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A forensic scientist from the Massachusetts State Police Crime Lab revealed throughout Karen Learn’s homicide trial that proof collected in pink Solo cups was by no means examined within the loss of life of her Boston police officer boyfriend, John O’Keefe.
Testimony Wednesday got here from O’Keefe’s niece, whom he was caring for after her dad and mom died inside months of each other, in addition to forensic specialists concerned within the seek for Learn’s Lexus SUV and crime lab testing.
Maureen Hartnett of the Massachusetts State Police Crime Lab testified she discovered damaged glass, scratches and at the very least one dent on the again of Learn’s car, in addition to blood and particles recovered from O’Keefe’s garments.
She additionally swabbed the proof that Canton Police collected in pink Solo cups, though she testified that it had by no means been examined. Because of this, she could not even determine it as blood.
KAREN READ’S DEFENSE OPENS DOOR FOR SPECIAL PROSECUTOR TO BRING IN NEW EVIDENCE: COURT DOCS
Karen Learn leaves courtroom throughout a brief recess throughout her homicide trial in Norfolk Superior Court docket in Dedham, Mass., Wednesday, Might 14, 2025. (Mark Chavous/Enterprise Information by way of AP, Pool)
She collected samples for added testing however testified that she didn’t carry out testing herself. That was another person’s accountability.
She additionally testified she couldn’t rule out that any of the harm to Learn’s SUV occurred earlier than Jan. 29, 2022, the morning O’Keefe died.
KAREN READ DEFENSE FLOATS THEORY THAT ‘JEALOUS’ BRIAN HIGGINS FOUGHT JOHN O’KEEFE BEFORE DEATH
An proof image of pink Solo cups utilized by the Canton Police to gather blood proof is displayed throughout the Karen Learn trial Might 6, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (Matt Stone/The Boston Herald by way of AP, Pool)
The pink substance, described as “red-brown” by the point she noticed it, was collected by Canton Police from the entrance garden at 34 Fairview Street underneath a dusting of snow on the spot the place investigators believed O’Keefe had been discovered.
“I believe you take a look at it anyway, even when there may be no chain of custodysimply to contextualize the case,” stated Paul Mauro, a retired NYPD investigator who’s following the case. “If there was a battle inside the home, presumably O’Keefe would’ve fought again. If the blood within the snow got here again to one of many Alberts or Higgins, when you’re the protection, you are doing backflips.”
If the swabs nonetheless exist, nonetheless, the protection may ask for them to be examined at the moment, he stated.
KAREN READ’S GOOGLE TIMELINE DERAILED AGAIN AS 2ND EXPERT DISPUTES DEFENSE CLAIMS
Officer John O’Keefe (Boston Police Division)
However police may even have performed a greater job accumulating and documenting proof, particularly after a sequence of cases when officers needed to defend making uncommon selections, together with having another person fill out the extent of an proof bag, utilizing a grocery bag as a substitute of an proof bag and sending somebody residence to seize a leaf blower with out sending anybody to the police station to get correct evidence-gathering containers.
Different awkward moments included an proof bag with the unsuitable variety of damaged taillight shards and a short delay after a state police sergeant was requested to open a mislabeled proof bag with one of many sufferer’s sneakers inside.
“You do not have to be doing murder investigations each day to know that when you gathered a bunch of stuff from a criminal offense scene, protect it and ensure it is logged into proof so you possibly can retrieve it later since you do not know the place that is going,” Mauro stated.
“In the event that they knew sufficient and cared sufficient to take samples from the scene, nonetheless imperfect they did it … and so they put every cup in a separate Cease and Store bag, initialed it, closed it nearly as good as they may in a blizzard. It’s unorthodox. Not excellent, however defensible.”
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Defendant Karen Learn talks together with her attorneys throughout her homicide trial in Norfolk Superior Court docket in Dedham, Mass., Wednesday, Might 14, 2025. (Mark Chavous/Enterprise Information by way of AP, Pool)
Protection legal professional Robert Alessi additionally requested Hartnett about two photographs purported to indicate the identical lone hair pattern recovered from the again of the SUV.
“You can argue that the snow sealed it in there,” Mauro stated.
Learn faces fees of second-degree homicidedrunk driving manslaughter and fleeing a lethal accident in O’Keefe’s loss of life.
Prosecutors allege she reversed her Lexus SUV into O’Keefe and left him to die on the bottom throughout a blizzard.
She has pleaded not responsible to all fees, and her legal professionals say she by no means hit O’Keefe.
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William Learn, left, father of Karen Learn, is greeted by protection lawyer Robert Alessi earlier than the beginning of the Karen Learn homicide trial in Norfolk Superior Court docket in Dedham, Mass., Might 9, 2025. (Mark Stockwell/The Solar Chronicle by way of AP, Pool)
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Whereas prosecutors have proven photographs of her damaged taillight, and investigators have testified that it performed a job of their allegations in opposition to Learn, her legal professionals performed a close-up video of her showing to again into O’Keefe’s parked automotive earlier than she and two different ladies discovered O’Keefe on the bottom outdoors the Fairview Street home.
A bunch of individuals had been there the evening earlier than for an after-party following an evening out ingesting.
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Learn, talking with reporters outdoors the courthouse, claimed she noticed O’Keefe go away the occasion earlier than she left.
Different witnesses, testifying underneath oath, advised jurors that he didn’t go inside.
