‘Framing me’: Karen Read talks O’Keefe death, reveals financial toll of murder case in new interview

DEDHAM, Mass. — In a newly published exclusive interview with Vanity Fair, Karen Read discussed her relationship with Boston police officer John O’Keefe and what she believed happened to him on the night of his death as her second murder trial looms amid the prospect of double jeopardy.

The first article in a two-part series about Read’s trial, which ended with a hung jury in July, dropped Tuesday.

EMERGENCY TO-GO BAG

Vanity Fair author Julie Miller said in the lengthy article that she stayed in Read’s four-bedroom Mansfield home for three days as she conducted the interview, noticing a Ziploc “go-bag” filled with Advil, melatonin, a toothbrush, toothpaste, a hairbrush, drugstore lipstick, a strip of paper with her lawyer’s phone number on it, and a bottle of Laura Mercier foundation “in case of sudden arrest.”

Read described her interview with Miller as the “strangest sleepover ever,” in which she shared thoughts on O’Keefe’s 2022 death in Canton and revealed details on her current financial situation.

Read, 44, is accused of ramming John O’Keefe, her Boston police officer boyfriend, with her SUV and leaving to die in a snowstorm outside of the Canton home of former Boston police officer Brian Albert after a night of heavy drinking at two local bars.

The defense has portrayed Read as a scapegoat, saying O’Keefe was actually killed inside Albert’s home and then dragged outside and left for dead.

READ SAYS O’KEEFE’S DEATH WAS A SETUP

When Miller questioned Read about the night of O’Keefe’s death, she said her boyfriend was “set up” and that things “got out of control.”

“I believe whatever happened to John was a setup to teach him a lesson or tune him up, and it got out of control. No one would choose to kill someone in their own home and then set it up so sloppily,” Read told Miller. “I hold the district attorney, who passed the bar and went to law school, to a higher standard. The power that a district attorney has in any given county is staggering. It’s scary.”

After she was initially charged with O’Keefe’s murder, Judge Beverly Cannone set Read’s bail at $100,000 after the DA asked for $500,000. Read and her legal team then realized the case against her was “[expletive] dirty.”

“I believe it was to scare me and get some kind of plea deal going,” Read told Miller. “This is not you said something that was taken the wrong way at the scene and they got the wrong guy…. This is intentional. They’re framing me.”

READ HAS TURNED TO LITERATURE

After O’Keefe’s death, Read said she read Alexandre Dumas’ classic, “The Count of Monte Cristo.”

The book features a protagonist who is framed and arrested but ultimately escapes and avenges himself.

CRIMINAL CASE HAS TAKEN A STEEP FINANCIAL TOLL

Read, a former adjunct professor at Bentley College, is currently living off the remains of her 401 (k) and owes more than $5 million in deferred fees for her high-powered defense team.

Read’s hopeful to avoid a retrial in January 2025, which she told Miller would plunge her deeper into seven-digit debt.

READ WILL KEEP FIGHTING THE CHARGES

Read’s lawyers have filed an appeal with the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and will argue on Nov. 6 that two of three criminal charges against her be dismissed on the grounds of double jeopardy.

The legal team has argued that Read’s double jeopardy protections have been violated because several jurors who came forward after the mistrial indicated that Read was found not guilty of second-degree murder and leaving the scene of a deadly crash.

“I’m not backing down now. As scary as potential conviction is, I will go to jail for something I didn’t do before I plea out. I will never give them that win,” Read told Miller.

A Plymouth County Superior Court Judge is now deciding if a wrongful death lawsuit filed against Read by the family of O’Keefe will proceed as scheduled.

The second installment of Vanity Fair’s interview will be released on Wednesday.

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