A witness in the Karen Read murder trial testified on Tuesday that she saw a “blob” near the road as she left a party at the Albert family’s home before John O’Keefe’s lifeless body was found outside in January 2022.
Read, 44, of Mansfield, is facing charges including second-degree murder in the death of O’Keefe, who was her boyfriend at the time. She has pleaded not guilty.
Karen Read murder trial: A guide to the key players you need to know
Julie Nagel said she had been at the Canton house that night to celebrate the birthday of the homeowner’s son, Brian Albert Jr.
PLAY-BY-PLAY FROM DAY 12 OF TESTIMONY:
Nagel testified that she was in the backseat of the Mccabe’s car leaving 34 Fairview Road around 1:30 a.m. when she saw the object in an area where O’Keefe would be found hours later.
Nagel said she said something to the other three people in the car but they didn’t stop. She also said she waited eight months to share that with law enforcement until an interview with Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor in October 2022.
“I did notice something out of the ordinary, like a black blob in the ground by the flag pole,” Nagel.
Nagel was questioned by defense attorney David Yannetti, who asked, “You didn’t see a body on that lawn?” Nagel responded, “I mean I don’t know what I saw but I saw an object.”
Outside of court Tuesday, Yannetti commented, “If she actually saw something that could potentially have been a body then that would have been the most important evidence in this case.”
Get caught up with everything that has happened so far in the Karen Read murder trial
This appears to be the first time someone testified to seeing anything unusual outside of the home that wasn’t a car.
Also on the stand Tuesday, were the homeowner’s daughter, Caitlin Albert, and her boyfriend, Tristin Morris. Albert said she had her boyfriend come pick her up from Easton so she wouldn’t get snowed in at her parents home.
From walking out the front door, getting into his car, pulling out of the driveway, and driving past the front of the house and flag pole, neither said they saw anything.
Yannetti asked Albert, “You saw no baseball hat, no sneaker, no pieces of plastic, and no 6″2 man, correct?”
“Correct, but I also wasn’t looking at your window,” Albert said.
“You certainly didn’t see a 6′2 man on the lawn of your girlfriend’s parents’ home?” Yannetti questioned Morris. “No,” he said.
Nagel said earlier in the night she noticed an SUV outside that eventually ended up near the flagpole. She said she never saw that vehicle accelerate quickly or drive in reverse.
The defense’s theory is that O’Keefe was actually beaten up inside the Albert home and dragged outside in a snowstorm and that the Albert family is at the center of an effort to frame Read.
Prosecutors claim Read drunkenly struck O’Keefe with her luxury Lexus SUV while making a three-point after dropping him off at the home. They allege she fled the scene and left him to die.
Nagel is expected back on the stand Wednesday.
RELATED VIDEO: Witness testimony in Karen Read murder trial from Tuesday, May 14, 2024
Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter . | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
Most Popular
Comments / 0