The brother of a Boston cop said his accused killer girlfriend Karen Read spent her murder trial turning in her seat and smirking at him and his family in the gallery, according to a new interview.
“Throughout the trial, she liked to turn and look at me and smirk,” Paul O’Keefe told WBZ-TV Boston on Wednesday, two days after Read’s trial over the killing of her boyfriend ended in a mistrial.
“She has never once made eye contact with my wife, Erin. So when the mistrial was announced, she turned and looked right at Erin and gave her a smirk,” the grieving brother said, adding he walked straight up to the celebrating Read after the mistrial was declared.
“I just said, you know, ‘You are not done yet.’”
Read was accused of killing O’Keefe’s brother — a Boston police officer — by running him over with a car on a cold night in January 2022, then leaving him to die in a snowbank.
But Read’s defense argued she’d been framed by O’Keefe’s cop buddies, and that they were the ones who beat him to death — an explosive story that led to a frenzy of impassioned support for Read that his brother called “the Karen Read show.”
“She walks through a crowd that cheers her on. She goes out in public and takes pictures and signs autographs. She’s just living her life like nothing ever happened and meanwhile, my brother has been gone for almost 2 1/2 years,” he told WBZ.
“I just want people to go back to who the victim is in this. It’s not her, it’s my brother.”
O’Keefe felt the people supporting Read were “misinformed,” which helped stir up the circus around the trial.
“They were only getting one side of the story, and you know we didn’t come out and tell our side of the story or what we thought really happened,” he told the outlet.
He also said Read’s supporters had been uncommonly nasty to him, with countless harassing him on social media calling him “a moron” and “stupid,” and others shouting at his family throughout the trial.
“Yelling, screaming, calling us names. To this day I don’t know what I did wrong,” he said.
“I don’t really care what people say to me. Because this isn’t about me. This is about my brother.”
Despite the mistrial, O’Keefe remains convinced that Read is guilty.
“We know what happened. We know that Johnny and Karen were arguing, it was kind of towards the end of their relationship. Things weren’t well,” he said.
“They were drinking, and arguing and fighting, and in an intoxicated state of rage and jealousy, she just decided that she was going to do something about it.”
Vitriolic voicemails Read left her boyfriend on the night of her death — including one where she said she hated him — were played to the court during the trial, while foul messages sent by police officers about Read were used to convince some jurors that the cops couldn’t be trusted.
O’Keefe said he and his family were determined to keep fighting for their brother.
“The mistrial that happened the other day, obviously, it wasn’t ideal. But if we have to do it again, we will do it again,” he said.
“We will do it as many times as we have to.”
Elaine Hadley is a dedicated journalist covering the ever-evolving landscape of U.S. news. With a keen interest in politics and a commitment to uncovering the truth, she provides insightful commentary and in-depth analysis on domestic issues. When not reporting, Elaine enjoys exploring the diverse cultures and landscapes of the United States.
