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A second juror has been excused from Karen Read’s murder trial in Massachusetts this week.
Read, a former financial analyst and former Bentley University professor, is accused of murdering her police officer boyfriend, John O’Keefe in Canton. She’s been charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter.
Prosecutors say that the woman ran over her boyfriend in her car as she was drunk and left him in the snow outside another officer’s home on a cold day in January 2022. Her defense team claims that she is being framed by police as part of a cover-up involving a prominent law enforcement family.
A second juror was excused from proceedings this week after a sidebar with Judge Beverly Cannone on Friday morning. The judge said that she excused the juror over personal reasons.
Cameras were briefly shut off in the courtroom after the juror appeared on camera as she approached the bench. The woman was described by Court TV as being in her 50s. Footage of the proceedings was later restored through a Zoom link and the trial continued for its 25th day.
Another juror was excused earlier this week. There are currently 15 people on the jury, six men and nine women.
Jennifer McCabe, a friend of Read’s, was with her when they discovered O’Keefe’s body lying in the snow outside Brian and Nichole Albert’s home. A group of friends went to the residence after a night out at a local bar.
On the witness stand, McCabe said Read had asked her to Google search how long it would take someone to die in the snow. Court documents show that McCabe looked up the following phrase: “hos (sic) to die in cold”.
Read’s trial has gone on for almost a month.
