Commonwealth v. Read — Trial ArchiveJennifer McCabe
Also known as: Jen McCabe
Jennifer McCabe is the sister-in-law of Boston Police officer Brian Albert, at whose Canton home John O'Keefe's body was found on January 29, 2022. She was among the group at the Waterfall bar that night and accompanied Karen Read and Kerry Roberts to 34 Fairview Road when O'Keefe was discovered. McCabe testified as a central prosecution witness in both trials, covering the events from the bar through the 911 call she placed, Karen Read's statements at the scene, and a Google search for hypothermia that became one of the most contested pieces of evidence in the case. Her testimony spans 5 proceedings in Trial 1 and 8 in Trial 2, making her the most extensively examined witness across both trials.
Trial 1 vs Trial 2
Trial 2 significantly expanded the cross-examination, stretching across three days (Days 7–8) compared to Trial 1's two (Days 15–16), with Jackson introducing additional Cellebrite data, GPS location records, and federal investigation materials not fully developed in the first trial. The prosecution in Trial 2 also devoted more time to direct examination — spanning Days 6 and 7 — to pre-emptively address the Google search and the 'I hit him' attribution before Jackson could challenge them. The recross in Trial 2 zeroed in more precisely on the absence of the declarative confession from any contemporaneous record, walking through six specific grand jury passages, whereas Trial 1's recross focused more broadly on deleted communications and McCabe's reaction to Kerry Roberts's cooperation.