Commonwealth v. Read — Trial ArchiveErin O'Keefe
Testimony Impact
Erin O'Keefe is the wife of Paul O'Keefe, John O'Keefe's brother, making her John's sister-in-law by marriage. She had an established friendship with Karen Read prior to John's death. In her Trial 1 Day 1 testimony, she described the O'Keefe family background, John's guardianship of his niece and nephew following his sister Kristen's death, and her direct communications with Read on January 28–29, 2022, including a phone call on the morning John's body was found.
Notable Quotes From The Record
“She responded and said just another day — I wish I didn't talk to an O'Keefe after 2004.”
Read's text expressed frustration; O'Keefe later described bickering between Read and John O'Keefe about taking Kaylee to Dunkin' Donuts before school.
“I called her, and I could hear the phone pick up, and she didn't say hello. I just said, 'Karen, what the hell is going on?' And she just yelled back in the phone, 'John's dead.'”
O'Keefe's account of the call: she recalled Read saying ‘John's dead,’ followed by Kerry Roberts's statement that he was at the hospital.
“She told me that they were out, that she dropped him at a party afterwards, didn't feel like going, so dropped him and went back to Canton.”
Read's account of the night as relayed to a family member — she says she dropped John off and went home.
“She told me that she had to remember the bad times, which struck me as an odd comment to say.”
O'Keefe testified that Read said she had to remember the bad times; O'Keefe said the comment struck her as odd and that she assumed Read might have been medicated.
“She said I don't think I'm ever going to see you guys again. And I said of course you will, we're friends.”
O'Keefe testified that Read said she did not think she would see the O'Keefes again; O'Keefe responded that they were friends.
Key Moments
- O'Keefe recounted calling Read on the morning of January 29 and, without being told what had happened, hearing Read yell that John was dead — before his death had been officially confirmed, a moment the prosecution offered as significant to their case.
- O'Keefe testified that Read told her she needed to 'remember the bad times,' a comment O'Keefe described as striking her as odd given the circumstances, which prosecutors presented as a consciousness-of-guilt statement.
- O'Keefe recounted Read saying she did not think she would 'ever see you guys again,' which prosecutors framed as Read anticipating permanent separation from the O'Keefe family.
- O'Keefe testified about a January 28 text exchange in which Read expressed frustration with the O'Keefe family, writing that she wished she had not spoken to an O'Keefe after 2004, establishing tension in the relationship the day before John's death.
- O'Keefe relayed Read's account of the night of January 28–29 as Read described it to her: that she had dropped John off at a party, did not feel like going inside, and returned to Canton — consistent with Read's own stated account of events.