The prosecution has a tough job, although personally I think this was an accident and she is being over-charged.
The physical evidence does not support the Commonwealth's (latest) theory of what happened. Because of the taillight, they originally theorized she made a three point turn and knocked him 12 feet onto the lawn. When they realized there was no way she could generate enough speed to break her taillight and fatally injure anyone doing such a maneuver, they switched to a bizarre theory of her pulling forward and away from the house for a full 62 feet and then (on a big curve, mind you) backed up at rate of speed over 24 mph and somehow knocked him laterally 12 feet to her right. They physics don't add up. And no tire marks were found on the lawn.
And there are two witnesses - one in the house and one a passenger in another car behind her - who told police she drove away normally. I think the one in the house is now denying he said this, but it was his first story to the police. There was a lot of activity in and around the house at the time, but no one heard, and more importantly, no one saw O'Keefe's body on the lawn. Including a plow driver who made two passes at 2:30 and 3:00 am. He's adamant given the height of the truck and his lights, he absolutely would have seen O'Keefe's body on the lawn. The snow didn't start piling up until later that morning. The same driver says at 3 am there was a Ford Edge parked right in front of where John's body would have been. Not Read's vehicle.
O'Keefe's injuries do not fit with a pedestrian incident. He had a small but deep gash on the back of his head, bruising on the back of both hands and multiple lacerations on his right forearm and upper arm. No other injuries to his ribs, pelvis, hips, legs and no internal injuries. This makes no sense at all.
I'd love someone to explain the injuries to his arm. Sure looks like an animal caused them. There was a German shepherd in the house that night. One that was allegedly re-homed after this because she had a history of attacking people. There's nothing on her vehicle or on the lawn that could have caused them.
No cameras in the neighborhood were checked to see if Karen's 62 foot back and forth trek was picked up. The cop who lived across the street says his camera caught nothing.
Even though the homeowner is also a Boston cop, he never ventured out that morning to see why there were screaming people and many cop cars on and around his property. I know it was snowing, but I think most people would be more than a little curious. Didn't even send out a family member to find out.
The only evidence the state has is the broken taillight pieces. I don't think the investigating state trooper was involved in a big conspiracy to frame Read. I believe he saw her light was cracked (he wouldn't yet know there was video of her bumping into O'Keefe's vehicle at their home that morning) and decided he'd help move the investigation along by breaking off pieces and scattering them near where the body was found. He had plenty of alone time with her vehicle and lied about his time frames in his report. (the Commonwealth says he was just confused.) At this point there was a major blizzard and those taillight pieces sure did make life easier for the investigator. She was drunk, she admitted she did it (not really) and now we have the proof! Easy peasy. The DA can now over-charge her, she'll plead guilty to manslaughter, do a year in prison and everyone goes away happy.
I don't think this is a grand conspiracy. The investigation was unbelievably poorly done and if the state police did plant a little evidence and this can be proven, there are several other very big criminal cases that could be in jeopardy of being tossed out. Defense attorneys are salivating as I type. As for the people in the house, everyone has the same simple story. He never came in the house so nothing to see here.
We haven't seen full phone and vehicle data yet. Supposedly O'Keefe's health app indicates he was walking up stairs when he should have been lying incapacitated on the lawn. I don't know how accurate these types of apps are. But unless there is something irrefutable in the data that supports the state's story, there is no way a jury convicts Karen Read.
The potential picture here is much, much bigger than one woman being set up. Hopefully the story doesn't die after she gets off.
