Karen Read Insists She Hasn't Met a Single Person Who Thinks She Killed John O'Keefe: 'Not One!'

The acquitted murder defendant opened up about life after her high-profile trial, her new lawsuit and why she believes John O'Keefe was "the victim of this institutional corruption"

NEED TO KNOW

• Karen Read said in an interview on Today that she has not encountered anyone in person who believes she killed John O’Keefe
• Read has filed a lawsuit alleging misconduct and bias within the agencies that investigated O’Keefe’s death
• She says her public interactions have been overwhelmingly supportive despite online criticism and a visible divide at her trials

Karen Read says she has not encountered a single person who believes she got away with killing John O'Keefe.

Read, 46, made the comment during a live interview on Today on Friday, June 5, one day after filing a lawsuit against the law enforcement agencies that investigated O'Keefe's 2022 death.

During the interview, Craig Melvin pressed Read on the public perception of her case, noting that while many supporters gathered outside the courthouse during her trials, others still believe she was responsible for O'Keefe's death despite her acquittal.

"You have to know that when you walk down the street there are lots of people who look at Karen Read and think, 'Oh, there's that woman who got away with killing her ex-boyfriend who's a cop,' " Melvin, 47, said. "How do you go through life knowing that there are lots of people who, despite what the jury said, still think you got away with it?"

"I've not had any evidence that there's lots of people who feel that way," Read replied.

Read went on to say that she has “lived more low-key in the last year” and has spent much of her time adjusting to life outside the courtroom. But when it comes to her interactions with the public, Read said they have been overwhelmingly positive.

“I have no [negative] interactions no matter where I go — the grocery store, a restaurant, Newbury Street in Boston, any hotel or restaurant I eat at,” she said. “I don't pay for meals. I get discounts everywhere. My parents get help taking groceries.”

“I have not seen lots of people; I haven't seen one,” she continued. “The support isn't relegated to what you saw in the courthouse. It's throughout Massachusetts, and it happens when I travel.”

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When Melvin questioned whether she had heard from even one person who believes she killed O'Keefe, Read doubled down. "Not one!" she said.

Melvin then asked whether she had spent any time on the internet. After a brief pause, Read acknowledged she had seen criticism online.

"Oh, yes, yes. I've seen tweets," she said. "I have not [been] interacting with anyone."

Still, she acknowledged that there was a visible divide among spectators who attended her trials. Many of her supporters wore pink shirts outside the courthouse, while others attended in blue.

"Yes, there were people who wore pink shirts," Read said. "And there were maybe for every pink shirt, there was someone in a blue shirt who had many of them ties to people on the other side of this case."

Lawsuit Alleges Police 'Culture of Bigotry, Misogyny'

Read was convicted in June 2025 of second-degree murder and other charges in the death of O'Keefe, a Boston police officer she had been dating. Her first trial in 2024 ended in a mistrial after a hung jury. She was convicted of a lesser charge of driving while intoxicated.

O'Keefe, 46, was found mortally wounded on Jan. 29, 2022, on the lawn of the suburban home of now-retired Boston police Sgt. Brian Albert.

Prosecutors alleged Read drunkenly backed her SUV into O'Keefe and left him to die in a blizzard. Read denied the allegations, and her attorneys have long maintained that O'Keefe was killed after entering the home and that Read was falsely accused.

No one else has been charged in connection with his death.

Read's new lawsuit, filed June 4 in Bristol Superior Court, alleges the trial revealed “a culture of bigotry, misogyny, systemic failures, and institutional rot” within the Massachusetts State Police and Canton Police Department.

“This was always our plan, that I had to save my own life first,” Read said on Today. “I can't do anything if I'm not free. I had to fight for my freedom for years.”

“The acquittal is deserved, but the wrongs have not been completely righted,” she continued.

Her attorney, Alan Jackson, said the lawsuit is about more than financial damages. “What Karen wants, you cannot write on a check, which is exposure,” Jackson said. “Exposure of the corruption that is the DNA of the Massachusetts State Police and the Canton Police Department.”

The complaint centers on voicemails, text messages and other communications involving former lead investigator Michael Proctor and former Canton police Sgt. Michael Goode. According to the lawsuit, the communications help illustrate what Read alleges was a culture of bias and misconduct within the agencies that investigated O'Keefe's death.

Proctor was fired by the Massachusetts State Police in 2025 after revelations that he sent derogatory text messages about Read and shared details about the case with people outside law enforcement while leading the investigation. Goode resigned from the Canton Police Department on June 2, according to town officials.

In a June 4 statement, Massachusetts State Police Superintendent Col. Geoffrey D. Noble called the messages "racist, sexist and abhorrent" and said they "absolutely do not reflect the values of the Massachusetts State Police." The town of Canton said it had not yet been served with the lawsuit but defended the department, saying it would "refute any broad stroke characterizations" about its officers.

As for her life today after acquittal, on Today, Read said that she is not currently working and still does not have her license. “I'm working on the case every day,” she said. “I want this to be over, but it's not done yet.”

She pushed back on the notion, too, that O'Keefe has become secondary to the legal battles that have surrounded his death. "He's not lost. He's the reason we're doing this," she said, noting that her efforts to pursue the lawsuit are rooted in what she believes happened to O'Keefe.

"John was the victim of this institutional corruption, and we're the voice for John," she said. "I have lived, nearly daily, John's final moments. What happened to him? What was on his phone? What was the temperature of his phone? What were his interactions … with members of the family that lived in that house? This all revolves around John."

Wrongful Death Suit Pending Against Read

Read is also facing a wrongful death lawsuit filed against her in 2024 by O'Keefe's relatives. Asked by Today's Laura Jarrett what she would say to his family, Read said, “I don't have anything to say to his family.”

"I interacted with them for several years," Read noted. "John and I actually dated a long time ago when we were in our early 20s. I was caring and I believe generous with them and with my time. We did spend a lot of time together. They experienced who I am and they know who I am."

"I implore anyone of John's family or friends to point to any moment where I wasn't loving and caring with John and his adoptive niece and nephew," she said.

Asked what O'Keefe was like, Read described him as "very easygoing," "kinda shy" and devoted to the children he was raising after the deaths of their parents.

"He just liked to watch Boston sports, drink a few beers," she said. "He was funny. He had a really good sense of humor."

Read said O'Keefe was especially dedicated to his niece and nephew, whom he helped raise. "They were involved in anything they wanted to be involved in and he tried incredibly hard with them," she said. "Gave up his bachelorhood, changed his trajectory on the Boston Police Department to care for them. So he was incredibly sacrificial."

As for what comes next, Read said she hopes to keep speaking publicly about her experience.

“I think it would be a waste for me to just disappear and go live on an island,” she said, adding, “Although, I would like to do that!”

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