DEDHAM, Mass. — Karen Read’s lawyers are seeking to introduce third-party culprit evidence against three key witnesses in the murder case when her second trial gets underway next month, despite pushback from the prosecution.

Court video: Final Karen Read hearing before 2nd murder trial starts next week

Read, 45, of Mansfield, is accused of hitting John O’Keefe, her Boston police officer, with her Lexus SUV in Canton on Jan. 29, 2022, and leaving him to die after a night of drinking. The defense has sought to portray Read as the victim, saying O’Keefe was actually killed inside the Albert family home at 34 Fairview Road in Canton and then dragged outside and left for dead.

Third-party culprit defense is a legal strategy employed by defendants to argue that another individual is the actual perpetrator of the crime.

“The third-party culprit evidence Ms. Read intends to introduce at trial meets the relevant admissibility standards and, as such, she is constitutionally entitled to present it to the jury by virtue of the Due Process Clause of the United States Constitution,” Read’s attorneys stated in a new updated filing in Dedham’s Norfolk Superior Court.

In the filing, Read’s attorneys argued that Brian Albert, Brian Higgins, and Colin Albert each had the “motive, intent, and opportunity to commit the crime” that resulted in O’Keefe’s death.

“There is evidence that each of them had the motive, intent, and opportunity to commit the crime,” Read’s lawyers wrote. All of them were present at the scene of the crime on the night in question.”

Brian Albert

Albert was a fellow Boston police officer who lived at 34 Fairview Road in Canton.

O’Keefe’s body was discovered on Albert’s front lawn, just feet from his front door and the door to his garage. Read’s lawyers alleged in their argument that he was a “bully” toward other cops.

“Brian Albert did not have a good reputation among his fellow police officers. He was known as a bully, someone who has a history of sucker-punching fellow officers, particularly when he was drinking,” the defense argued. “He has been investigated by Boston Police Department’s Internal Affairs Division for his violent conduct in that regard. Albert is a trained boxer, and several of his fellow officers were afraid of him.”

During Read’s first trial, Albert testified that O’Keefe never entered his home, but the defense argued that “evidence—including computer forensic data—overwhelmingly establishes that John O’Keefe entered Brian Albert’s house.”

“Brian Albert was drinking heavily throughout the day and night in question,” the defense stated.

The defense also argued that there is a consciousness of guilt evidence implicating Albert.

“Despite a massive police presence on his front lawn, just feet from his bedroom window, Brian Albert never came out of the house to speak or interact with other first responders,” the filing stated. “It is worth noting that Brian Albert was at all times a first responder himself, yet he chose to ignore his duty to help someone in need in favor of remaining secure in his home, away from those who might question him or his family.”

Brian Higgins

Brian Higgins, an ATF Agent, was at Brian Albert’s home on the night of O’Keefe’s death and had exchanged flirtatious text messages with Read in the weeks leading up to Jan. 29, 2022.

Higgins, who was out with a group of people drinking at Canton bars with Read and O’Keefe on the night of death, had a romantic interest in Read, according to her defense team. The defense has also alleged that Higgins “lured” O’Keefe to the Albert house and later destroyed his phone.

Higgins was also the first person Albert called after learning of O’Keefe’s death, but cell phone data presented as evidence showed Albert also called Higgins at 2:22 a.m. hours before O’Keefe’s body was found. Albert said he “inadvertently” made that call to Higgins during an “intimate situation” with his wife.

In one of the flirtatious messages shared in court during Read’s first trial, Read texted Higgins, “You’re, hot.” “Are you serious or messing with me?” Higgins replied. “No, I’m serious,” Read wrote. “Feeling is mutual. Is that bad? How long have you thought that?” Higgins asked.

‘You’re hot’: ATF agent Brian Higgins testifies about flirtatious texts he exchanged with Karen Read

Higgins also told the court that he was leaving O’Keefe’s house once after watching an NFL game when Read “planted a kiss on me. Not like a friend.” Higgins added that he interpreted it as a “romantic” kiss.

Higgins acknowledged that the text message flirtation and all contact between them ended and that Read was the one to end it. When he later spotted Read and O’Keefe acting “lovey-dovey” at a bar together, the defense said Higgins’ “annoyance and irritation were reflected in a sarcastic text he sent to her while she and John were merely feet away from him, ‘Ummm, well?’”

“Higgins’ conduct on the night in question and following establish clear evidence that should have been investigated during the course of this investigation,” the defense argued.

Colin Albert

Colin Albert, the nephew of Brian Albert, had been in a feud with O’Keefe in the weeks leading up to his death, the defense argued.

“Colin had thrown beer cans in Mr. O’Keefe’s bushes and told Mr. O’Keefe to ‘F off’ to his face,” the filing stated. “Colin Albert testified under oath that he had never been in a fight in his life, yet there was video evidence of him taunting others to fight, desperate for violence. Colin Albert, after John O’Keefe’s death, was photographed with his knuckles scraped, consistent with injuries that would be suffered during a physical altercation.”

During Read’s first trial, Colin testified that he suffered the injury to his knuckles when he fell down on ice at a party senior year.

AJ shows this picture of CA to the jury. He said it was taken Feb. 26 2022. AJ points out the injury to CA's right knuckles. CA said he fell down on ice at a party senior year. He said he was carrying something in his left hand so he used his right hand to catch himself. pic.twitter.com/WKIN3TG8xr
— Ryan Breslin (@ryanjbreslin) May 16, 2024

The defense also argued that Colin’s name was “intentionally omitted from the police reports in order to protect him.”

“There was no indication in those police reports that Colin Albert even existed. It was not until the defense sent a letter to the prosecution while the case was pending before a grand jury, notifying the Commonwealth that Colin Albert should be called as a witness, that the Commonwealth finally produced information that Colin Albert was indeed present at Brian Albert’s home on the night in question,” the defense stated in the filing.

Prosecution’s argument

Special prosecutor Hank Brennan claims there is no evidence that the Alberts or Higgins had motive to cause harm to O’Keefe.

Brennan says phone and Waze data placed O’Keefe in the front yard of the Albert home, not inside. He also pointed out that nine people testified that O’Keefe was never seen in the home.

Brennan says in order to have a third-party culprit, police would have had to have known information that pointed to or targeted a different person and they didn’t pursue it.

Brennan stated that the third-party culprit is a time-honored tradition and has broad latitude, but it’s not endless.

“It can’t prejudice the Commonwealth. It can’t distract the jury. It can’t be based on fiction. It has to be based on an identifiable theory,” Brennan said in court Tuesday. “The cases that have allowed third party coverage that have been reported have actual people who could be a third party company, who actually have relationships to the scene of the crime, or the deceased.”