Brian Albert

“John O’Keefe and Karen Read never entered my house.”

Albert gave a clear account of whether either person came inside 34 Fairview Road.

“I didn’t see that there was a reason to go out to that area. The police had already been in my house. They had already talked to us about what was going on. It was a snowstorm at that point. They were trying to conduct an investigation and I didn’t want to interfere with it or have anything to do with it.”

Albert explained why he did not go outside to the area where police were working that morning.

Albert described the Waterfall gathering, the discussion of an open invitation to his home for his son's birthday, and his recollection that Higgins arrived at 34 Fairview before him.

“That portion of that sentence is false.”

Albert acknowledged that part of his earlier statement about never meeting or seeing Karen Read was false.

“Absolutely not. I wished he had.”

Albert emphatically denied that John O'Keefe entered his home on January 29, 2022.

“My phone was upgraded and traded in for a new phone.”

Albert described what happened to the phone that became the subject of preservation questioning.

“I don't know that the phone was locked. I could have been looking through my phone. I butt-dial people often and make inadvertent calls. I could have hit a last call from him by accident, thus calling his phone.”

Albert offered his explanation for the 2:22 a.m. call to Brian Higgins.

“John never came into my house that night. He would have been welcomed, and the defendant would have been welcomed with open arms had they come in. And I wish they had. I really do.”

Albert reaffirmed his account that neither John O'Keefe nor the defendant entered his home.

“I was just thinking about it in my head and reminded myself that it was the D.A.'s office. You caught me off-guard when you had asked me. I didn't have it at the top of mind.”

Albert explained how his recollection of the preparation location changed during the day.

“He maybe mentioned one thing he may ask me, but that was it.”

Albert acknowledged that Lally mentioned a possible redirect topic during their lunch-hour conversation.

Albert testified that the cell-phone reception issue came up during trial preparation and that he could not recall which preparation meeting, saying it was probably the last one.

Albert said his memory that the preparation occurred at the district attorney's office had returned after he thought about it following his earlier inability to remember the location.