Crime
“I am disappointed in the verdict and the fact that we could not achieve justice for John O’Keefe and his family,” Brennan said following Read’s murder acquittal.
Speaking out for the first time following Karen Read’s acquittal on murder and manslaughter charges last week, special prosecutor Hank Brennan expressed his disappointment in the verdict and railed against the “campaign of intimidation and abuse” surrounding the high-profile case.
While Read’s lawyers were quick to share their thoughts on the verdict, the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office has remained remarkably mum since jurors found Read not guilty of all major charges in the January 2022 death of her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe.
“The jury has spoken,” District Attorney Michael Morrissey told local news outlets as his office faces heightened scrutiny over the unsuccessful prosecution. After three years, two trials, several weeks of testimony, and hundreds of thousands of dollars, jurors in Read’s retrial only convicted her of drunk driving.
“I am disappointed in the verdict and the fact that we could not achieve justice for John O’Keefe and his family,” Brennan said Monday.
A veteran criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor who shot to national prominence representing the late gangster James “Whitey” Bulger, Brennan signed on last fall to lead prosecutors in Read’s retrial. Assistant District Attorneys Adam Lally and Laura McLaughlin led the prosecution for Read’s first murder trial, which ended with a mistrial last summer after jurors returned deadlocked.
“District Attorney Michael Morrissey appointed me giving me full discretion to independently assess the case and follow the evidence no matter where it led,” Brennan explained. “After an independent and thorough review of all the evidence I concluded that the evidence led to one person, and only one person.”
Prosecutors had alleged Read, 45, backed her SUV into O’Keefe in a drunken rage while dropping him off at an afterparty following a night of bar-hopping in Canton. Read’s lawyers claim she was framed in a law enforcement coverup, floating an alternate theory that O’Keefe was attacked and mortally wounded after joining the party at 34 Fairview Road.
However, Brennan said neither his independent review nor the now-closed federal probe into the case “led me to identify any other possible suspect or person responsible for the death of John O’Keefe.”
The case ignited a media firestorm as true crime fanatics and online sleuths adopted the defense narrative and turned the spotlight on certain witnesses. Turtleboy blogger Aidan Kearney, the de facto face of the “Free Karen Read” movement and one of Read’s most vocal advocates, was even charged with witness intimidation in connection to his coverage of the case.
“The campaign of intimidation and abuse that has been waged, funded, and promoted in public and on social media is the antithesis of justice,” Brennan asserted, warning of the precedent. “If this type of conduct becomes commonplace, it will threaten the integrity of our judicial system affecting both victims and criminally accused.”
He added: “We cannot condone witness abuse causing participants to worry for their own safety or that of their families.”
Members of two local families entangled in the online speculation, the Alberts and McCabes, said they’ve regularly been called “murderers” as they maintain O’Keefe never set foot inside the Albert home at 34 Fairview Road the night he died. Brennan said he hopes Read’s verdict will allow witnesses and their families to now be left alone.
“The harassment of these innocent victims and family members is deplorable and should never happen again in a case in this Commonwealth,” he added.
Read still faces a wrongful death lawsuit from members of O’Keefe’s family, who have also alleged emotional distress.
“My heartfelt condolences to the O’Keefe family and faith that over the coming years they will find peace and closure,” Brennan offered.
Read special prosecutor Hank Brennan’s full statement:
I am disappointed in the verdict and the fact that we could not achieve justice for John O’Keefe and his family. District Attorney Michael Morrissey appointed me giving me full discretion to independently assess the case and follow the evidence no matter where it led. After an independent and thorough review of all the evidence I concluded that the evidence led to one person, and only one person. Neither the closed federal investigation nor my independent review led me to identify any other possible suspect or person responsible for the death of John O’Keefe.
The campaign of intimidation and abuse that has been waged, funded, and promoted in public and on social media is the antithesis of justice. If this type of conduct becomes commonplace, it will threaten the integrity of our judicial system affecting both victims and criminally accused.
We cannot condone witness abuse causing participants to worry for their own safety or that of their families.
It is my hope that with the verdict, the witnesses and their families will be left alone. The harassment of these innocent victims and family members is deplorable and should never happen again in a case in this Commonwealth.
My heartfelt condolences to the O’Keefe family and faith that over the coming years they will find peace and closure.
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