In a rare and emphatic video statement, Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey condemned the harassment of witnesses involved in the prosecution of Karen Read, who is charged with the murder of her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe. Morrissey’s statement comes amid a flurry of conspiracy theories that have clouded the case, with some alleging that several witnesses were involved in a cover-up.
“This will be the first statement of its kind in my dozen years as Norfolk district attorney. The harassment of witnesses in the murder prosecution of Karen Read is absolutely baseless,” Morrissey declared. “It should be an outrage to any decent person, and it needs to stop. Innuendo is not evidence. False narratives are not evidence.”
### Conflicting Narratives
Prosecutors allege that Read backed her car into O’Keefe and left him to die in the snow while dropping him off at a fellow Boston police officer’s home in Canton in January 2022. Read, a Mansfield woman, has pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree murder, motor vehicle manslaughter while driving under the influence, and leaving the scene of a collision causing injury and death.
Her defense team argues that Read was framed, suggesting that O’Keefe was severely beaten inside the home, attacked by the homeowner’s dog, and left outside. However, Morrissey maintained that evidence shows O’Keefe never entered the home at 34 Fairview Road in Canton on the night he died. He also noted that an autopsy concluded O’Keefe’s injuries were not the result of a fight or an animal attack.
“Eleven people have given statements that they did not see John O’Keefe enter the home at 34 Fairview [Road] that night,” Morrissey said. “Zero people have said that they saw him enter the home. Zero. No one.”
### Witness Harassment
Morrissey also addressed claims that the homeowner, Brian Albert, and several of his relatives were involved in killing O’Keefe or engaged in a cover-up. “These people were not part of a conspiracy and certainly did not commit murder or any crime that night,” the DA said. “They have been forthcoming with authorities, provided statements, and have not engaged in any cover-up. They are not suspects in any crime—they are merely witnesses in the case.”
He added, “To have them accused of murder is outrageous. To have them harassed and intimidated based on false narratives and accusations is wrong. They are witnesses doing what our justice system asks of them.”
Morrissey’s statement also touched on Michael Proctor, a Massachusetts State Police trooper who some of Read’s defenders have accused of planting evidence at the scene. The DA said Proctor had no close personal relationship with anyone involved in the investigation, nor was he at the scene the day O’Keefe died.
“I am asking the Canton community and everyone who feels invested in this case to hear all of the actual evidence at trial before assigning guilt to people who have done nothing wrong,” Morrissey said. “And certainly before taking it upon yourself to harass citizens who, evidence shows, have done nothing in this matter but come forward and bear witness.”
### Legal Maneuvering
Earlier this summer, prosecutors tried and failed to secure a gag order that would have barred Read’s attorneys from speaking about certain aspects of the case outside the courtroom. They argued that the lawyers’ comments fueled an invasion of witnesses’ privacy. On Friday, Morrissey called the conspiracy allegations “completely contrary to the evidence and a desperate attempt to re-assign guilt.”
“We try people in the court and not on the internet for a reason,” the DA said. “The internet has no rules of evidence. The internet has no punishment for perjury. And the internet does not know all the facts.”
### Media Involvement
Prosecutors are also seeking footage from TV interviews Karen Read gave to NBC’s “Dateline” and ABC’s “Nightline” as she awaits trial. In motions filed last week, the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office asked the court to order both networks to turn over video of Read’s interviews, including raw footage that wasn’t aired. The recordings, prosecutors argued, are evidentiary and relevant to the case against Read.
Read “has put forth numerous conflicting theories relevant to her involvement and to the existence of physical evidence recovered from her vehicle, the victim’s clothing, and the medical examiner’s findings of fact,” prosecutors wrote in one of the motions.
Specifically, prosecutors cited a defense theory that O’Keefe was murdered by individuals inside the home at 34 Fairview Road. Read’s lawyers have argued that she was framed, suggesting that O’Keefe was beaten, attacked by the homeowner’s dog, and left outside.
“These claims are made without a scintilla of evidence to support them,” prosecutors contended. “Yet, the defendant continues to use the media to both contradict her prior statements and to facilitate her profession of innocence, while making baseless accusations against nearly every witness, law enforcement officer, or expert involved in the substantial case against her.”
### Legal Context
The request for footage from NBC and ABC is notable; Massachusetts is among a handful of states that do not have a so-called “shield law,” which allows journalists to refuse to disclose sources or unpublished information. Without a well-defined law in place, the decision is generally left to a judge’s discretion on a case-by-case basis—a common law approach that can spell uncertainty for journalists, according to the nonprofit Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
Even if Massachusetts did have qualified reporter’s privilege, prosecutors argued, “parties seeking disclosure of non-confidential materials are entitled to seek discovery from a media entity if they can show ‘that the materials at issue are of likely relevance to a significant issue in the case, and are not reasonably obtainable from other available sources.’”
NBC and ABC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
### Defense Team’s Actions
Separately, Read’s lawyers have filed a motion asking Canton officials to produce GPS data and records regarding snowplows that were deployed near Fairview Road on the day O’Keefe died. The defense team asserted that other guests who were at the home did not see O’Keefe lying in the front yard as they left after midnight on Jan. 29. Prosecutors have said that Read and two other women found his body in the snow by a cluster of trees later that morning.
As the case continues to unfold, the focus remains on the evidence and the legal proceedings, with prosecutors condemning the conspiracy theories that have muddied the waters.
Source: Boston Globe, NBC, ABC
