The mystery piece of evidence in Karen Read's homicide case: How Massachusetts law keeps 'crucial' autopsy report from the public as trial for police officer's murder begins

The key piece of evidence in the trial of the Massachusetts professor accused of murdering her cop boyfriend is being kept hidden because of the state’s arcane state secrecy laws, experts have warned.

Karen Read, 44, is charged with running over John O’Keefe and leaving him to die in the snow after dropping him off at a friend’s house party on a bitterly cold night in January 2022.

His death certificate gave the cause of death as ‘blunt impact injuries of head and hypothermia,’ but Read claims she has been framed by his police colleagues inside the house who beat him to death.

Supporters have pointed to wounds on his arms which they claim were caused by the house owner’s dog and signs of beating around the eyes, but Massachusetts refuses to release the autopsy report.

‘Massachusetts has a reputation for being one of the most secretive states in the country for open records law,’ local attorney Jeffrey Pyle told the Boston Globe. ‘Courts are making decisions based on documents that the public can’t see.’

Prosecutors allege that Read hit O'Keefe with her car after an argument, while she contends that she was framed by party attendees and members of the Boston Police Department 

Read (seen in court) claims she has been framed by his police colleagues inside the house who beat him to death

O'Keefe was found in the snow outside this home in Canton, around 12 miles from Boston, in the early hours of January 29, 2022 

The case has sparked a media storm with Read attracting crowds of supporters to the courthouse in Norfolk County and the reputation of the Massachusetts State Police on the line.

Read, meanwhile, has sparked a backlash after winking at cameras outside court and come under scrutiny for a perceived flippant attitude during the ongoing trial, including snacking in court and flashing smiles at her supporters.

'Happiest murder defendant in history!' said one critic on X. 'The Chick thinks she is Miss America.' 'It’s a murder trial not a traffic ticket she’s fighting. Bad look for the jury,' another tweeted.

The financial analyst and college professor had spent the evening of January 29, 2022, drinking with O'Keefe and a group of friends at the Waterfall Bar and Grill in Canton, around 14 miles south of Boston, and were invited to his friend Brian Albert's home for an afterparty.

Read, who prosecutors say drank several alcoholic drinks beforehand, decided to drop O'Keefe at the afterparty before she went to O'Keefe's home - that he shared with his orphaned niece and nephew - to sleep at around 1am.

Court documents revealed that the couple had been bitterly arguing for weeks beforehand, and on the night O'Keefe died, Read left him a voicemail calling him a 'f****** loser', and 'John, I f****** hate you.'

The couple had been dating for two years at the time of O'Keefe's death. He had been serving on the Boston Police Department for 16 years.

As the party went on inside Albert's home, who was a retired Boston police officer, Read said she woke up around 4am to find that he was not at home, and told O'Keefe's niece that she was 'distraught.'

Read looked on at a preliminary hearing as her defense team showed pictures of wounds to O'Keefe's arms that they claim were caused by a dog in the house as he was beaten to death by his Massachusetts police colleagues at a house party 

John O'Keefe had been serving with the Boston Police Department for 16 years at the time of his death, which was ruled to have been caused by blunt impact injuries and hypothermia 

Read has come under scrutiny for a perceived flippant attitude in court, including winking at cameras and snacking during proceedings 

As her trial began last week, Read received a slew of support from true crime fans and locals who have been camped outside the courthouse with signs reading 'Free Karen Read' 

Last week, a judge issued an order barring Read's supporters from coming within 200 feet of the courthouse

Read, a financial analyst and college professor, is facing charges of second-degree murder 

Read sparked backlash on Tuesday after being filmed winking at a camera, with one critic slamming her for 'thinking she is Miss America' 

Attendees at the party, including some law enforcement, claimed O'Keefe, 46, never arrived at the party or entered the home.

Read then searched for O'Keefe with a friend, and prosecutors allege that during the search she speculated: 'What if he's dead? What if a plow hit him?… I don't remember anything from last night, we drank so much I don't remember anything.'

At 6am, Read found O'Keefe laying in the snow outside Albert's home, and a first responder on the scene reportedly claimed Read repeatedly cried out, 'I hit him, I hit him', reports CBS News.

But Read's defense attorneys argue that O'Keefe was involved in a fight inside Albert's home and insisted to the judge that the claims of framing were 'not just fishing.'

'We've got a fish on the hook, we just need the court to help us reel it in,' attorney Alan Jackson said.

'Certainly the Massachusetts State Police is involved. There are people that were in that house that are involved,' Jackson claimed at a pre-trial hearing.

'Brian Albert is involved. Jennifer McCabe is involved. The rest of the folks that were in that house, there's some level of involvement by every one of them.

'Every single one of them. We're not going to rest until we get to the bottom of exactly who's behind this coverup. Not only Karen Read deserves this. John O'Keefe deserves this, and has deserved this from moment one. And that's why they're not going to rest.'

The trial resumes on Monday with Read’s supporters banned from wearing pink inside the courthouse after they adopted the color as a show of support.

Some have held up signs referring to the dog, reading ‘Where’s Chloe?’, while another wrote: ‘If the arm was bit, you must acquit!!!’

Autopsy reports are routinely released by states including Alabama, Colorado, California, and Florida, but states in the North-East have historically kept them secret from the public.

‘Any time you have questions about how those in government are acting and whether they might be involved in an individual’s death, the public interest in getting more information about their death increases significantly,’ said Justin Silverman of the New England First Amendment Coalition.

‘These autopsy reports might provide answers to these types of questions.’

Read spoke to reporters on the steps of the courthouse at a pre-trial hearing in May 2023, where she claimed that she and her attorneys 'know who did it.'

'We know. And we know who spearheaded this coverup. You all know,' she said. 'I tried to save his life. I tried to save his life at 6 in the morning, I was covered in his blood. I was the only one trying to save his life.'

Prior to jury selection on the first day of trial, the judge ruled that she would not stop Read’s legal team from mounting a 'third party culprit defense’.

'I'm going to give you a chance to develop it through relevant, competent, admissible evidence... but you cannot open with it,' she added.

Read and O'Keefe had been out drinking on the night of his death, before she drove him to an afterparty while she went home to sleep. He was found dead on the lawn of the afterparty's home hours later 

She has compiled a team of blockbuster attorneys, including Alan Jackson (center), famed for representing actor Kevin Spacey when he was cleared of sexual assault charges in 2019 

The couple had been dating for two years at the time of O'Keefe's death

The trial is expected to last up to eight weeks and a spokesman for the Norfolk County DA’s office insisted that all relevant information would be revealed in court.

‘The examination and cross examination of the medical examiner will be where you get your answers,’ he added.

But critics warned that the state’s archaic laws risk compounding claims of a cover-up and threaten the principle that justice must be seen to be done.

‘If the public cannot see the documents that judges rely on in the course of making decisions, the public cannot make decisions on whether the judge’s decisions are correct,’ Pyle said.