Witness testimony resumed Thursday morning in the murder trial of Karen Read , the Mansfield woman accused in the Canton death of John O’Keefe, her Boston police officer boyfriend.
Thursday’s proceedings resumed with Canton Firefighter Anthony Flematti on the stand. He testified that he found O’Keefe suffering from traumatic injuries in the snow outside 34 Fairview Road early on Jan. 29, 2022.
Flematti said he heard Read saying, “I hit him, I hit him, Oh my god, I hit him.” He added that Read just kept repeating it over and over again.” Testimony from other first responders on Day 2 of the trial painted a similar picture .
Flematti also testified that injuries on O’Keefe’s arm were consistent with happening “earlier in the evening” based on dried blood.
Fellow Canton Firefighter Matthew Kelly took that stand after Flematti. Kelly told the court that he heard Read say that O’Keefe was “dead,” however, he claimed he never heard her say, “I hit him.”
Canton Firefighter told the court that he encountered two women at the scene who were “frantically moving around a lot” and that he heard Read ask, “Is he alive?”
Canton Firefighter Katie McLaughlin was next up on the stand.
Read has been charged with second-degree murder and other charges in O’Keefe’s death.
Prosecutors allege she struck him outside the Canton home and then drove away after a night of drinking at two bars.
Prosecutors haven’t said where they think she went after that. However, they allege she later became frantic after she said she couldn’t reach O’Keefe. She returned to the site of the party, where she and two friends found O’Keefe covered in snow.
The defense has spent months arguing in court that the case was marred by conflicts of interest and accused prosecutors of presenting false and deceptive evidence to the grand jury in an effort to frame Read.
Karen Read murder trial: A guide to the key players you need to know
PREVIOUS STORY:
A Canton Firefighter Anthony Flematti will once again take the stand to testify in Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, picking up after a half day on Tuesday and no court on Wednesday.
Read is accused of killing John O’Keefe by hitting him with her car and leaving him to die outside of a home on Fairview Road in a weekend blizzard in January 2022.
The prosecution has been calling on the first responders who were on the scene the morning O’Keefe was found to testify. So far, four have taken the stand including two Canton Police officers and two Canton firefighters .
The words Read allegedly uttered at the crime scene were the focus Tuesday on the second day of her trial. Firefighter Tim Nuttall said he spoke to Read briefly while trying to resuscitate O’Keefe in the snow.
Nuttall said Read made the statement that she hit O’Keefe outside of the home but defense attorney Alan Jackson said the statement did not become a part of the initial record until more than a week later.
“As I was ventilating, I was able to ask, did anybody see anything, did anybody, what happened? And there was one individual who replied several times, ‘I hit him, I hit him,’” Nuttall said.
Jackson questioned, “So the first time you ever repeated that statement was February 8th with Trooper Proctor?”
Read’s lawyers have repeatedly claimed that Massachusetts State Trooper Michael Proctor is involved in a conspiracy to frame Read but the prosecution says that’s false.
We also learned in court Tuesday that homeowner Brian Albert, who was a Boston police officer at the time, never came out of his house when first responders were on the scene trying to save O’Keefe. Nor did any of his neighbors.
Thursday is planned to be a half day in the trial, beginning with Flematti on the stand. Proceedings are expected to run from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The jury may travel to the scene where O’Keefe was found dead on Friday.
PREVIOUS TRIAL COVERAGE:
Karen Read trial: Focus turns to demeanor of girlfriend charged in Boston officer’s death
Tuesday, April 30, 2024: Canton police officer, firefighters testify on 2nd day of Karen Read murder trial
‘Is he dead?’: Jurors in Karen Read murder trial shown police cruiser video on 1st day of testimony
Monday, April 29, 2024: Opening statements, testimony begins in Karen Read murder trial
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