Jennifer McCabe

“She proceeds to scream my name multiple times and she tells me that John didn't come home, they got into a fight, and that she left him at the Waterfall.”

Establishes Read's initial account to McCabe — that she and O'Keefe fought and she left him at the bar.

“She was saying, 'Did I hit him? Could I have hit him?' And then she proceeded to say that she had a cracked tail light.”

Links Read's concern about hitting O'Keefe to the physical evidence of tail light damage on her vehicle.

“I saw Kerry wiping the snow off of John's face, and I could not believe that that was John laying there.”

Establishes the condition of O'Keefe's body — lying flat on his back, covered in snow — when discovered.

“When she spoke to the paramedic it was crystal clear: 'I hit him.'”

McCabe distinguishes between Read's earlier equivocal questions and this definitive statement to the EMT, which the prosecution treats as an admission.

“Google how long it takes to die in the cold.”

The Google search became one of the most contested pieces of evidence in the case, with the defense alleging it was actually made hours earlier at 2:27 AM.

“I'm not sure if it's in this document, but I can tell you — Today, with 100% clarity, she said 'I hit him, I hit him, I hit him' on that morning.”

McCabe insists on Read's declarative confession despite Jackson showing it appears nowhere in her grand jury testimony where she described Read's statements twelve times.

“That's a very brief report.”

McCabe's response to the report discrepancy. She testified elsewhere in the exchange that the report reflected Lank's recollection and that she had also told him Read said 'I hit him, I hit him, I hit him.'

“Hos long to die in cold.”

McCabe read the search phrase from displayed extraction material. Jackson interpreted a 2:27 AM field as an earlier search; McCabe denied making it, and this proceeding did not resolve the technical interpretation.

“I did not delete that search. I never made that search at 2:27. I never would have left John O'Keefe out in the cold to die, because he was my friend that I loved.”

McCabe's most direct denial of the defense's core allegation

“I went into what I already had open.”

McCabe explains that she reused an existing Safari tab for the 6 AM Google search. The prosecution used this browsing-habit testimony to address the disputed 2:27 AM timestamp; McCabe did not provide a forensic explanation for that timestamp.

“It changed multiple times. I'm not sure exactly. She said — oh, at one point, 'Oh my God, I don't even remember going there.' She was telling other people that he was dead, that a plow hit him. The story changed multiple times that morning.”

McCabe testifies that Read gave multiple accounts that morning, including statements about not remembering going there and a plow. The prosecution used McCabe's account to advance an inconsistency narrative; the quote does not independently resolve Read's credibility.

“I told them that Karen looked straight at me and said 'I hit him, I hit him, I hit him,' and I said that there was — I believe an EMT that overheard as well.”

McCabe confirms she testified consistently about the 'I hit him' statement in a prior June 2023 proceeding, addressing the cross-examination challenge that the statement was absent from earlier accounts.

“She said, 'Google hypothermia, Google how long it takes to die in the cold.' She was shaking me, screaming at me to do it.”

Reinforces McCabe's account that Karen Read initiated the Google search, not McCabe acting on her own knowledge.

“I have MS and I have, you know, issues with my hands, so I a lot of times Google and make errors. But the cold also makes my hands go completely numb, so I'm not surprised that that's how it would come out.”

Provides an explanation for the misspellings in the Google search, attributing them to her MS condition and cold weather rather than panicked typing at 2:27 AM.

“I didn't claim it's awful. It is awful.”

Shows McCabe pushing back against Jackson's characterization, reflecting the adversarial dynamic of this recross.

“Under oath, correct.”

McCabe agrees that she first attributed "I hit him" under oath in June 2023, while maintaining that she had told Sergeant Lank about it on January 29, 2022.

“Because I wouldn't have seen him. I didn't know he was there. She did.”

McCabe maintains Read knew O'Keefe's location, central to both prosecution's consciousness of guilt theory and defense's counter-narrative.

“Because I loved John and I liked Karen.”

Establishes McCabe's stated relationship with O'Keefe and Read.

“I didn't see the SUV actually move, but I saw it in a few different locations.”

States that McCabe did not see the SUV move, though she saw it in multiple locations; it records her observation without identifying the SUV's driver or documenting movement.

“She started saying, 'Could I have hit him? Did I hit him? I don't.' And then she was just all over the place, like screaming my name, screaming so many different things.”

Core prosecution evidence — Read's repeated statements suggesting she may have struck O'Keefe with her vehicle.

“It wasn't until I got very close over to them that I saw Kerry removing the snow from John's face.”

Establishes the poor visibility conditions and the moment of discovery — McCabe could not see O'Keefe's body until she was very close, relevant to her earlier inability to see anything on the lawn from inside the house.

“I just remember when I was doing the compressions... it just wasn't like normal. I can't think of how to describe the way it felt when I was trying to press down, but it was like resistance.”

Describes McCabe's sensory observation of unusual resistance while performing compressions; she did not provide a cause.

“And at that point, myself and Miss Read got out of the car and she started yelling and pulling on me to Google hypothermia and Google how long it takes for somebody to die in the cold.”

McCabe attributes the Google search entirely to Read's request, placing it after police arrival while outside the cruiser.

“I have multiple sclerosis. So when I am out in either extremely hot or cold temperatures, I lose the feeling and sensation in my fingers, which obviously made the googling very hard for me to do because of my motor skills.”

McCabe explains the misspelled search ('hos long to die in cold') and why she may have made multiple search attempts.

“She told the first responder, 'I hit him. I hit him. I hit him.'”

McCabe's account of Read's admission to the female first responder — a central disputed fact in the case.

“I think after the second or third time she was saying it, I was like, 'Karen, Karen, like what are you saying?'”

McCabe describes being startled and questioning what Read was saying; her later testimony characterized Read as hysterical and irrational.

“Little by little as I sat there, things started coming back to me that had been said to me earlier.”

McCabe explains the delayed recall of Read's 'I hit him' statement — she says it came back to her while sitting at the Albert house processing events.

“Karen called us for help and we both answered the phone.”

McCabe frames the witness coordination with Roberts as trauma bonding rather than story alignment.

“We've grown into friends where we talk about many other things besides the case.”

McCabe admits to hundreds of conversations with Roberts about the case over three years while trying to minimize them as normal friendship.

“I explained that I had forgotten to mention a couple of people that I had reached out to.”

McCabe's explanation for the initial omission to the separate law-enforcement agency was that she had forgotten to mention people she contacted. Jackson challenged the omission as a lie, which McCabe denied. During that line, Judge Cannone reminded jurors that only answers to questions are evidence.

“I don't remember seeing the dog. Doesn't mean it wasn't there or it was there. I just don't remember seeing it.”

McCabe cannot account for the Alberts' German Shepherd when she entered the house at 6:40 AM, which Jackson uses to suggest something was different inside the house.

“It took me hours and in some cases days to remember all the things that Miss Read had said. My mind — I was in a state of shock. But the minute I remembered she said, 'I hit him, I hit him, I hit him,' I called Officer Lank.”

McCabe's explanation for the discrepancy — she claims delayed recall due to shock — which Jackson then undercuts by noting Lank's report also omits 'I hit him'

“Kerry talked to the cops and kept it simple.”

McCabe's text to Nicole Albert on the evening of January 29th reflects her stated awareness of Kerry Roberts's police interview. The court instructed that the electronic communication could be considered only for McCabe's state of mind, not for the truth of its statement.

“Eating, I assume. Ask Chris to ask some questions. Tell them the guy never went into the house.”

Matt McCabe directing Chris Albert to tell Channel 4 reporters that John O'Keefe never entered 34 Fairview — a central disputed fact in the defense theory.

“I love it.”

McCabe's response followed Matt McCabe's observation that Kerry Roberts 'could write a book' during the police interview. Jackson used the exchange to question her about witness coordination; the court limited the text messages to McCabe's state of mind, and McCabe denied colluding or organizing statements.

“I wrote — I wrote "she is telling them everything."”

McCabe read this text to the family group chat while Kerry Roberts was being interviewed by state police in McCabe's house. Jackson used the exchange to question her about witness coordination; the court limited the text messages to McCabe's state of mind, and McCabe denied colluding or organizing statements.

“My memory is we did drive from One Meadows. I know what this piece of paper says. I'm telling you that my memory is we left Meadows and went down Fairview and then went to Michael Lank's, but this paper is saying we stopped at my house first. I don't remember that.”

McCabe acknowledges that the GPS location document says she stopped at her house first, but maintains that her memory differs and explains that details from the day may be foggy. The exchange records a document-versus-memory tension rather than independently resolving the route.

“I think I was going back and forth to the door. I was texting him. I think I put my phone in my pocket. I think I inadvertently maybe called him.”

McCabe offers an accidental-call explanation for the calls discussed during cross-examination. The record describes the first call as answered, although McCabe says she never spoke to O'Keefe, and later calls as missed.

“Yes. And I stand by that 110%.”

McCabe's emphatic but uncorroborated insistence that Read demanded the Google search.

“No, I told them everything I knew.”

McCabe affirms she was never evasive with police, countering defense suggestions of concealment

“I was relaxed. Just playing on my phone, looking at things before I went to bed.”

Contrasts her calm state at 2:27 AM with the panic of the morning, supporting the prosecution theory that the Google search occurred at 6:23 AM, not 2:27 AM

“Miss Read asked me to Google it.”

Direct testimony attributing the 'how long to die in cold' search to Karen Read's request

“We never went in.”

Clarifies the January 30 Fairview drive-by was not a visit inside the house, countering the implication she returned to coordinate with the Alberts

“Correct. I welcomed them in my house, sat with them, and then I stopped. And then I met with them a few times after, and I answered all their questions that they asked. I helped clear up some misconceptions that they had been told, and as you know, they're no longer investigating. So I think I helped them well.”

McCabe's unsolicited editorial about federal investigators no longer investigating draws attention to the federal probe

“Correct. I said I'm going to stop and I'm going to seek some counsel. Yes.”

McCabe confirms that she stopped the separate federal interview to seek counsel; in her preceding answer, she also says she later met with the agents and answered their questions.