Day 8 - May 9, 2024

Chris Albert, a Canton pizza shop owner and neighbor of John O'Keefe on Meadows Avenue, testified about the evening of January 28, 2022. He described arriving at the Waterfall bar around 9:50 PM after closing his shop, where he joined his wife, the McCabes, and others. O'Keefe and Karen Read arrived around 10:45 PM; Albert noted Read carried a glass of clear liquid under her jacket. The group socialized at a high-top table near a live band. Albert observed no arguments or tension between O'Keefe and Read. He walked home around midnight in light snow and learned the next morning from his wife that O'Keefe had been found dead on the lawn at 34 Fairview Road, his brother Brian's house.

David Yannetti conducted an extensive cross-examination of Chris Albert, establishing the Albert family's pervasive connections to Canton's power structure — Chris as town selectman, brother Kevin as Canton police detective, brother Brian as retired Boston police officer, childhood friendship with Lt. Michael Lank, social relationship with former police chief Kenneth Berkowitz, and family ties to lead investigator Michael Proctor's sister. Yannetti corrected Albert's timeline using Waterfall bar surveillance video showing he left at 12:13 AM, not the 12:05-12:10 he claimed on direct. The cross explored the 'Nebbercracker' nickname the Alberts gave O'Keefe — a reference to the 'get off my lawn' character — and Albert's son Colin's relationship with O'Keefe. Yannetti established that Colin was not home when Chris arrived, was at Brian Albert's house at 34 Fairview Road where O'Keefe was later found dead, and that Chris never mentioned Colin's whereabouts to Trooper Proctor during his February 10th interview.

ADA Lally conducted a brief redirect to rehabilitate Chris Albert on points raised during cross-examination. Lally established that Albert was not yet a selectman on January 28, 2022, and that the photograph with former Chief Berkowitz was from a fundraiser months later. Albert explained he sold his house for financial reasons as his children aged, and his brother Brian followed suit independently. On the subject of Colin Albert, Chris testified Colin came home about 10 minutes after he got into bed and showed no injuries that night or the following day. He also observed no injuries on Brian Albert or Brian Higgins the next day. Lally concluded by eliciting the full Nebbercracker story — a lighthearted nickname stemming from O'Keefe jokingly telling Albert's young son to get off his lawn, after which O'Keefe brought the boy candy as an apology.

Julie Albert, a Canton resident and sister-in-law to Brian Albert, describes the social gathering at the Waterfall bar on the evening of January 28, 2022. She establishes the timeline of arrivals: she arrived around 7:30 PM with Nicole Albert and Caitlyn Albert, her husband Christopher joined around 9:30 PM, then Brian Albert Sr. and Brian Higgins arrived, followed by the McCabes, the Kolokithas couple, and finally John O'Keefe and Karen Read before 11 PM. Albert notes that Read arrived carrying a glass with a clear liquid from C.F. McCarthy's. Albert left approximately 10-15 minutes after O'Keefe and Read arrived due to a migraine. She testifies that her husband came home around 12:10 AM and her son Colin arrived 10-15 minutes later, and she observed no injuries on either. The next morning she went to 34 Fairview Road to deliver birthday donuts for her nephew and found the group visibly upset, learning from Jennifer McCabe that something had happened to John O'Keefe.

David Yannetti's cross-examination of Julie Albert focuses on establishing her close personal ties to the Proctor family, particularly Courtney Proctor, sister of lead investigator Michael Proctor. Albert acknowledges socializing with Courtney, visiting the Proctor family pool approximately a dozen times, and providing childcare for Courtney's children twice a week in 2019. Yannetti then confronts Albert with phone records showing 67 calls between her and Courtney Proctor from February 1 to September 6, 2022 — contradicting her characterization that they spoke 'very rarely' by phone. He highlights calls on the day of Karen Read's arrest and multiple calls before and after the arraignment the following day. Albert repeatedly states she does not recall the calls or their content. The cross-examination is cut short by the court adjourning for the day, with Albert ordered to return the next morning.