Commonwealth v. Read — Trial Archive
Person Marietta Sullivan Trial 1Marietta Sullivan was a close family friend of John O’Keefe who testified about a hostile confrontation with Karen Read during a New Year’s trip to Aruba in late 2021. ← All People
🗣️ Witness

Marietta Sullivan

Trial 1
104 lines 3 proceedings
Courtroom still of Marietta Sullivan.

About

Marietta Sullivan knew John O'Keefe as a near-familial figure — he was godfather to her nephew — and met Karen Read for the first and only time during a family trip to Aruba over New Year's 2021-2022. Her testimony centered on an incident in the hotel lobby in which Read loudly told Sullivan to 'go [expletive] herself' after Sullivan greeted O'Keefe. Sullivan also described O'Keefe's subsequent uncharacteristic avoidance of her family for the remainder of the trip, and his visibly intoxicated state during the lobby encounter. She was later interviewed by Trooper Proctor in Pembroke on February 8, 2022, despite having no presence at either the Waterfall Bar & Grille or 34 Fairview Road on the nights in question.

Key Points

  • Sullivan testified that, after she greeted O'Keefe in the hotel lobby, Read snapped her head up and loudly told Sullivan to 'go [expletive] herself' across the lobby; it was the first time the two had met.
  • Sullivan described O'Keefe stumbling into the hotel lobby in a visibly intoxicated state that night, characterizing it as abnormal behavior for someone she knew as reliably present and engaged with her family.
  • Sullivan testified that O'Keefe uncharacteristically avoided her family for the rest of the Aruba trip following the incident, behavior she described as unlike him given his role as godfather to her nephew.
  • On cross-examination, Jackson elicited that Sullivan was present at neither the Waterfall Bar & Grille on January 28 nor 34 Fairview Road on January 29, making Trooper Proctor's decision to drive to Pembroke to interview her a point of focus for the defense.
  • Redirect established that Proctor was accompanied by a second trooper during the February 8th visit and that Sullivan's sister was interviewed first and separately, contextualizing the visit as broader than a targeted interview of Sullivan alone.

Trial Record (3)

Trial 1 First Criminal Trial Apr 29, 2024 – Jul 1, 2024 3 proceedings

Day 16

Direct Marietta Sullivan Adam Lally 2 highlights 89 lines spoken
Summary

Sullivan described an Aruba lobby confrontation involving O’Keefe and Ms. Read, while the court gave limiting instructions on the relationship evidence.

Highlights (2)
Quote

“That’s when Ms. Read’s head snapped up and she very loudly loud me told me to go fuck myself across the lobby and I said, yeah, fuck you, too, and walked away.”

Sullivan gave her account of the central confrontation described during this direct examination.

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Quote

“He was family. He was my older brother. For all intents and purposes it just never would have happened between us.”

Sullivan denied that she and O'Keefe were making out and explained how she regarded him.

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Locations Touched By This Testimony

34 Fairview Road 1 proc Waterfall Bar & Grille 1 proc