State police lieutenant, forensic scientists testify as Karen Read murder trial resumes - Boston News, Weather, Sports | WHDH 7News (2024)

DEDHAM, MASS. (WHDH) - Jurors in the Karen Read murder trial heard from several state police officials as the trial resumed Monday after a nearly week-long hiatus.

State police Lt. Kevin O’Hara was the first new witness on the stand. He was followed by Massachusetts State Police forensic scientists Maureen Hartnett and Ashley Vallier.

While testimony continued, the prosecution introduced several photos showing evidence gathered in the area where John O’Keefe was found unresponsive in a snowbank on the morning of Jan. 29.

Court was last in session on Tuesday, May 28. During court proceedings, Read’s defense finished cross examining federal agent Brian Higgins and the prosecution called seven new witnesses.

Read is facing second degree murder charges after prosecutors said she hit O’Keefe with her SUV and left him to die in a snowbank after dropping him off outside the Canton home of Brian and Nicole Albert.

O’Keefe, a Boston police officer, was dating Read when he died.

Read’s defense has said she is being framed, saying O’Keefe was actually beaten to death during a party inside the Albert home.

Read’s trial began in late April. On Tuesday, John O’Keefe’s niece and nephew testified after Higgins. Jurors then heard testimony from doctors and a former state police crime lab worker who treated O’Keefe and evaluated Read after O’Keefe was found.

Canton’s DPW superintendent and information systems manager also testified before court proceedings ended for the day last Tuesday.

State police lieutenant testifies

Kevin O’Hara serves with a state police unit that conducts evidence searches.

He said his team responded to the Albert home hours after O’Keefe died and found either six or seven pieces of red and clear plastic from a broken trail light during a grid search of a roughly 50-foot area.

Read’s defense concedes the tail light on Read’s SUV was broken at some point. The defense claims the light did not break when prosecutors say Read hit O’Keefe, though. Rather, the defense has claimed police planted red and clear plastic at the scene outside the Albert house in an effort to frame Read.

“I know it was broken later,” defense attorney Alan Jackson told 7’s Jonathan Hall early last month. “100%, it was broken later.”

As questioning continued on Monday, O’Hara said Trooper Michael Proctor, who has been the subject of questions from the defense on cross examination of several witnesses, was not on site while he was collecting evidence.

The jury soon saw photos from the crime scene showing pieces of tail light plastic. One photo showed a Nike sneaker belonging to O’Keefe that was left in the snow.

Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally finished his questioning shortly after 10 a.m.

Defense attorney David Yannetti began his cross examination and almost immediately mentioned Proctor.

Yannetti later asked O’Hara if he was aware the crime scene was left unattended for hours before his search. O’Hara said he was not aware.

O’Hara said detectives did not ask him to search inside the Albert home. He said he was told to look for a sneaker and pieces of tail light in the snow, though, and that O’Keefe had been hit by a motor vehicle.

State police forensic scientists testify

State police forensic scientist Maureen Hartnett testified after O’Hara on Monday.

Hartnett said she examined Read’s Lexus after it was impounded following O’Keefe’s death. She said she found an “apparent hair” on the SUV’s rear bumper.

Jurors soon saw photos of the SUV and its broken rear tail light.

As testimony continued, Hartnett said she believes the hair she found on Read’s bumper was human hair. In addition to the hair, Hartnett said she examined scratches and a dent on the Lexus.

Hartnett described examining O’Keefe’s clothing, including the sweatshirt he was wearing when he died.

In one image, jurors saw damage on the right sleeve of the sweatshirt, which the defense claims came from dog bites inside the Albert home.

Hartnett said the Massachusetts State Police Crime Laboratory could not say where the cloth damage came from, saying they do not test for signs of an animal attack. She said authorities sent the sample to the University of California, Davis for further testing.

UC Davis forensic scientist Teri Kun previously testified in the Read trial. After doing DNA tests, she said, she found no sign of a canine attack.

On cross examination after a lunch break, Hartnett confirmed to Jackson that she made no conclusions about what caused the scratches and other damage she saw on Read’s car.

Ashley Vallier, another state police crime lab forensic scientist followed O’Hara on the witness stand near 3 p.m.

The prosecution’s 53rd witness in the Read case, Vallier said she focuses on “physical match” analysis.

Explaining her job, she said she is able to look at broken edges and see if they fit together, “kind of like a jigsaw puzzle.”

Vallier remained on the stand when testimony ended for the day near 4 p.m.

This is adeveloping story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest updates.

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