On the morning of January 29, 2022, O’Keefe was discovered in the snow outside the Canton house and later declared dead at a hospital.
Prosecutors claim he was at C.F. McCarthy’s bar in Canton on the night of January 28 with a group of friends before moving on to Waterfall Bar & Grille across the street at around 11 p.m., where they stayed for about an hour.
After leaving, they received an invitation to a celebration at Brian Albert’s house on Fairview Road but hours later O’Keefe was discovered in the snow outside the Canton home. In a tweet we shared below you can see the GPS data location where exactly he was on that night:
John Okeefe’s GPS data location placement points of where exactly he was on Fairview that night. Never shows him in the house. 🧐 🤔 🤨 pic.twitter.com/WuchJssqoy
— fusion (@fusion0g1x) September 21, 2023
His body underwent an autopsy, the results of which are detailed below.
What Was Found in John Okeefe’s Autopsy?
According to John O’Keefe’s death certificate, which was obtained by 25 Investigates, the medical examiner who did an autopsy on O’Keefe and ruled on the way of his death stated that it “could not be determined” what caused O’Keefe’s death.
In our previous posts, we covered the autopsy reports of Nic Kerdiles & Gianna Bryant, if you want to know how they died you can check out our below posts:
- Has Nic Kerdiles’ Autopsy Report Been Revealed by Medical Examiners?
- Gianna Bryant Autopsy Reveals the Cause of Her Death
Who was Charged in the Case of John Okeefe’s Death?
Karen Read, who was O’Keefe’s girlfriend at the time of his death has been charged with second-degree murder by the prosecution.
Just in case you did not have time to read the court documents filed, bombshell information continues to be highlighted.
Science will be the key to this case!#JohnOkeefe‘s DNA on the taillight and taillight fragments embedded in Officer O’Keefe’s… pic.twitter.com/Pvsm92YGKe
— Jennifer Coffindaffer (@CoffindafferFBI) September 24, 2023
According to the prosecution, Read is accused of hitting O’Keefe with her car and then abandoning him to die in the middle of a snowstorm after the two had an argument earlier in the day. She denied the allegations and said:
“I did not kill John O’Keefe. I have never harmed a hair on John O’Keefe’s head.”
Read alleges that while on vacation, the couple fought on New Year’s Eve. Read claims that O’Keefe got “incoherently drunk” and left their room after three in the morning, leaving her to ring in the new year with O’Keefe’s niece and nephew. She said:
“I felt very much taken advantage of. He apologized profusely for what happened on New Year’s Eve. And he said, ‘If you can’t get over it, then you need to spend some time at your house. I can’t keep apologizing. I don’t wanna keep rehashing this.”
O’Keefe allegedly informed Read at the pub that they were welcome to continue their hangout at Albert’s house. Read said:
“I said, ‘Can we make sure we’re welcome here? Nobody extended the invite to me. I didn’t hear the invite extended to you.”
The two then took a car to Albert’s house. Read said:
“So I pull at the foot of the driveway. It’s snowing. John has no coat on. It’s windy. So I drop him off. He goes up the driveway and approaches the side door. And as I see him approach the door, I look down at my phone.”
Read claims that after approximately ten minutes of sitting in her car, she got frustrated since O’Keefe still hadn’t contacted her. She claims to have driven back to O’Keefe’s house after that and kept contacting him until 1:30 a.m., when she eventually passed out.
O’Keefe wasn’t home when Read awoke around 5 a.m., so she reportedly began searching the neighborhood. Kerry Roberts, an acquaintance of O’Keefe’s and Jennifer McCabe, Brian Albert’s sister-in-law, who had been spending the previous night at Albert’s home offered their assistance.
The three women went to Albert’s house. Read claims that as soon as she pulled in, she immediately noticed O’Keefe’s body. Read quickly rose to the position of top suspect in O’Keefe’s slaying. Authorities claim that after seizing Read’s SUV, they found a damaged taillight.
Read continued:
“I had told both Jen and Kerry that I cracked my taillight. And I said, ‘I just hit my car on top of everything,’ but I didn’t look at the damage. And both women said, ‘It’s cracked. It’s cracked. Calm down, you cracked your taillight. You’re OK, let’s go look for John.”
Authorities were informed by McCabe that Read said while they looked for O’Keefe, “Could I have hit him…, Did I strike him?” First responders who arrived at the site after O’Keefe’s body was found assert that they overheard Read say, “I hit him. I struck him.”
Read disputed and told, “I said, ‘I hit him?’ It was followed by a question mark and was preceded by the word “Did.” Read stated I speculated that he might have passed out from intoxication. When asked how many drinks she consumed that evening at the pub, Read replied, “Probably about four.”
However, according to the prosecution, Read was drunk after nine beers that evening. Even still, Read said that it was “not possible” for her to have accidentally hit O’Keefe with her SUV.
What Evidence Was Found in Read’s Car?
A broken cocktail glass was reportedly discovered by what seemed to be bloody patches close to O’Keefe’s body, and there were “fragments of broken glass on the rear bumper” of Read’s car, according to investigators. Prosecutors said:
“The victim Mr. O’Keefe is last observed on surveillance video with a cocktail glass in his right hand. Same arm that is injured, the same type of glass that is recovered from the defendant’s car.”
According to the prosecution, Read may have had a blood alcohol content between 13% and 29%, which is higher than the .08 legal limit. The day after O’Keefe’s death was discovered shards of Read’s broken taillight were discovered on the scene.
According to Canton police reports, further taillight pieces were discovered the following week after the snow melted to reveal more at the location. Alan Jackson, Read’s attorney disagrees with that assertion. You can read what Read’s attorney said about this case in the paragraphs given below.
What did Karen Read the Attorney Say About This Case?
Read’s attorneys have responded to the allegations in a number of court files and have pointed the focus at those who were partying inside Brian Albert’s house. Read’s attorneys claim that these individuals were responsible for the damage.
They claim that the autopsy images and other evidence show that O’Keefe was badly beaten with injuries to both sides of his face as well as the back of his head. In addition to this, they state that the wounds that were observed on O’Keefe’s arms are compatible with dog bites.
In one of their filings, they state that one of the allegations is that four months after O’Keefe’s death, Brian Albert went to great lengths to dispose of critical evidence by making sure that ‘Chloe,’ his family dog of seven years, simply disappeared.
According to statements made to authorities by Albert and his relatives, O’Keefe did not attend the party and they did not see him there. There are witnesses for the prosecution among the guests who attended the party.
O’Keefe’s clothing, fragments of the tail light from Read’s SUV, autopsy samples and security recordings from the Canton Library are some of the items that Read’s attorneys are requesting from the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office in connection to the investigation into O’Keefe’s death.
The prosecution countered that the medical professional who declared O’Keefe dead indicated none of his wounds suggested he had been in a fight. Norfolk Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally said:
“There is no evidence that Mr. O’Keefe was beaten and left for for dead, There was no evidence of any defensive wounds.”
In order to conduct tests and determine if O’Keefe was attacked by a dog, the defense also stated that they need access to O’Keefe’s autopsy samples. The dog, who they allege has since been rehomed outside of the state, will also have its DNA taken.
In a video clip we shared below Alan said, “This is now our fight, Karen’s fight has become all of our fight for some sort of justice.”
Attorney Alan Jackson with his client Karen Read outside court: pic.twitter.com/8YPXjYVBKX
— Ted Daniel (@TedDanielnews) May 3, 2023
You can see Karen Read’s Murder Trial in a video. Read attorney claimed that Read “lost everything” and is no longer employed and that she and her family are devoting all of their financial resources to legal expenses. They asked that the judge provide a deadline for gathering the evidence. Defense attorney David Yannetti said:
“She’s hired private counsel from two coasts. She’s hired multiple experts at considerable costs and when I say considerable, I mean tens and tens of thousands of dollars, And the meter is running with each passing court date. She can’t afford to scrimp on her defense because her life is at stake.”
Note: As of yet, we have that much information related to this case. When we get the latest information we will share it with you. If you want to share anything else related to his death, you can also share it with us in the comments section below.
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