The 16-person jury in the Karen Read retrial has heard from 24 witnesses across the 14 court days the trial has been in session since it kicked off in late April.
The trial appears to be around its halfway point, with three weeks completed. Special prosecutor Hank Brennan has said the government’s case will take about four full weeks. Read’s defense estimated their case would take two.
There are at least nine more witnesses who will take the stand, though it is likely there will be more. Here’s who we know will still testify.
John O’Keefe’s niece and nephew
When he died, John O’Keefe was the guardian of his niece and nephew, after their parents, O’Keefe’s sister and her husband, died suddenly within six months of each other in 2013. The minor children are expected to take the stand at Read’s retrial as soon as this week.
Their testimony won’t be broadcast and they won’t be photographed on the stand.
Judson Welcher
An executive vice president at Aperture, LLC, Judson Welcher’s testimony will be critical for the prosecution’s case. He is their primary accident reconstruction expert and is expected to explain when and how Read supposedly backed her Lexus SUV into O’Keefe.
Read’s defense has attempted to keep Welcher’s testimony out, but Judge Beverly Cannone denied the motion. At Read’s first trial, a Massachusetts State Police trooper testified about the collision central to the prosecution’s case, but it appears Welcher will do so instead at the retrial.
Aizik Wolf
Another expert witness for the prosecution, Aizik Wolf is a Miami-based neurosurgeon. He is expected to testify about O’Keefe’s head injury, which he described as a “contrecoup” injury. A contrecoup injury is a contusion sustained on the opposite side of a person’s head from where it was hit.
In O’Keefe’s case, he was found with an injury to the back of his head. A contrecoup injury would suggest O’Keefe was hit on the front of his head. O’Keefe’s body was found face down in a snow bank, and prosecutors have said he hit his head on the frozen ground.
Read’s defense also attempted to exclude Wolf’s testimony, but were unsuccessful.
Andrew Rentschler and Daniel Wolfe
ARCCA crash analyst Daniel Wolfe is questioned by special prosecutor Hank Brennan during the retrial of Karen Read in Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Mass., Monday, April 28, 2025.(Pat Greenhouse /The Boston Globe via AP, Pool)AP
Andrew Rentschler and Daniel Wolfe are a biomechanical engineer and forensic scientist, respectively, who both work at the firm ARCCA. ARCCA was first contracted to work on the Read case by the federal government as part of an unspecified investigation into O’Keefe’s death.
The U.S. Attorney’s office has never confirmed or denied the investigation’s existence but state prosecutors said it closed without any indictments.
Both Rentchler and Wolfe testified for Read’s defense at the first trial, and told the jury that O’Keefe’s injuries were not consistent with being hit by a car. Brennan has accused them of being “advocates” for the defense, in part because of a $24,000 bill they sent to Read, which she paid. They have both denied any such connection.
Marie Russell
Dr. Marie Russell, a retired emergency room physician describes her educational and professional experience during Karen Reads trial in Norfolk Superior Court, Friday, June 21, 2024, in Dedham, Mass. Read, 44, is accused of running into her Boston police officer boyfriend with her SUV in the middle of a nor’easter and leaving him for dead after a night of heavy drinking. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds, Pool) AP
Marie Russell is a retired emergency room physician who spent decades working in California. She testified at Read’s first trial that the wounds on O’Keefe’s right arm were consistent with a dog attack.
Prosecutors attempted to keep Russell’s testimony out, arguing she was unqualified to testify about dog bites. Russell subsequently underwent two days of questioning before Cannone ultimately decided to allow her testimony in.
Elizabeth Laposata
Elizabeth Laposata could be the most significant new witness to be called by the defense at the retrial. A former medical examiner in Rhode Island, she is expected to testify that O’Keefe’s body showed no signs of hypothermia, meaning he likely died somewhere warmer.
Her testimony, hinted at by Alan Jackson during the defense’s opening statement, will bolster the theory that O’Keefe was beaten up inside 34 Fairview Road in Canton and dumped outside, not hit by Read’s SUV as prosecutors have suggested.
At the first trial, Dr. Irini Scordi-Bello, a Massachusetts medical examiner, said there was evidence that “strongly suggested” that O’Keefe suffered from hypothermia.
Garret Wing
Another dog bite expert, Garret Wing is an 18-year law enforcement veteran who now runs a dog training company. His testimony is expected to supplement Russell’s and further the defense’s theory that O’Keefe was attacked by a German Shepherd inside the Fairview Road home.
Chloe, the German Shepherd Read’s defense says attacked O’Keefe, had a history of behavioral issues. Wing did not testify at the first trial, but the defense now intends to call him as part of its case-in-chief.
