Day 7 - April 30, 2025

Judge Beverly J. Cannone · Trial 2 · 4 proceedings · 2,726 utterances

Day 7 of 36

Appearing:

Jennifer McCabe's testimony reaches its climax as she delivers Karen Read's alleged 'I hit him' admission on direct, then faces a methodical cross and recross exposing that she never reported the declarative statement in any prior sworn account.

Full day summary

Day 7 opens with a brief evidentiary ruling permitting the prosecution to introduce McCabe's reference to 'Bella's mom's house' as motive evidence. ADA Brennan then completes McCabe's direct examination, playing the 911 call and eliciting her account that Read told a female first responder 'I hit him' three times and asked McCabe to Google hypothermia after police arrived — testimony central to the prosecution's theory. Alan Jackson's cross establishes that McCabe lied to federal investigators in April 2023 about who she contacted before their interview, maps her family's deep ties to Boston PD, Canton PD, and Massachusetts State Police, and demonstrates that no witnesses were separated by law enforcement on the morning of January 29th. On recross, Jackson delivers the day's most consequential sequence: walking through McCabe's grand jury testimony, Trooper Proctor's report, and her conversations with Sergeants Lank and Goode, he establishes that across twelve separate occasions where she was asked about Read's statements, McCabe never once reported the declarative 'I hit him' — only the questions 'Could I have hit him?' and 'Did I hit him?' Jackson also contrasts her Trial 2 'white out' visibility testimony with her Trial 1 account, and establishes she had repeated unobstructed views of the lawn where O'Keefe's body was found and saw nothing unusual during the relevant window.

Key Moments

Judge Cannone rules that McCabe's reference to 'Bella's mom's house' while giving O'Keefe directions is admissible as motive evidence — Karen Read overheard it.
McCabe testifies that Read told a female first responder 'I hit him. I hit him. I hit him.' and that she personally directed McCabe to Google hypothermia after police arrived.
Jackson establishes on cross that McCabe told federal investigators she had only contacted her husband and Kerry Roberts before their April 2023 interview, omitting calls to Brian Albert, Peggy O'Keefe, and the DA's office.
Jackson walks through McCabe's April 2022 grand jury testimony, showing she was asked twelve times about Read's statements at the scene and never once reported the declarative 'I hit him' — attributing only questions to Read.
Jackson impeaches McCabe's Trial 2 'white out conditions' account with her Trial 1 testimony that she could see Read straddling O'Keefe and performing skin-to-skin contact from the car.

Notable Quotes

Jennifer McCabe

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

McCabe's account of Read's unprompted admission to a first responder is the prosecution's most direct evidence of consciousness of guilt — and the statement Jackson will spend the rest of the day dismantling.

Alan Jackson

“Not one time — not one time, Miss McCabe — did you utter the phrase 'I hit him' as it relates to my client in front of that grand jury on April 26th, 2022. Did you?”

Jackson's culminating impeachment — that McCabe was asked twelve times under oath about Read's statements and never once reported 'I hit him' — is the evidentiary center of gravity for the entire day.

Jennifer McCabe

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

McCabe's explanation that she 'forgot' calling Brian Albert, Peggy O'Keefe, and the DA's office when speaking to federal investigators underscores Jackson's broader witness-coordination theory.

Procedural

Procedural - Motions

21 utt.

Before the jury is brought in, prosecutor Hank Brennan raises an evidentiary issue regarding Jennifer McCabe's phone call with John O'Keefe. Brennan seeks to admit McCabe's testimony that she gave O'Keefe directions by referencing "Bella's mom's house," which Karen Read overheard — offered as evidence of motive. Defense attorney Alan Jackson argues the statement doesn't cure the hearsay problem from the prior day's testimony. Judge Cannone clarifies that she had previously misunderstood Brennan's offer as attempting to introduce the nature of the relationship between Bella and John O'Keefe, and rules the narrower offer — that McCabe gave directions referencing Bella's mom's house — is admissible. Brennan also introduces clips 12A and 16 to establish the predicate for the statement.

Direct

Jennifer McCabe Hank Brennan

535 utt.

ADA Hank Brennan resumes direct examination of Jennifer McCabe on Day 7, picking up from the discovery of John O'Keefe's body at 34 Fairview Road. The jury hears the full 911 call (Exhibit 45), in which McCabe reports an unresponsive man in the snow, describes possible facial bleeding, and relays that one woman is performing CPR. McCabe testifies that Karen Read told a female first responder 'I hit him' three times, that Read asked McCabe to Google hypothermia while they stood outside a police cruiser around 6:23-6:24 AM, and that McCabe's multiple sclerosis impaired her ability to type in the cold. Brennan walks McCabe through dashcam video (Exhibit 4) corroborating the scene timeline. McCabe describes waking Brian and Nicole Albert at Officer Lank's request, her later interview with Troopers Proctor and Bukhenik, and creating a timeline at Peg O'Keefe's request.

Cross

Jennifer McCabe Alan Jackson

1252 utt.

Alan Jackson methodically establishes that McCabe and Kerry Roberts have discussed their perceptions and memories of January 28-29, 2022 hundreds of times over three years, and were together in an anteroom just before Roberts's grand jury testimony. Jackson then reveals that when a separate law enforcement agency (implied federal) interviewed McCabe in April 2023 — after warning her it was a crime to lie — she falsely told them she had only contacted her husband and Kerry Roberts in the 10 minutes before the interview, omitting that she also called Peggy O'Keefe, the district attorney's office, and Brian Albert. Jackson establishes McCabe's extensive family connections to Boston PD (Brian Albert), Canton PD (Kevin Albert), and Massachusetts State Police (through the Proctor-Albert social network). He highlights that no witnesses were separated by law enforcement on the morning of January 29th, that Brian Albert was present at McCabe's interview with Trooper Proctor, and that McCabe solicited a screenshot from Julie Nagel to establish vehicle arrival times. Jackson also questions McCabe about the absence of the Alberts' German Shepherd when she entered the house at 6:40 AM, and presses her on the positions of three vehicles — Read's SUV, Higgins's Jeep, and Nagel's truck — outside 34 Fairview.

Recross

Jennifer McCabe Alan Jackson

912 utt.

Defense attorney Alan Jackson conducts recross of Jennifer McCabe, methodically establishing three points. First, he walks through McCabe's five text messages to O'Keefe between 12:27 and 12:45 AM, establishing she went to the storm door at least four times with a clear view across the flat lawn toward the flagpole — the area where O'Keefe's body was later found — and never saw a body, heard screaming, a collision, or anything unusual. He further establishes that McCabe drove past that same spot in a headlight-illuminated Yukon when leaving around 1:45 AM and still saw nothing. Second, Jackson contrasts McCabe's Trial 2 testimony that conditions were 'white out' and she had to get 'very close' before seeing Read attending to O'Keefe, with her Trial 1 testimony that she could see Read straddling O'Keefe and performing skin-to-skin contact from the car. Third, Jackson systematically demonstrates that across McCabe's grand jury testimony, Trooper Proctor's report, and conversations with Sergeant Lank and Sergeant Goode, McCabe never attributed the declarative statement 'I hit him' to Karen Read — only the questions 'Could I have hit him?' and 'Did I hit him?' — despite being asked about Read's statements twelve separate times under oath.

+1 procedural segment

◀ Day 6 Trial 2 Day 8 ▶

Day 7 - April 30, 2025

Jennifer McCabe - Direct (Part 2)

Jennifer McCabe - Cross (Part 1)

Jennifer McCabe - Recross