Dateline NBC episode The Night of the Nor'easter has reportedly explored the mysterious disappearance and death of Boston officer John O'Keefe. According to IMDB, Dateline correspondent Andrea Canning has reported the case along with Dennis Murphy, with an exclusive interview of John's girlfriend Karen Read.
The 120-minute episode aired on October 18, 2024, at 9 p.m. ET. On the night of January 28, 2022, John O'Keefe disappeared. It was 4 a.m. and John was still not home after his girlfriend had dropped him off at a party.
Massachusetts State Police developed a theory that Karen was in a drunken state and carelessly backed her SUV into John while they were outside the party venue. Karen Read was arrested on February 1, 2022, and charged with second-degree murder, motor vehicle manslaughter under the influence, and escaping a scene of collision causing death.
The official synopsis of the Dateline episode The Night of The Nor'easter reads:
"Andrea Canning reports on the latest developments in the high-profile murder trial of Karen Read, who is accused of killing her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, by reversing her car into him after a night out."
Dateline NBC: Who was John O'Keefe and what happened to him?
John O'Keefe was an officer with the Boston Police Department. He was born on December 8, 1975, and was a resident of Canton, Massachusetts at the time of his death. John got a master's degree in criminal justice and had been living in Canton since 2014.
On the night of January 29, 2024, he was out with his girlfriend Karen Read. The couple went to a pub and then left for another when they came across some friends.
One of them, Jen McCabe, invited them to a party at her brother-in-law's house. As Karen had stated in a statement, she dropped John off at the party venue, which appeared kind of dark. So, she asked John to go and check once. But he never returned.
Karen waited for a while and angrily went back home. But John never came home that night. In the early hours of the next morning, Karen got in touch with John's friends and got to know that he never made it to the party.
Following this, Karen and others went to the party venue and found John lying dead in the snow. His eyes were swollen shut and his nose was bleeding. A medical team performed CPR on him, but he remained unresponsive. He was later declared dead at a nearby hospital.
Was Karen Read involved in John's death?
As reported on Dateline NBC, Massachusetts State Police started an investigation, and with all the clues clubbed together, they developed a theory.
Karen was in a drunken state on the night of the incident and so was John. After she dropped him off at the house party, he walked away from the car. While reversing her SUV Karen, drunkenly backed it into John.
Lead investigating officer Michael D. Proctor had said in his statements that pieces of broken glass from a car taillight matching Karen's SUV were found close to John's body. She was charged with second-degree murder, motor vehicle manslaughter while driving under the influence, and escaping from a scene of collision causing death.
What happened at Karen Read's trial?
As seen on Dateline, Karen first went into trial on April 16, 2024. The opening statements of the two sides were presented on April 28 where circumstantial evidence was presented against Read. The defense was that the police were conspiring against Read in a huge cover-up.
The case was rested on June 24 after almost eight weeks of testimony from several witnesses. On June 25, the closing arguments came in and deliberation started. However, the jury could not reach a unanimous decision. Judge Cannone declared it a mistrial on July 1, 2024. Karen's second trial is reportedly scheduled for January 27, 2025.
Trending
Stay tuned to Soap Central for more information.
Reply
