Karen Read: The Verdict — ABC 20/20

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: An all new 2020 starts right now. [00:00:07] Speaker 2: Free Karen Reed! I said he's right there. His eyes were shut and he had spots of blood in different areas on his face. [00:00:19] Speaker 3: She's accused of killing her boyfriend, a Boston police officer. Enough's enough. We've been quiet for too long. [00:00:26] Speaker 4: Now, Justin, a verdict for Karen Reed. [00:00:29] Speaker 5: The defendants of the bar are guilty or not guilty. Not guilty. All the way! All the way! [00:00:34] Speaker 4: This is the case the whole country couldn't stop watching. I hit him. I hit him. [00:00:40] Speaker 2: I hit him. I said it with a question mark. [00:00:42] Speaker 6: It's like that my cousin Vinnie moment. [00:00:44] Speaker 7: I shot the clerk versus I shot the clerk. [00:00:47] Speaker ?: Free Karen Reed! [00:00:49] Speaker 7: You'll see that this case Curie is a cancer. His name is Michael Proctor. [00:00:54] Speaker 4: And all new. And you're the first person from inside the investigation to speak out. The exclusive interview with the controversial trooper in the bullseye. That was tough. [00:01:07] Speaker ?: I'm sorry. [00:01:08] Speaker 4: One of the texts that you sent about Karen Reed is that you said hopefully she kills herself. Telling his version the first time on camera. [00:01:16] Speaker 6: And it's like wait, people need to know what has been going on. They need to know the truth. [00:01:22] Speaker 2: It just feels like a kind of purgatory. [00:01:25] Speaker 4: Now, her wait is over. [00:01:26] Speaker 5: Mr. Jury, if you agreed upon a murder? Yes. On murder in the second degree. What say you, is the defendant at the bar guilty or not guilty? Not guilty. 002. What say you, is the defendant at the bar not guilty or guilty? Not guilty. Operate under the influence of liquor by operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol level of 0.08 or greater. So say you all. I'm guilty. Leaving the scene after action resulting in death. Defendant not guilty or guilty. Not guilty. And a stunning conclusion to the Karen Reed murder retrial, one of the most divisive cases in Massachusetts history. If no one has fought harder for justice, for John O'Keefe than I have, than I have and my team. [00:02:04] Speaker 4: A story unlike one I've ever seen that has many layers to it. You've got an alleged conspiracy between an entire group of people. [00:02:12] Speaker 8: You've got forensic evidence. You've got intoxication. You have a hero police officer. John O'Keefe was raising two kids after his sister and her husband died. You have all the elements here for great public interest. You don't know what's going on. You don't know what's going on. [00:02:20] Speaker 1: You don't know what's going on. You don't know what's going on. You don't know what's going on. You don't know what's going on. You don't know what's going on. You don't know what's going on. You don't know what's going on. You don't know what's going on. You don't know what's going on. You don't know what's going on. You don't know what's going on. You don't know what's going on. You don't know what's going on. You don't know what's going on. You don't know what's going on. You don't know what's going on. You don't know what's going on. You don't know what's going on. You don't know what's going on. You don't know what's going on. You don't know what's going on. [00:02:41] Speaker 4: You don't know what's going on. You don't know what's going on. You don't know what's going on. You don't know what's going on. You don't know what's going on. You don't know what's going on. You don't know what's going on. You don't know what's going on. You don't know what's going on. [00:02:50] Speaker ?: You don't know what's going on. [00:03:01] Speaker 7: You don't know what's going on. You don't know what's going on. [00:03:03] Speaker 4: You don't know what's going on. You don't know what's going on. You don't know what's going on. You don't know what's going on. [00:03:07] Speaker ?: You don't know what's going on. [00:03:08] Speaker 4: You don't know what's going on. You don't know what's going on. You don't know what's going on. You don't know what's going on. You don't know what's going on. You don't know what's going on. You don't know what's going on. You don't know what's going on. You don't know what's going on. You don't know what's going on. You don't know what's going on. You don't know what's going on. You don't know what's going on. Officer John O'Keefe is found dead outside of a home in Canton during the blizzard. [00:03:35] Speaker 5: His body discovered outside the Canton home of a fellow officer. [00:03:39] Speaker 9: O'Keefe's girlfriend, Karen Reed, is now facing charges with his death. [00:03:43] Speaker 4: What happened in the Boston suburb of Canton, Massachusetts, that led to the death of John O'Keefe during that epic blizzard in January of 2022? Throughout two trials now, the country has debated the charges against Karen Reed. And when we interviewed her before her first trial, she proclaimed her innocence. Did you kill John O'Keefe? [00:04:10] Speaker 2: I did not kill John O'Keefe. I've never harmed a hair on John O'Keefe's head. [00:04:15] Speaker 4: The Commonwealth says that you had nine drinks that night. You claim it's four and change. I mean, is it possible that you had hit him with the back of your car and just didn't realize it? No. Would you say that you were angry with John that night? Yes. Could you have been angry enough and slightly drunk because he had annoyed you that in the fit of rage you just backed up? Never. [00:04:40] Speaker 2: Try to tap him. I would never. [00:04:42] Speaker 4: Not to try to kill him, but try to... [00:04:43] Speaker 2: To tap him with my 6,000-pound full-size SUV. To hit John's body with my car. No. [00:04:51] Speaker ?: No. [00:04:52] Speaker 4: No. No. No. She claims she's also a victim here, claiming that she is framed in a cover-up, pitted against the family and friends who are demanding justice for the life they say was stolen from John O'Keefe, or, as everybody knew him, Johnny. [00:05:12] Speaker 10: We grew up in Braintree, which is middle-class, a Boston suburb, heavy Irish, heavy Italian, and Johnny was both. [00:05:21] Speaker 4: John is the middle child of three. His sister, Kristen, is just 22 months older than he is, and his brother, Paul, is several years younger. [00:05:30] Speaker 10: Johnny and I grew up on the same street. We were in Little League together, elementary school all the way through high school. We went to proms and homecoming together, and he was at my wedding party. Johnny was a huge fan of the Red Sox. Fenway was a constant destination for us throughout our entire life. [00:05:48] Speaker 9: Opening day was a religious day for him. He went every year, every year. I was just, it's one of his favorite days. [00:05:56] Speaker 11: I dated Johnny, early 2000s, then stayed friends for over 20 years. I remember when I first met him, and I asked him what he did for a living, and he was in the police academy. I kind of made a joke, like, oh, no, police officer, and he said, no, no, like, I'm the good kind. I want to be a cop because my grandfather was a cop. [00:06:16] Speaker 9: Johnny was 29 when he got on the Boston Police Department. [00:06:19] Speaker 4: One of John's other most cherished roles was becoming an uncle. [00:06:24] Speaker 10: He was incredibly excited about becoming an uncle. It was a celebration, essentially. They were a large part of who he was. [00:06:31] Speaker 4: But in 2013, the O'Keefe family gets some devastating news when John's older sister, Kristen, is diagnosed with cancer. [00:06:39] Speaker 9: Johnny and Kristen were very, very close. That changed Johnny. [00:06:43] Speaker 1: He was unbelievable, making sure that the kids were taken care of. [00:06:46] Speaker 10: It was just a little over five months from the time that he was diagnosed until Kristen passed. [00:06:51] Speaker 11: That was a huge loss. When she passed, he lost a part of himself. [00:06:56] Speaker 10: And almost unbelievably, Steve passed away almost exactly two months after Kristen did. [00:07:01] Speaker 4: In a very short amount of time, John loses his sister, his brother-in-law. He takes in their kids. How was he able to handle all of this? [00:07:09] Speaker 10: He had a big support system. [00:07:11] Speaker 9: And emotionally, how did he do it? [00:07:12] Speaker 10: I feel like, I guess he just knew he had to. [00:07:15] Speaker 9: Johnny's niece was six, and Johnny's nephew was three. It wasn't even a question. Johnny was going to step in and raise those kids. [00:07:25] Speaker 4: Karen Reed's story begins 35 miles south of Boston in the town of Mansfield. Karen, before all of this happened, tell me what life was like for you. [00:07:36] Speaker 2: Routine. I took the morning train, literally, and just had a predictable, easy, fortunate life. [00:07:46] Speaker 4: What did you do for a living? [00:07:48] Speaker 2: I was in finance and asset management. What I always wanted to do and then at night, I taught college juniors, introduction to capital markets, investing. [00:08:00] Speaker 4: How did you meet John O'Keefe? [00:08:01] Speaker 2: I met John in 2004, February, at his sister's 30th birthday party. [00:08:08] Speaker 4: So what drew you to him? I mean, what did you like about him? [00:08:10] Speaker 2: I thought he was handsome and he was sweet, and I mean, I was 24, so that was about the criteria at the time. It just came and went and didn't speak to him again, not intentionally. It just wasn't serious. [00:08:27] Speaker 4: By 2020, more than 15 years later, Karen is living in the Boston area, and John is now a single dad, a cop raising two kids in the middle of a pandemic, and then he messaged Karen on Facebook. [00:08:44] Speaker 2: When I saw his picture, it was with several young children, and he told me, yeah, I have the kids now. I thought that was amazing, and he said they're nine and 12. [00:08:55] Speaker 4: How serious did things get, that second round? [00:08:58] Speaker 2: Pretty serious, very fast. [00:09:01] Speaker 4: Was there talk of marriage? [00:09:03] Speaker 2: No. No. [00:09:06] Speaker 4: Did you want that? [00:09:08] Speaker 2: I would have considered it strongly for John, but it's not ever been something that I've aspired to. We are expecting as much as 18 to 24 inches of snow and 40 to 50 mile per hour winds. [00:09:28] Speaker 4: A snow emergency has been declared. City officials say this would be a blockbuster event. That morning, did you and John have an argument? [00:09:36] Speaker 2: Yep, we had an argument. [00:09:44] Speaker 4: Karen says that morning, John's niece was running late for school, and Karen offered to stop at Duncan, something that she said John didn't really approve of. [00:09:53] Speaker 2: I was miffed because it just was in the essence of saving time. I would say of the arguments that we've had, it felt like one of the more unfair arguments. So I got my back up more than I normally did. [00:10:11] Speaker 4: But by that evening, the two make plans to meet up, and John's nephew's at a sleepover, his teenage niece, is spending the night at home. [00:10:20] Speaker 6: Early in the evening, John O'Keefe goes out with a buddy down to C.F. McCarthy's. [00:10:24] Speaker 2: I ended up leaving my house to join John and Canton at 8.30. [00:10:28] Speaker 4: How did the night go? [00:10:30] Speaker 2: It was fine. I walked in, he was with three other fellas. I got there a little after nine, and he gave me a hug. [00:10:37] Speaker 4: Footage from security cameras show the night appears to be like any normal Friday night. A mere 12 hours later, John O'Keefe will be dead, Karen accused of his murder, and this man will be at the center of the investigation and the controversy, speaking out for the first time. [00:10:56] Speaker 6: People need to know what has been going on. They need to know the truth. They're only hearing one side. Yeah.