhood during a blizzard on the 29th, the same day John O’Keefe was found cold and unresponsive in the snow outside 34 Fairview Road. Loughran confirmed he’s familiar with the Alberts, the family who owned the home at the time, and once worked for homeowner Brian Albert’s brother, Chris, delivering pizzas.
He told jurors he could see all the way to the front door when he first passed 34 Fairview Road. Asked whether he spotted anything on the ground near a flagpole outside the home, Loughran was adamant he saw nothing.
“Did you see a 6-foot-1, 216-pound man lying on that lawn?” defense attorney David Yannetti asked.
“No,” Loughran testified.
The plow driver also said he saw nothing in the area of the flagpole when he passed the home again a short time later.
After reporting for duty at 2:15 a.m. on the 29th, Loughran said he was assigned to drive a snowplow nicknamed “Frankentruck” for its “mish-mash” of parts. Yannetti displayed photos of the truck’s exterior and the view from its driver’s seat, asking Loughran to point out the lighting on the front of the vehicle.
Loughran told jurors the plow’s lights were all working when he reported for duty, noting they shine “extremely bright, almost as if I had a spotlight.” He also testified that on the morning of Jan. 29, he was able to see in front of the truck and diagonally “as far as my eyes would let me see.”
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At Yannetti’s prompting, Loughran confirmed he wears glasses and contacts to help him see, adding that he was wearing his contacts while plowing on Jan. 29. Yannetti displayed a map of the Fairview Road neighborhood and had Loughran walk jurors through his plow route.
Loughran said he made another pass through the Fairview Road neighborhood around 3:30 a.m., noting it was “snowing fairly hard” at the time and there were two or three inches of snow on the ground. He testified he saw a Ford Edge parked in the street in front of 34 Fairview Road, near the flagpole, though he said it was unusual for the Alberts to park vehicles in the roadway.
While plow drivers in Canton are typically supposed to report cars left parked on the street during a blizzard, Loughran said he did not do so as a courtesy to the Alberts. Approaching Fairview Road again at about 6:15 a.m., Loughran said he noticed blue emergency lights in the area and police vehicles blocking the street.
He confirmed a private investigator hired by the defense team approached him about two weeks later — the first time anyone asked to speak with him in connection with Read’s case.
Loughran also testified that he was approached by an unspecified law enforcement agency in 2023, likely referring to federal agents who probed the state’s handling of the investigation into O’Keefe’s death. He said he heard from Massachusetts State Police sometime after that.
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“And sir, how clear is your memory about what you saw or didn’t see in the early morning hours of Jan. 29 of 2022 in the area of 34 Fairview?” Yannetti asked.
“Very strong,” Loughran answered.
Stepping up for cross-examination, special prosecutor Hank Brennan wasted no time in attacking Loughran’s recollection.
“Is it fair to say that when you’ve recounted that night, as far as times and what you saw, many times your memory has changed?” he asked. “Is that fair to say?”
“It has not,” Loughran answered.
In a line of questioning that drew several objections from the defense, Brennan also suggested Loughran had been “intimidated” before taking the stand, citing an unnamed “online blogger” who he alleged threatened to “expose” Loughran if he didn’t offer certain testimony.
While Brennan tiptoed around identifying the blogger, it is likely he was referring to Turtleboy blogger Aidan Kearney. The de facto face of the “Free Karen Read” movement, Kearney has blogged prolifically about Read’s case and has faced witness intimidation charges in connection with his advocacy.
Loughran denied an online blogger had ever threatened him.
“You were well aware the person had a very strong and large social media presence,” Brennan suggested. Loughran confirmed he follows the blogger’s work but does not hold a subscription for his content.
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“And in following that blogger, you know full well the power that person has to get attention from the community to harass, correct?” Brennan asked.
“Yes,” Loughran replied.
Brennan suggested Loughran was “celebrated” for offering certain testimony in Read’s case, and Loughran acknowledged he found the attention “encouraging.”
But, he added: “I did not want it. I don’t think I deserved it. All I was doing was my job and telling the truth.” Loughran also denied enjoying the attention he’s received for his involvement in the case.
Brennan pivoted to Loughran’s conversations with Yannetti and the private investigator, and Loughran confirmed he met with the defense to review his prior testimony. He denied receiving compensation for his testimony.
Throughout his cross-examination, Brennan sought to discredit Loughran’s memory, highlighting inconsistencies in the timestamps he’s offered throughout his involvement in the case. For instance, he said, Loughran testified in Read’s first trial that he attempted to plow Fairview Road around 5:30 a.m. — not 6:15 a.m., as he testified Wednesday.
“Do you recognize that you have a different memory on times of what you did that night?” Brennan asked.
“No,” Loughran replied.
Brennan returned to Loughran’s testimony about seeing the front lawn outside 34 Fairview Road, asking if he had a memory of looking at any other houses “all the way to the door.” Loughran said he did.
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“Which house had a dumpster in front of it?” Brennan asked.
“I don’t know,” Loughran replied, stumbling over his words. “I wasn’t paying attention to a dumpster. A dumpster would be in the front yard.”
Brennan pointed out a dumpster would be bigger than a man’s body, and Loughran testified a dumpster “would have definitely stuck out.”
Later in his cross-examination, Brennan played dashboard camera footage from a police cruiser parked on Fairview Road the morning of Jan. 29, and Loughran acknowledged there was a dumpster visible within the frame. At Brennan’s prompting, he confirmed he struck a portable basketball hoop with his plow that night, though he said it was because he didn’t properly judge the distance and not because he couldn’t see it.
Loughran also confirmed he spoke with the defense team’s private investigator in a parking lot at some point and pointed to a Ford Edge to identify it as the type of car he remembered seeing outside 34 Fairview Road.
He disputed Brennan’s suggestion that his memory of plowing outside 34 Fairview Road was faulty, even as he acknowledged he made a mistake in offering the 5:30 a.m. timestamp during his testimony last year.
“It’s true, isn’t it, that you really have [a] somewhat foggy memory about the times?” Brennan pressed.
“It is not,” Loughran shot back.
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Playing dashboard camera footage from a police cruiser that had been parked on Fairview Road the morning of Jan. 29, Brennan pointed out that an apparent plow could be seen driving past the street several times. Loughran confirmed he was driving the plow captured on camera at 6:19 a.m. and 7:19 a.m., though he couldn’t say for certain whether his plow was also in the video at other points in between.
On redirect examination, Yannetti returned to Brennan’s pointed question about whether Loughran had seen a dumpster outside a home on Fairview Road.
“In the aftermath of Jan. 29 of 2022, was a dumpster all over the news for the next three-and-a-half years?” he asked.
“Not that I’m aware of,” Loughran replied.
As for the erroneous 5:30 a.m. timestamp, “math is not my strong suit,” he explained.
Back for additional questioning, Brennan asked whether Loughran was aware a vehicle similar to a Ford Edge had been parked outside 34 Fairview Road around 6 a.m., referring to witness Kerry Roberts’s car. Loughran said he was not aware of the vehicle’s presence, nor has he ever met Roberts.
As he wrapped up his questioning, Brennan asked Loughran whether he found the online attention he’s received throughout the case “embarassing.” Loughran said he found the publicity more “aggravating” than embarrassing and denied any concern that the attention might impact his livelihood.
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Brennan asked Loughran whether he learned that his brother, Canton Select Board member Michael Loughran, was also facing some scrutiny, and Loughran said he knew his brother was dealing with “other issues” connected to Read’s case.
Loughran further acknowledged facing personal attacks himself.
“After you testified, things got better?” Brennan asked.
“I wouldn’t say ‘better,’” Loughran replied. “It’s gotten a little more easily manageable.”
Livestream via NBC10 Boston.
Karen Read’s murder retrial continues Wednesday with additional witnesses expected on the stand.
Wednesday will be a half-day in court, ending by about 1 p.m.
Tuesday’s court proceedings saw defense dog bite expert Dr. Marie Russell back in the hot seat for a marathon cross-examination by special prosecutor Hank Brennan. Throughout his questioning, Brennan repeatedly pressed Russell on her methodology as he sought to discredit her finding that John O’Keefe’s arm injuries were from a dog attack. Russell’s testimony is key as defense attorneys argue Read was framed for killing O’Keefe, her boyfriend of two years.
More on Karen Read:
Prosecutors allege Read, 45, drunkenly and deliberately struck O’Keefe with her SUV while dropping him off at an afterparty in Canton following a night of bar-hopping. However, Read’s lawyers have floated an alternate theory that O’Keefe entered the party at 34 Fairview Road and was beaten, attacked by the family dog, and ultimately tossed outside in the snow.
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Facing hours of intense cross-examination, Russell stood by her opinion that wounds on O’Keefe’s right arm were dog-inflicted. She also dismissed prosecutors’ suggestion that a broken taillight on Read’s SUV could have caused the injuries.
“A broken taillight, in and of itself, could not cause those injuries,” Russell told jurors, adding, “A broken taillight could not have done that.”
She further testified that she saw no “medical evidence that there was impact with a vehicle.”
Russell did, however, acknowledge that she read a report from a deputy medical examiner with the United States Armed Forces who concluded O’Keefe’s arm wounds were “highly unlikely” to have come from an animal bite. The Armed Forces Medical Examiner System provides forensic investigative services to the federal government, and federal prosecutors previously probed O’Keefe’s death as part of a secretive investigation into Read’s case.
Later in the day Tuesday, Dighton Police Sgt. Nicholas Barros took the stand and testified that Read’s taillight was missing a piece but “was not completely damaged” when police arrived at her parents’ home to tow the vehicle just hours after O’Keefe died. Under cross-examination, Barros acknowledged he didn’t see anyone from the Massachusetts State Police approach and touch the taillight or manipulate it “in any way.”
The ongoing trial is Read’s second, after a hung jury in her first trial last summer resulted in a mistrial.
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