Karen Read murder trial ends in mistrial as jury fails to agree whether she deliberately killed Boston cop boyfriend with SUV

The high-profile murder trial of a Boston woman accused of murdering her police officer boyfriend has ended with a mistrial.

Karen Read, 44, was told Monday that jurors were unable to agree on whether she'd deliberately killed Boston Police Officer John O'Keefe with her SUV in January 2022.

It marked the end of a contentious nine-week trial where Read alleged that she was the victim of a wide-ranging plot to frame her. 

Prosecutors countered that Read ran over O'Keefe to end their toxic relationship before leaving him for dead in the snow.  

Karen Read (pictured waiting for the jury's decision on Monday, July 1), saw her high-profile trial end in a mistrial as jurors were deadlocked over her guilt 

John O'Keefe, 46, was found dead 6am on January 29, 2022, outside a house where Read dropped him off for an afterparty about 12.45am

On the evening of O'Keefe's death, he and Read had been drinking with 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 her boyfriend at the afterparty before she went to his home - that O'Keefe 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 telling him: '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.

According to Read's version of events, she woke up at 4am to find that O'Keefe never returned home, leading her to frantically drive out to try and find him.  

After finding O'Keefe's body outside Albert's home, which party attendees claimed he never entered, first responders on the scene alleged that Read repeatedly told them she hit him while in a panicked state. 

Vehicle data also found that Read reversed her SUV for 62 feet at 24mph near to Albert's home. O'Keefe's cause of death was listed as blunt force trauma and hypothermia, with pieces of Read's taillight found around his body, prosecutors said.

In his closing argument on Tuesday, Norfolk County Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally said the claims that Read was framed was little more than 'rampant speculation.' 

Lally also pointed to hair and DNA from O'Keefe found on the rear end of Read's SUV. 

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 

Read (right, with her defense attorney following Monday's decision) claimed she was the victim of a wide-ranging conspiracy to frame her for murder 

The defense countered that the taillight was actually broken by Read when she left in a panic to find O'Keefe when he never returned home. 

This included security video shown at trial showing Read clipping O'Keefe's vehicle as she backed out of her home to search for him. 

Read claimed that attendees at the afterparty beat him to death, and her attorneys presented phone data that showed O'Keefe's phone climbed dozens of steps at the time he was allegedly struck. 

Her attorney, Alan Jackson, claimed that these steps could have been the basement of Albert's home. Albert was never charged with any wrongdoing. 

Read's attorneys added that although first responders claimed Read spoke of hitting O'Keefe at the scene, they claimed this evidence was falsely given at a later date and not said at the time. 

A forensic engineer was brought in to evaluate the case, who testified that if O'Keefe had been struck by a vehicle at over 20mph he would expect to see more severe injuries. 

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

A judge issued an order barring Read's supporters from coming within 200 feet of the courthouse or wearing supportive colors due to her rampant support 

Read's defense was led by Alan Jackson (center, with Read on right), the high-powered lawyer who secured disgraced actor Kevin Spacey's acquittal of sexual assault charges

When her trail began, Read received a slew of support from true crime fans who camped outside the courthouse with signs reading 'Free Karen Read.'

Many took to wearing pink as a show of support for Read, leading a judge to issue an order barring any clothing or accessories that could be perceived as encouraging, and banning them from coming within 200 feet of the courthouse. 

As the trial made national headlines, some observers were turned off by Read's apparent flippant attitude during the proceedings, leading her to be nicknamed 'America's happiest murder defendant.' 

She was seen winking to cameras and snacking inside the courthouse, which angered some critics.