Through the first two episodes of “A Body in the Snow,” a new docuseries chronicling the Karen Read case, it becomes clear that the schism between Read and the family of her boyfriend, John O’Keefe, developed quickly in the wake of his death and her subsequent arrest.
Much of the first episode takes place before O’Keefe’s death, charting both his and Read’s upbringings and chronicling how the pair rekindled their romance in 2020.
But then it shifts, diving into the night of O’Keefe’s death and the aftermath. The second episode picks up with a critical discovery by an expert hired by Read’s defense.
Here’s what we learned.
Read says she saw O’Keefe walk into 34 Fairview Road
Read tells an off-screen interviewer she watched O’Keefe walk up to the breezeway door at 34 Fairview Road in Canton, the home of fellow Boston Police officer Brian Albert, open the door, and walk in. It’s the last time she ever spoke to him.
On the night of Jan. 28, 2022, Read met O’Keefe at C.F. McCarthy’s in Canton around 9 p.m. after the pair fought earlier in the morning. The pair went to the Waterfall Bar and Grille around 11 p.m., where they met up with the Alberts and Brian Higgins, a federal agent Read had been flirting with.
At the bar, Jennifer McCabe, whose sister is married to Brian Albert, invited O’Keefe and Read to join them at Fairview Road.
After six drinks in three hours, Read drove O’Keefe to Fairview Road, which she described as dark and uninviting. She says she asked O’Keefe to ensure they were welcome there, but drove off when she didn’t hear from him.
What happened after O’Keefe was found
Brendan Kane, a longtime friend of O’Keefe’s, said he got a call on the morning of Jan. 29, 2022 telling him O’Keefe was dead. Before O’Keefe’s death, “everyone liked Karen,” he said of Read.
On the night of O’Keefe’s death, Kane notes, Read made dozens of phone calls, but not a single one to 911.
“Johnny could still be here,” he said.
Tara Kerrigan, an ex-girlfriend, said the “first explanation” she got of what happened to O’Keefe was that, “Karen hit John.”
Nathan Read, Karen’s brother, said it was “surreal” to see his sister “paraded in front of cameras” after her arrest.
Karen Read tells the camera the first and only call she made for local counsel was David Yannetti. Yannetti said he knew early on that Read’s case was going to require a massive amount of work.
“When I heard that an officer was killed, I knew that there’s a heightened sense of importance to those cases,” he said.
Read’s indictment
Yannetti says he was “floored” when Read was indicted on charges including second-degree murder. His first thought, he says, was “what do they have on her.”
The series shows footage of Read’s arrest on the new charges. Read, standing on her porch in pajamas, is handcuffed by Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor, who later tells his supervisor, Sgt. Yuriy Bukhenik, “see how crazy she is?”
Proctor says Read is “more concerned about what she looks like on TV.”
When she was indicted, Read realized, “this was for keeps.”
“They wanted a pound of flesh,” she said.
The origins of the 3rd-party defense
The day Read was arrested, Yannetti said he received a call at his office from a man named Mike who he said had a “gravelly voice.”
The caller told him to look into the occupants of 34 Fairview Road on the night of O’Keefe’s death.
“It was like a holy smokes moment,” Yannetti said.
Months later, an expert hired by Read’s defense discovered what would turn out to be a critical issue in the case: McCabe’s phone says she searched on Google, “hos long to die in cold at 2:27 a.m.”
At the top of the second episode, Read says she believes the rush to prosecute her for O’Keefe’s death will ultimately backfire.
“Jen McCabe: it’s me or her,” she says. “Either I’m going down Jen or you are.”
Of Read’s claims of a conspiracy, Kane says the “folks that loved [O’Keefe] the most are following the evidence.”
The third and fourth episodes of the series air Tuesday night before the finale airs Wednesday. Those episodes coincide with Read’s final scheduled court appearances before her April 1 trial date.
