Was John O’Keefe alive listening to the “last words” that Karen read when he passed away on January 29, 2022? That was a key question from the prosecutors, and her defense sought a response on Friday at a retrial on the murder charges of his death.
Each side tried to fit them into the context of their respective cases.
During the ambulance ride after reading, Kelly Roberts and Jennifer McCabe found O’Keefe under a snow pile outside the other officer’s house, what he read told the ambulance about the argument she had with her boyfriend, both sides agreed.
But the key point of Friday’s competition came between the testimony of a Canton firefighter and an emergency medical officer named Jason Becker.
Karen Reed says he poured extra shots into the cocktail before John O’Keefe’s death
Karen Reed will speak with the defense team at a trial at Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Massachusetts on Friday, April 25th, 2025. (AP, Josh Reynolds via Pool/New York Post)
Prosecutors claim that they deliberately ran through O’Keefe what they read after the drunken argument and let him die during the blizzard. She has pleaded not guilty to murder, manslaughter and running away from the scene, and her defense denies that she had hit him at all.
Outside the court, a read that admitted to reading a text message between her and O’Keefe on Thursday portrayed a “discussion” she thought was “embarrassing” to which she shared publicly.
Watch: Karen Reed speaks with reporters at the end of the first week of her second trial
Special Counsel Hank Brennan painted the remarks that Becker was mentioned as a reference to the argument between the two.
Witness Key Karen Reed admits that the testimony of the Great Jue was not true.
“When you spoke to the defendant, and when she shared with you that you and her last words and her “husband” were () arguments, why didn’t you ask for more details about it? ” asked Brennan.
Becker and his partner, fellow firefighters and paramedics, Daniel Whitley, testified that when they responded to the incident, she was under the impression that she was the wife of the victim.
Canton firefighters and paramedics Jason Becker will testify at trial on Friday, April 25, 2025 at Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Massachusetts. (AP, Josh Reynolds via Pool/New York Post)
“I didn’t feel it was mine. You know. At the time, we didn’t think we would be witnesses at a murder trial, so we called,” Becker replied. “We were there to support Karen and ultimately take her to the hospital safely.”
Alan Jackson, one of Reed’s defense counsels, questioned whether Reed’s statement could have a different context.
Watch: Massachusetts Trooper Reads Text Between Karen Reed and John O’Keefe
Karen reads the retrial with a lawyer screaming in a wire-to-wire drama after the ju-degree is sent home
“Sir, when you wrote a report on your notes, do you remember the word ‘discussion’ to put it in your report? ” asked Brennan.
“I did it,” replied Becker.
Defendant David Jannetti gestures while asking questions at Karen’s reading trial, Wednesday, April 24, 2025, as he reads the trial at Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Massachusetts. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, Pool)
“Remember she actually says the word ‘discussion’? ”
“I did it,” he replied again.
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“Do you remember she said anything about the voice message?” Brennan asked.
“I didn’t,” Becker said.
But Becker agreed with Jackson when he asked if “early night” could have mentioned arguments with O’Keefe early in the evening, such as 6pm and 7pm instead of midnight.
Karen Reed will leave Norfolk County Superior Court in Dedham, Massachusetts on Friday, April 25th, 2025, at the end of the first week of her second trial on murder charges in the death of Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe. (David McGlynn from Fox News Digital)
“Has she ever said if she believes he received the last word from her?” Jackson asked.
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“There were no other details,” Becker said. He also testified that he did not ask her what her “last words” to O’Keefe were.
“But when she was having this conversation with you about his last words, did she actually pull out her phone and show him a lot of missed calls at the same time?”
“She tried to do that,” he said.
Karen Reed’s parents will leave County Superior Court in Dedham, Massachusetts on Friday, April 25th, 2025. (David McGlynn from Fox News Digital)
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“In your mind, did you put together 2 and 2? What she was actually talking about was absent and she was mad at his last words, their absence, voicemail very angry. Have you put together these two things?”
“I didn’t,” replied Becker.
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Dr. Gurley Farrer reviews medical records read by defendant Karen, who testified at trial at Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Massachusetts on Friday, April 25th, 2025. (AP, Josh Reynolds/New York Post via Pool)
Dr. Gurley Forler also stood on Friday. He oversaw the Pathology Lab when it was read on January 29, 2022.
Faller’s blood alcohol concentration in his testimony reading was .093%. When hospital staff collected samples immediately after 9am
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She and O’Keefe left the bar and grill at Canton Falls around midnight. Prosecutors played the clip from the interview on Thursday, where she discussed spikes of her drink with extra shots.
Before testimony began that day, the ju apprentices were taken to see the crime scene at 34 Fairview Road, Canton. Police also towed the Red Lexus SUV and placed it on the street outside the house, so the ju-degree could see it in place and see where the broken taillights were.
The first week of testimony is in the book. The trial was initially expected to take six to eight weeks.
