BOSTON (AP) — Karen Read, who was found not guilty of charges in the death of her boyfriend, has filed a lawsuit accusing members of the Massachusetts State Police and several others of targeting her and shielding the real killers.
Read walked out of court earlier this year after more than three years and two trials over the death of her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, who was found on the lawn of a fellow officer’s home after a night of heavy drinking.
“For three and a half years, plaintiff Karen Read was wrongly accused of homicide and subjected to suspicion, arrest, two prosecutions and public condemnation all resulting from the gross misconduct of the Massachusetts State Police — and those working in tandem with the MSP — to shield from liability the party or parties responsible for the death of Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe III,” the lawsuit says
Read was accused of striking O’Keefe, with her SUV in 2022 and leaving him to die alone in the snow outside of a house party in Canton, a suburb about 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of Boston. She was been charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating a vehicle under the influence and leaving the scene.
A mistrial was declared last year after jurors said they were at an impasse and deliberating further would be futile. In the second trial, a jury found her not guilty of second degree murder and manslaughter charges but did find her guilty of a lesser charge of drunken driving.
Tuesday’s lawsuit was filed against several members of the state police and most of the people at the house party including federal agent Brian Higgins, Nicole and Brian Albert, whose owned the house, and Jennifer and Matthew McCabe. It raises many of the allegations Read’s defense team made during her two trials.
The lawsuit alleges O’Keefe was killed at the house party during an “altercation during a late night house party with other defendants after a night of heavy drinking.” It says there was a vast conspiracy by members of a well-connected and close social group in the house to cover up the crime. It also accused investigators of shoddy police work, manufacturing evidence and failing to investigate the house for blood, DNA or other evidence or interview anyone at the house.
“The House Defendants responsible for Mr. O’Keefe’s death — some of whom had professional experience with police investigations — concocted a plan immediately after the altercation to avoid culpability and frame Ms. Read,” the lawsuit alleges, adding that state police investigators allowed those defendants to redirect the investigation away from themselves and toward Read.
In statement from their attorneys, Higgins, the McCabes and the Alberts denied the allegations.
“The allegations made by Karen Read are entirely false, defamatory, and without merit,” they said in a statement. “Our clients categorically deny each and every claim. This lawsuit is nothing more than a continuation of a baseless conspiracy narrative that has caused significant harm to the reputations and lives of innocent people. Our clients acted responsibly, fulfilling their civic duty as witnesses, and have participated appropriately in the legal process from the outset.”
The lawsuit also alleges the investigation, led by former Massachusetts State Trooper Michael Proctor, was biased from the start. Proctor was fired after sharing offensive and sexist texts about Read with friends, family and co-workers. During the second trial, Read’s defense attorney Alan Jackson argued Proctor’s “blatant bias” tainted every aspect of the corrupt and flawed investigation.
In a statement, the Karen Read Civil Team said she “was dragged through a baseless criminal prosecution engineered by individuals who abused their authority, manipulated the investigative process, and trampled her rights.”
“Our complaint lays out, in stark detail, the malicious prosecution, the conspiracy, the civil-rights violations, and the intentional misconduct that these defendants visited upon an innocent woman,” the team added.
A spokesman for the Massachusetts State Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The lawsuit, among other things, alleges malicious prosecution under the Fourth Amendment and conspiracy to deprive Read of her Fourth Amendment rights. Her lawyers are demanding a jury trial.
