Jurors in Karen Read's second murder trial heard more testimony from Jennifer McCabe, who was with Read the morning she found John O'Keefe in the snow.
Much of the focus Wednesday was the cross-examination of McCabe by Read's attorney Alan Jackson, who challenged her recollection of events and suggested she coordinated with other witnesses to make sure all their statements matched up — something she denied.
Prosecutors say Read, 45, backed her SUV into Boston police Officer John O'Keefe, 46, after dropping him off at a party hosted by a fellow officer in January 2022 and left him to die in the snow. Defense attorneys say she was a victim of a conspiracy involving the police and have suggested he was killed by someone inside the home.
A mistrial was declared last year after jurors said they were at an impasse. Read's second trial on charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter and leaving the scene, began April 22 and has thus far looked similar to the first.
What did McCabe hear at the scene?
McCabe took the stand for a second day Wednesday, recalling a chaotic scene when they reached house where O'Keefe was later found lying in the snow. She called 911 to report a body while Read and another friend, Kerry Roberts, tried to warm O'Keefe up and do CPR on him.
Read, she said, was running around and screaming so much that police suggested she sit in a police cruiser. The three sat together praying, and McCabe remember Read wondering aloud who would take care of O'Keefe's two adopted children. As O'Keefe's body was moved to an ambulance, Read screamed for Roberts to go check on him and wondered if he ''was dead.''
Then, McCabe testified that she was standing next to a police officer and a paramedic as Read told them ''I hit him'' three times — corroborating earlier testimony from paramedics.