Death of John O'Keefe

On January 29, 2022, at 6:03 am, John O'Keefe, an officer of the Boston Police Department, was found unconscious on the front lawn of fellow Boston police officer Brian Albert in Canton, Massachusetts, United States. O'Keefe's girlfriend, financial analyst Karen Read, had dropped him off at a party at the Albert household shortly after midnight and returned early that morning to find his body after he failed to return home. O'Keefe was declared dead at 7:59 am at a local hospital. An autopsy performed two days later found that he had died of impact injuries to the head, although his manner of death was undetermined.

Read was subsequently arrested and charged with manslaughter, motor vehicle homicide and leaving the scene of a motor vehicle collision causing death. Prosecutors alleged that she had killed O'Keefe by backing into him with her car after dropping him off. Read's defense team alleged that O'Keefe was murdered inside the Albert household, and that police officers involved in the case used their resources to taint the investigation and frame Read. Following a grand jury indictment, Read's charges were upgraded to second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating under the influence of alcohol and leaving the scene of personal injury and death.

Read's first criminal trial resulted in a mistrial on July 1, 2024, due to a hung jury. She was tried for a second time beginning on April 1, 2025, and ultimately found not guilty on all three major charges. She was found guilty of operating a vehicle under the influence, receiving the standard sentence of one year of probation.

The case drew national attention due to local journalist Aidan Kearney's investigation of evidence of foul play in the death of O'Keefe. His multi-part series, "Canton Cover-Up," exposes the close relationships between law enforcement and those who were present at the Albert household on the night of O'Keefe's death.