Day 14 - May 17, 2024

Judge Beverly J. Cannone · Trial 1 · 6 proceedings · 2,461 utterances

Day 14 of 35

Appearing:

Matthew McCabe's cross-examination exposes inconsistencies and coordination texts among the Albert family; Jennifer McCabe delivers the day's most damaging testimony — Read's 'I hit him' to a paramedic and a request to Google hypothermia.

Full day summary

Day 14 opens with ADA Lally completing Matthew McCabe's direct examination, establishing Karen Read's early-morning claim that she last saw O'Keefe at the Waterfall — a statement McCabe found implausible because he had already seen her SUV arrive at 34 Fairview. Defense attorney Yannetti's cross-examination challenges McCabe's reliability on the SUV's precise position, confronting him with a contemporaneous police report that contradicts his trial account, and then introduces February 1 group texts in which McCabe instructed the Albert family to tell investigators and Channel 4 news that O'Keefe 'never went in the house.' A brief redirect and recross leave McCabe's credibility damaged: his redirect denial that he never told anyone what to say is directly undercut by the text message admission. The day's most consequential testimony comes from Jennifer McCabe, whose direct examination covers the full arc from the Waterfall bar gathering through the discovery of O'Keefe's snow-covered body — including Read's repeated 'Did I hit him?' questions, the cracked tail light revelation, a paramedic-witnessed declaration of 'I hit him,' and Read's request that McCabe Google how long it takes to die in the cold.

Key Moments

Matthew McCabe testifies that Read told his wife she last saw O'Keefe at the Waterfall, which McCabe found implausible because he had already watched her SUV arrive at 34 Fairview.
Yannetti confronts McCabe with a Trooper Proctor report showing his original account placed the SUV closer to the driveway — a position shift that weakens his eyewitness testimony.
February 1 group texts reveal McCabe instructed the Albert family to tell both investigators and Channel 4 news that O'Keefe 'never went in the house,' with Brian Albert responding 'exactly.'
Jennifer McCabe testifies that Read told a paramedic 'I hit him' three times — distinctly, in McCabe's account, from Read's earlier equivocal questions.
Jennifer McCabe testifies that Read grabbed her hands and asked her to Google how long it takes to die in the cold, the most contested single piece of digital evidence in the case.

Notable Quotes

Jennifer McCabe

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

Jennifer McCabe's distinction between Read's earlier questions and this unambiguous statement to a paramedic makes it the day's most legally consequential moment — the prosecution's closest thing to a direct admission.

Jennifer McCabe

“She grabbed my hands and she said, 'Google hypothermia. Google how long it takes to die in the cold.'”

The Google hypothermia request, placed by McCabe at the scene after O'Keefe was found, sits at the center of the case's most disputed digital evidence — the defense contends the search was made hours earlier, before O'Keefe was discovered.

David Yannetti

“the answer is: you were instructing people on the group chat to tell Channel 4 that the guy never went in the house, correct?”

Yannetti's recross extracts the admission that undercuts McCabe's redirect — he did instruct people what to tell Channel 4, directly contradicting his own denial moments earlier.

Direct

Matthew McCabe Adam Lally

205 utt.

ADA Lally resumes Matthew McCabe's direct examination from the previous day. McCabe describes being woken before 5:00 a.m. by screaming — Karen Read repeatedly yelling "Jen, Jen, Jen" on a phone call with his wife Jennifer McCabe. Read told Jennifer she couldn't find John O'Keefe and said the last time she saw him was at the Waterfall bar. McCabe found this statement significant because he had seen Read's SUV arrive at 34 Fairview hours earlier. After multiple unanswered calls to O'Keefe and others, Read arrived at the McCabe home and left with Jennifer to search. Approximately an hour later, Jennifer called to say they found John at Fairview. McCabe drove to the scene, observed first responders, spoke briefly with Kerry Roberts, then entered the Albert residence where he found his wife, Brian and Nicole Albert, and Officer Lank — all visibly shaken. McCabe spoke with Officer Lank and was later interviewed at home by Troopers Proctor and Bukhenik. The testimony concludes with McCabe describing his wife's calm demeanor in crisis situations.

+1 procedural segment

Cross

Matthew McCabe David Yannetti

815 utt.

Yannetti begins by establishing that John O'Keefe and Karen Read appeared happy together on both January 22 and January 29, with neither appearing intoxicated — impeaching McCabe with his own grand jury testimony on that point. He then challenges McCabe's account of where he first saw the black SUV, confronting him with Trooper Proctor's January 29 report indicating McCabe initially said the SUV was 'to the right of the house' (near the driveway), not directly in front as he now testifies. Yannetti establishes that directions given to John O'Keefe would have brought him from Chapman Street with the driver's side closest to the Albert property, yet the SUV was facing the opposite direction — making V-shaped tire tracks consistent with a three-point turn. McCabe acknowledges he never saw damage to the SUV, never saw John O'Keefe inside it or on the lawn, never heard any yelling or crash noises, and saw no sneaker, cap, or tail light debris when leaving — nor did anyone else in his car, including Julie Nagel. The examination concludes with a group text chain from February 1, 2022, showing McCabe monitoring trooper activity near the Albert home and relaying information about Kerry Roberts' police interview to Brian Albert.

Cross

Matthew McCabe David Yannetti

31 utt.

Resuming after a brief recess, Yannetti returns to a group text chain from February 1, 2022 — three days after O'Keefe was found. McCabe confirms he texted his wife, Brian Albert, and Nicole Albert: 'Ask Chris to ask some questions' and 'Tell them the guy never went in the house,' referring to John O'Keefe and Chris Albert (Brian's brother). Yannetti characterizes this as coordinating stories; McCabe insists it was simply a factual statement. Yannetti establishes that Brian Albert — the oldest Albert sibling and owner of 34 Fairview — responded to the instruction with a single word: 'exactly.' The examination ends immediately after this exchange.

Redirect

Matthew McCabe Adam Lally

60 utt.

ADA Lally conducts a brief redirect of Matthew McCabe to counter defense themes raised during cross-examination. Lally establishes that McCabe never told anyone what to say to investigators and that the family discussions about O'Keefe's death were natural given their friendship and shock. Lally addresses the tire marks by clarifying they appeared after a pickup truck had already been present, and offers an innocent explanation for the SUV's orientation — that the driver missed the house and turned around via Cedarcrest. He also clarifies that McCabe couldn't see inside the SUV due to visibility conditions, that he didn't hear Julie Nagel's statements rather than denying she made them, and that the 'digging' reference from the February 1st texts was about snow being cleared around the scene as temperatures rose. The redirect ends with Lally establishing O'Keefe's prior relationship with someone named Bella's mother and that McCabe never heard from O'Keefe again after the directions call.

Recross

Matthew McCabe David Yannetti

21 utt.

In a brief recross, Yannetti returns to the February 1, 2022 group text message where McCabe wrote 'tell them the guy never went in the house.' After the redirect suggested McCabe never told anyone what to say, Yannetti asks McCabe to identify who 'them' referred to. McCabe reviews the text and says it was Channel 4 news, which had gone to a bar called D&E. Yannetti presses McCabe to confirm he was instructing people in the group chat to tell a television news crew that John O'Keefe never entered the Albert house. McCabe confirms but attempts to explain the context, prompting Yannetti to cut him off and reassert the narrow yes-or-no framing.

Direct

Jennifer McCabe Adam Lally

1323 utt.

ADA Adam Lally conducts direct examination of Jennifer McCabe, establishing the timeline from the evening of January 28, 2022 through the discovery of John O'Keefe's body the following morning. McCabe describes the group gathering at the Waterfall bar, the plan to go to 34 Fairview Road, giving O'Keefe directions by phone, observing a dark SUV outside the Fairview house that she believed was Karen Read's vehicle, and sending unanswered texts to O'Keefe between 12:27 and 12:45 AM. She then describes being woken at 4:53 AM by O'Keefe's niece Kaylee, Read's repeated statements asking 'Could I have hit him? Did I hit him?', driving to O'Keefe's house on Meadow Avenue where Read showed them a cracked tail light, and ultimately finding O'Keefe's snow-covered body on the lawn at 34 Fairview Road. McCabe testifies that Read told a paramedic 'I hit him' three times, and that Read later asked her to Google 'how long does it take to die in the cold.'

◀ Day 13 Trial 1 Day 15 ▶

Day 14 - May 17, 2024

Matthew McCabe - Direct (Part 2)

Matthew McCabe - Cross

Matthew McCabe - Redirect/Recross

Jennifer McCabe - Direct