Karen Read, accused of killing her Boston Police officer boyfriend, is eager for the day when she won’t have to visit a courtroom or wear a suit.
The Massachusetts woman is speaking out in an Investigation Discovery (ID) docuseries, “A Body in the Snow: The Trial of Karen Read.” It’s a behind-the-scenes look at Read and her legal team as they attempt to prove her innocence in her 2024 trial. It features a lengthy sit-down with Read and other key voices.
Fox News Digital reached out to a spokesperson for the Boston Police Department for comment.
Terry Dunn Meurer, the co-creator of “Unsolved Mysteries” and director of the series, told Fox News Digital there was one key moment during filming that stood out to her.
“I remember Karen was looking at her computer,” Meurer recalled. “She’s looking at the video of the last evening before John O’Keefe died. She goes, ‘Oh, poor John. He’s not with us anymore. I used to feel sad when I would look at this. But now … I’ve got to save myself.’
“Karen is a very intense [person],” Meurer added. “She was very intense and involved with her defense. … We didn’t see a lot of emotion out of Karen until it became time for the deliberations. Then we started to see some emotion and some trepidation, some anxiousness about what the verdict might be.”
Before Read was charged with murder, she had a successful career as a financial analyst and adjunct professor at Bentley College. She dated O’Keefe briefly in her 20s before they reconnected during the pandemic.
O’Keefe had moved to suburban Canton to take care of his niece and nephew after their parents died. Read said she admired her beau for stepping up for his family. She helped with the kids, staying over frequently.
“By all accounts, in speaking to Karen’s friends and family, everybody really liked them as a couple,” said Meurer. “They thought that they were a strong couple. … But some conflicts had emerged that they might’ve been going through at the time, leading up to John’s death.”
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“Karen didn’t talk much about her relationship with John,” Meurer clarified. “She said that there were conflicts because of their different parenting styles in terms of the kids that John was raising. And she gave me the impression that the relationship had run its course.”
What should have been a fun-filled trip to Aruba for the couple in December 2021 was marred by animosity with angry words and an accusation of cheating. O’Keefe’s niece and nephew testified about the couple’s arguments.
On their last night together in 2022, the pair went barhopping with pals. O’Keefe had planned to go to his friend and fellow Boston Police Officer Brian Albert’s home, Boston Magazine reported. A storm had rolled into town.
According to the outlet, O’Keefe was eager to keep the party going, but Read was tired, buzzed and hungry. She agreed to give him a ride. Read dropped O’Keefe off and then went home.
In the early hours of Jan. 29, Read said she woke up alone wearing the same clothes from the night before at O’Keefe’s house, the outlet reported. Worried, Read called several friends, trying to find out where O’Keefe was.
The 46-year-old was near the home where Read last saw him. His body was on the ground covered in snow. He had multiple injuries and blood around his nose and mouth. Read and two mutual friends discovered O’Keefe unconscious in Albert’s front yard during their search for him.
O’Keefe was pronounced dead at a hospital.
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Read was accused of ramming into O’Keefe with her Lexus SUV and leaving him to die in the snowstorm after a drunken argument. She was charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter and leaving the scene of a crime. She pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors suggested O’Keefe was looking for a way out before their last night together. They pointed out that moments after Read allegedly reversed her car into O’Keefe, she left him a voicemail, one that was replayed for the jurors, saying, “John, I (expletive) hate you.”
Read’s attorneys argued she was framed as “a convenient outsider” to protect other law enforcement officers involved in O’Keefe’s death. Read said she believed the real killers were other members of law enforcement O’Keefe got into a fight with after she dropped him off.
“I was intrigued by the fact that there were two really strong sides to this story,” said Meurer. “It seemed that there was suspicious behavior on both sides of the story. … And having produced ‘Unsolved Mysteries’ for decades, I think that caught my eye. … It was a very intriguing mystery.
“As the documentary presents, Karen, at first, talked about how she was confused for the first three days. She didn’t know what had happened. … But then, a few days later, her Boston attorney got a phone call from an informant who said, ‘Take a look at the people who were in that house.’ I think that was the turning point. One of the reporters we interviewed said we wouldn’t even be here if that guy hadn’t called.”
Read’s defense attorney, David Yannetti, claimed O’Keefe was beaten up inside Albert’s home during the after-bars gathering, People magazine reported. Yannetti claimed O’Keefe was then attacked by a dog and left to die, Boston magazine shared.
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Yannetti also claimed that evidence showed someone inside Albert’s home had searched that evening “Ho[w] long to die in cold,” People magazine reported.
Hospital medical records showed that O’Keefe’s injuries included eyes swollen shut and black and blue, a cut on his right eyelid, a cut to the left side of his nose, a two-inch laceration on the back of his head, multiple skull fractures and six bloody cuts of varied length on his right forearm. There were also claw-like marks.
The prosecution stuck with its version of events, arguing the injuries were consistent with blunt force trauma. As for the Google search, the prosecution said it was done after O’Keefe was discovered unresponsive.
Text messages from Michael Proctor, a lead investigator in the case, also emerged. In the texts, he called Read a “wack job,” a “babe… with no a–” and a “c—.” He also wrote that he wished she would kill herself and joked about looking for nude selfies while searching her phone. He was later suspended without pay.
Meurer is doubtful we’ll ever know what happened that night.
“We have bits and pieces and varying stories and versions of stories that have emerged,” Meurer explained.
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“At first, Karen said she didn’t even remember dropping John off at the house. Now, in our film, she said, ‘I saw him go into the house.’ So, there have been several versions of what happened. [But] the other thing that plays a huge part in this case is alcohol and how inebriated everyone was — Karen, John, the witnesses — everyone.”
“I don’t know about memories when it comes to having consumed that much alcohol,” Meurer acknowl.
“I wish I was more hopeful that there would be a clear-cut answer to what happened. I [also] think there’s a certain part of the community in Boston and around Boston … there have been a number of corruption cases and scandals. … I think people believe there’s a chance that corruption was involved and that Karen was framed. There’s this feeling of ‘We’re not going to take this anymore.’”
WATCH: KILLER OR CONVENIENT OUTSIDER? FOX NATION SERIES EXPLORES THE TWISTS AND TURNS OF THE KAREN READ TRIAL
In July 2024, a mistrial was declared. A retrial is scheduled for April.
Fox News Digital reached out to Read’s attorneys.
Meurer described Read as exhausted but just as determined to prove her innocence. She would often say during filming, “I’m fighting for my life here.”
She hopes to be acquitted and return to a private life.
Meurer believes it’s unlikely anyone will fully recover.
“This situation has divided the community,” she said. “Friendships have been destroyed over this. There’s no in-between here. And I hope [people] won’t lose sight that there’s a good guy here, John O’Keefe, who is dead.
“There is a murder victim here. He was, by all accounts, a good cop and a good dad to the kids. I think John has gotten lost in all of the noise around the case. I just hope viewers will remember John.”
