Closing arguments set for Friday in Karen Learn’s second trial over cop’s demise

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With closing arguments scheduled for Friday morning, jurors will quickly start deliberating Karen Read's destiny after 31 days of testimony in her second trial over the demise of Boston cop John O'Keefe, her former boyfriend.

Learn, 45, is accused of clipping the 46-year-old exterior a home social gathering and leaving him to die on the bottom throughout a blizzard on Jan. 29, 2022. Her protection denies {that a} collision ever occurred, suggesting he was attacked by somebody on the social gathering and a canine as an alternative.

Choose Beverly Cannone denied the protection's second movement for a discovering of not responsible Thursday – clearing the best way for deliberations to start.

The next consists of core proof offered by each the prosecution and the protection.

KAREN READ ANNOUNCES SHE WILL NOT TESTIFY IN HER DEFENSE AS MASSACHUSETTS TRIAL NEARS CONCLUSION

Prosecutors mentioned Karen Learn and John O’Keefe had been consuming closely earlier than she dropped him off at a celebration on the residence of Brian Albert, a fellow officer. They alleged she hit him along with her SUV earlier than driving away. Learn denied this declare. (Courtesy of Karen Learn)

The prosecution case: Taillight fragments in O'Keefe's garments Specialists say a glancing car strike brought about O'Keefe to fall on the again of his head Cellphone knowledge aligns with prosecution timeline Learn's alleged, repeated statements, "I hit him. I hit him. I hit him." Learn's many public statements performed in courtroom <source media="(min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1023px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/06/672/378/karen-read-boston-ma-retrial-john-okeefe-day-32-005.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/06/1344/756/karen-read-boston-ma-retrial-john-okeefe-day-32-005.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="378" width="672"><source media="(min-width: 1024px) and (max-width: 1279px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/06/931/523/karen-read-boston-ma-retrial-john-okeefe-day-32-005.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/06/1862/1046/karen-read-boston-ma-retrial-john-okeefe-day-32-005.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="523" width="931"> Particular prosecutor Hank Brennan exterior of Norfolk County Superior Courtroom for the Karen Learn trial Wednesday, June 11, 2025, in Dedham Mass. Learn is charged with killing her Boston police officer boyfriend by deliberately driving her SUV into him. (David McGlynn for Fox Information Digital)

KAREN READ MURDER TRIAL REACHES FINAL STAGE WITH CLOSING ARGUMENTS SET FOR FRIDAY

Former Whitey Bulger protection lawyer turned particular prosecutor Hank Brennan, derided as a "mob lawyer" by Learn's vocal supporters, got here in to take over the case after final 12 months's mistrial. Assistant Norfolk County District Attorneys Adam Lally and Laura McLaughlin returned from the primary trial.

Central to Brennan's case is that O'Keefe had plastic fragments that matched Learn's taillight embedded in his garments.

Dr. Aizik Wolf, a famend mind surgeon, mentioned O'Keefe's damage is in line with a "basic" fall backward on frozen floor. And a biomechanist named Dr. Judson Welcher testified that Learn seemingly hit him with a glancing blow to the suitable arm and despatched him stumbling backward earlier than he cracked his head on the garden at 34 Fairview Street in Canton, the place he was discovered below a pile of snow hours later.

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Prosecutor Hank Brennan exhibits some photos of Fairview Street, to witness Jen McCabe through the Karen Learn homicide trial in Norfolk Superior Courtroom in Dedham, Mass., Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger through AP, Pool)

FINAL DEFENSE WITNESS IN KAREN READ TRIAL PUMPS BRAKES ON LEXUS COLLISION THEORY

And in Learn's personal alleged phrases, she repeatedly mentioned, "I hit him. I hit him. I hit him."

The timing of Jennifer McCabe's Google search – "hos lengthy to die in chilly" – is one other key issue, in keeping with Paul Mauro, a retired NYPD inspector who's following the case.

"If at 6:23 a.m., it corroborates Jen McCabe’s testimony," he advised Fox Information Digital. "In the event you consider Jen McCabe, you just about need to convict. You can maybe acquit on the highest cost, however definitely you would need to convict on the manslaughter."

<source media="(min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1023px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/06/672/378/karen-read-boston-ma-retrial-john-okeefe-day-33-003.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/06/1344/756/karen-read-boston-ma-retrial-john-okeefe-day-33-003.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="378" width="672"><source media="(min-width: 1024px) and (max-width: 1279px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/06/931/523/karen-read-boston-ma-retrial-john-okeefe-day-33-003.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/06/1862/1046/karen-read-boston-ma-retrial-john-okeefe-day-33-003.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="523" width="931"> Karen Learn listens to her legal professional, David Yannetti, deal with Choose Beverly Cannone throughout her trial at Norfolk Superior Courtroom, Thursday, June 12, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (Charles Krupa/AP Photograph)

The protection case: Learn asserts the crash by no means occurred The Bowden protection – investigation was too sloppy to be enough, and the lead detective received fired Specialists say canine bites brought about arm accidents, head damage didn't occur on garden and no indicators of hypothermia Brennan's reference to holes in O'Keefe's hoodie that have been put there by crime lab SIGN UP TO GET THE TRUE CRIME NEWSLETTER

<source media="(min-width: 1024px) and (max-width: 1279px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/05/931/523/karen-read-boston-ma-retrial-john-okeefe-day-19-44.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/05/1862/1046/karen-read-boston-ma-retrial-john-okeefe-day-19-44.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="523" width="931"> Karen Learn’s legal professional Alan Jackson talks to reporters earlier than leaving on the finish of the day from the Norfolk County Superior Courtroom, Tuesday, Might 20, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. Learn is charged with killing her Boston police officer boyfriend by deliberately driving her SUV into him. (Hans Pennink for Fox Information Digital)

Learn's authorized group consists of big-city attorneys from three states – Boston's David Yannetti, New York Metropolis's Robert Alessi , and Alan Jackson and Elizabeth Little from Los Angeles.

In her first trial, Yannetti and Jackson argued that Learn had been "framed" by native and state police. This time round, they centered on the speculation that Learn's 2021 Lexus LX 570 SUV by no means struck O'Keefe.

In addition they deployed a "Bowden protection" – making an attempt to indicate the police investigation was "insufficient." Investigators collected proof in pink Solo cups and procuring luggage, used a leaf blower to maneuver snow, mislabeled proof and didn't search a search warrant for the home on the deal with the place they recovered O'Keefe's stays.

Former Massachusetts State Trooper Michael Proctor, a murder detective on the case, later misplaced his job for sharing confidential and legislation enforcement delicate data on an R-rated textual content chain that additionally included lewd remarks in regards to the defendant.

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Karen Learn talks along with her attorneys Robert Alessi and David Yannetti throughout her trial at Norfolk Superior Courtroom, Tuesday, Might 6, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (Matt Stone/The Boston Herald through AP, Pool)

Protection consultants testified that the minor abrasions on O'Keefe's proper arm weren't brought on by contact with Learn's damaged taillight, however somewhat by canine or animal bites. Dr. Daniel Wolfe and Dr. Andrew Rentschler disputed Welcher's findings with testing of their very own, utilizing a crash dummy arm that they mentioned couldn't reproduce the identical harm to a Lexus taillight.

The blow to the again of his head – which fractured his cranium – didn't come from contact on the frozen garden, however somewhat by contact with a ridged, grainy floor, in keeping with Dr. Elizabeth Laposata, a forensic pathologist and medical professor at Brown College.

<source media="(min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1023px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/06/672/378/karen-read-boston-ma-retrial-john-okeefe-day-31-021.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/06/1344/756/karen-read-boston-ma-retrial-john-okeefe-day-31-021.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="378" width="672"><source media="(min-width: 1024px) and (max-width: 1279px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/06/931/523/karen-read-boston-ma-retrial-john-okeefe-day-31-021.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/06/1862/1046/karen-read-boston-ma-retrial-john-okeefe-day-31-021.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="523" width="931"> Protection witness Dr. Elizabeth Laposata on the stand solutions questions through the Karen Learn retrial, Tuesday, June 10, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (Matt Stone/The Boston Herald through AP, Pool)

Laposata additionally disputed post-mortem findings that indicated O'Keefe had hypothermia – testifying that his inside accidents got here from resuscitation makes an attempt and never harm from the chilly.

"The protection case is science, science after which extra science," mentioned Mark Bederow, a New York Metropolis legal professional representing Learn ally and Canton blogger Aidan Kearney. "No automotive accident, then no crime."

Karen Learn arrives at Norfolk County Superior Courtroom, Tuesday, Might 20, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. Learn is charged with killing her Boston police officer boyfriend by deliberately driving her SUV into him. (Hans Pennink for Fox Information Digital)

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What's subsequent? Learn faces 15 years to life in jail if convicted on the highest cost. If convicted of drunken driving manslaughter, she would face 5 to twenty.