Commonwealth v. Read — Trial ArchiveMatthew McCabe
Also known as: Matt McCabe
Testimony Impact
Matthew McCabe, husband of Nicole Albert's sister Jennifer McCabe, was among the group invited from the Waterfall Bar & Grille to 34 Fairview Road on the night of January 28-29, 2022. His testimony spans two days and covers the group's movements that evening, his observations of a dark SUV — which he identified as Read's vehicle — repositioning multiple times outside the house without anyone entering, and his account of being woken by Karen Read's screaming phone call the following morning before arriving at the scene where O'Keefe's body was found. He also testified about post-incident communications with members of the Albert family.
Notable Quotes From The Record
“I did not see any injuries.”
Confirms O'Keefe had no visible injuries earlier that evening at the Waterfall bar.
“No fighting or arguing or anything like that that you observed between the two of them over the course of the evening at the Waterfall? No, I did not.”
McCabe observed no conflict between Read and O'Keefe at the Waterfall, countering any theory of an argument preceding the incident.
“I looked out again, because it'd been a few minutes — again, two, three, four minutes, I'm not sure how long — but it had been a few minutes, and we thought it was weird they hadn't come into the house.”
Establishes that the group inside expected O'Keefe and Read to come in, and found their failure to enter unusual.
“The SUV had moved up the road from the front of the house. It went from, you know, spot A to spot B. It was now further up, more in line with where the flag pole, the utility box — more in line with that. It had moved up the road.”
Key observation that the vehicle repositioned multiple times outside the house without anyone entering.
“I woke up to screams in my bedroom.”
Sets up the discovery of O'Keefe's body the next morning — testimony cut short by adjournment.
“I awoke to the screaming of "Jen, Jen, Jen." So when I woke up, I thought there was somebody in my bedroom.”
Establishes the urgency of Karen Read's early morning contact and the manner in which the search for O'Keefe began.
“She didn't know where John was, and the last time she saw him was at the Waterfall.”
Read's statement that she last saw O'Keefe at the Waterfall is central to the prosecution's case — McCabe testified he saw her SUV at 34 Fairview after the Waterfall.
“I thought she was crazy. Because I saw her vehicle. I saw the black SUV arrive to 34 Fairview that morning.”
McCabe's reaction directly contradicts Read's account, reinforcing the prosecution's narrative that Read drove O'Keefe to Fairview.
“She alerted that she broke her tail light — cracked her tail light, something to that effect — while Jen and I were still in the bedroom and she was on the phone.”
Early disclosure of taillight damage, a key piece of physical evidence in the case.
“That is not right. The SUV — the first time — was in front of the house, in front of — coming out the front door. The second time, it was to the right of the house.”
McCabe's trial testimony contradicts the contemporaneous Proctor report about the SUV's initial position, a key credibility issue.
“No, I did not see John in the vehicle.”
McCabe confirms he never saw O'Keefe inside the SUV at any point, undermining the prosecution's theory about how O'Keefe ended up on the lawn.
“No, I wish I did, but I didn't.”
McCabe's emotional acknowledgment that he never saw O'Keefe's body on the lawn despite looking directly at the property multiple times.
“Troopers back out front but in front of Asian house. Looks like more has been dug up there — or at least looks like it.”
Group text showing McCabe actively monitoring investigator activity three days after O'Keefe's death and reporting to Brian Albert in real time.
“John never went in the house. It's not a story — it's a fact.”
McCabe's pushback frames the text as truthful rather than coordinated, but the defensive response underscores the sensitivity of the point.
“Immediately after — no one knew what happened. John never showed — never came in the house. So we had no idea what happened to John.”
McCabe reinforces the prosecution's central claim that O'Keefe never entered 34 Fairview, explaining why the family discussed events afterward.
“No.”
McCabe's flat denial when asked if he ever told anyone what to say to investigators — directly countering Yannetti's coordination theory from cross.
“I did not hear those statements.”
Lally draws a careful distinction: McCabe didn't hear Julie Nagel's statements on the drive home, rather than denying she made them — preserving Nagel's potential testimony.
“They dug out the snow. It looked like the snow banks — it looked like there was more snow dug out around the — the area around the scene.”
Provides an innocent explanation for the February 1st text about 'more has been dug up' — law enforcement processing the scene, not something suspicious.
“The "them" was Channel 4 — who went into D&E.”
Identifies that McCabe was coordinating messaging to television news, not just having private family discussion.
“Channel 4 was who I was referencing, yes.”
Final concession confirming the coordinated media messaging.
Key Moments
- McCabe described watching a dark SUV parked outside 34 Fairview Road move progressively further up the street on three separate occasions without anyone exiting the vehicle, establishing a timeline of Read's presence outside the house after O'Keefe disappeared.
- On the morning O'Keefe was found, McCabe testified he was awakened by the sound of Karen Read screaming 'Jen, Jen, Jen' — and that when Read later told him she didn't know where John was and had last seen him at the Waterfall, he disbelieved her because he had personally observed her SUV arrive at 34 Fairview that morning.
- Read disclosed to McCabe and Jennifer that she had cracked her taillight — a central piece of physical evidence in the case — while they were still in the bedroom before heading to the scene.
- On cross-examination, Yannetti confronted McCabe with a February 1, 2022 group text in which McCabe instructed others to tell Chris Albert that O'Keefe 'never went in the house,' with Brian Albert responding 'exactly' — a message the defense used to suggest coordinated narrative management among the Albert circle.
- During recross, Yannetti extracted an admission from McCabe that his instruction in the group text was directed at Channel 4 news — narrowing the scope of his redirect testimony that he had never told anyone what to say.