She drove him home from a bar. Hours later, he was found buried in the snow.

If you're into true crime, TikTok, or the endless rabbit hole that is an amalgamation of both, CrimeTok, chances are you've heard the name Karen Read.

It's the name of a woman central to a murder trial that played out in real time over 10 weeks, before ending in a mistrial in July 2024.

It was a case with all the ingredients of a binge-worthy TV serial: a dead police officer, allegations of corruption, and a town divided.

Soon the case was back in court, and now we finally have a verdict: Karen has been acquitted of the murder of her police officer boyfriend, John O'Keefe.

It is a huge victory for her legal team and supporters, who have long asserted her innocence.

Speaking outside the court house, Read said, "No one has fought harder for justice for John O'Keefe than I have."

So, how did we get here?

Let us take you back to the start of this divisive tale.

What happened to Karen Read's boyfriend, John O'Keefe?

On January 29, 2022, 44-year-old Karen went out drinking with her boyfriend John, a Boston police officer. After a night spent with John's friends at the bar, the group decided to continue the party at the home of fellow police officer Brian Albert.

Karen, deciding to head home, dropped her boyfriend at the afterparty first. By her own account, she was drunk.

Listen: To True Crime Conversations unpack the case in detail. Post continues after podcast.

At 4:23am on January 30, John's niece called Jennifer McCabe (Brian Albert's sister-in-law who had been at the bar) saying Karen was worried John hadn't come home and couldn't remember details about dropping him off due to being so intoxicated.

It had been snowing that night. The temperature read -7C, and the group knew it was dangerous for anyone to be outside in that kind of weather.

As they drove back to the home of Brian Albert, where Karen had last seen John, she spotted his lifeless body outside the house in the snow. Running to sweep the snow off his face and body, Karen tried to warm her boyfriend's icy body by lifting his shirt and laying on top of him. She began CPR while another friend called emergency services, but to no avail — John was dead.

He had blood around his mouth and nose, his right eye was bruised and swollen, and he was missing one Nike trainer and his baseball hat. John's official cause of death was determined to be blunt force trauma coupled with hypothermia.

In the chaos that ensued, Karen became the number one suspect.

Karen Read's boyfriend, Boston police officer John O'Keefe. Image: AAP.

Why is Karen Read on trial?

The prosecution's theory was simple: Karen, after dropping John at Brian's home, hit her boyfriend with her car.

Their evidence included testimony from first responders that in the immediate aftermath of discovering John's body, Karen repeatedly cried, "I hit him, I hit him", while speaking to EMTs.

They also cited a smashed tail light on the car, John's DNA found on the car, as well as text messages that point to their relationship going through a rocky patch in the days preceding John's death.

The trial, which began in April 2024, quickly became divisive — both in the small town of Canton, Massachusetts where the alleged crime occurred, and online, where debate raged about whether Karen, an equity analyst and adjunct professor at Bentley University, was responsible for John's death.

Listen to The Quicky discuss the Karen Read verdict. Post continues below.

Is Karen Read guilty of her boyfriend's murder?

Karen's defence team argued she was innocent and that John was actually beaten inside Brian's home, then left in the snow to die, with those involved framing Karen for murder.

This theory emerged when Karen's lawyer, David Yanetti, claimed he received a tipoff shortly after his client's arraignment on manslaughter charges (these charges were later upgraded to second-degree murder).

According to Boston Magazine, a tipster who initially used a fake name, told Yanetti in a phone call: "Your client is innocent. John was beaten up by Brian Albert and his nephew. They broke his nose, and when O'Keefe didn't come to, Brian and a federal agent dumped his body on the front lawn." (A lawyer for the man Yannetti identified as the tipster denies Yannetti's version.)

Karen claimed she was aware there had been bad blood between Colin Albert (Brian's nephew) and her boyfriend, and investigations by her defence team found a witness who told them Colin had indeed been present the night John died.

The defence claimed injuries on John's arms are consistent with being bitten by a dog, beaten up and thrown outside.

According to CBS News, a search made at 2:27 am on Jennifer McCabe's phone (remember — she's Brian Alberts' sister-in-law), hours before Karen raised the alarm about John being missing, read: "hoe [sic] long to die in cold".

Jennifer claimed she made the search hours later after John's body was found at 6:23 am, because Karen had asked her to. She claimed the reason for the earlier timestamp is that she used a tab that was already open on her phone.

Watch: Karen Read speaks up about her murder trial for her boyfriend's death. Post continues after video.

A town divided.

While speculation about the trial might have all the irresistible elements of a true crime podcast in the making (and you'd best believe, there are several podcasts and YouTube channels that have covered the case daily, including our very own True Crime Conversations episode), for the residents of Canton, Massachusetts, it's far more sinister than online gossip.

On Reddit forums and Facebook groups, the fallout in local circles was evident.

The middle-class town, with a population of just over 24,000 people, has been fractured on whether they believed Karen guilty, or whether they aligned with the assertions of her defence team — that a very sinister coverup has occurred, hinting at corruption running through Canton's power brokers.

One woman, born and raised in Canton, told Boston Magazine, "It's like bringing up Donald Trump at a dinner party. It could just explode."

"People don't want people to know which side they're on. Because, like politics, they don't want to deal with the fallout."

Karen Read's mistrial.

The first trial ended in mistrial in July 2024 after jurors couldn't reach a unanimous decision.

It later emerged they had unanimously concluded Karen was not guilty of murder or leaving the scene — they were only deadlocked on manslaughter.

Regardless, in late August, the Massachusetts judge presiding over the trial rejected a defence motion to dismiss two charges, including murder, setting the stage for the case to be retried in January 2025.

As Karen's fate hung in the balance, the lead police officer involved in the investigation was relieved of his duties, as an internal investigation into his alleged misconduct continued (which the defence says included manipulating evidence and sending a series of vulgar messages about Karen to his friends and colleagues).

Karen Read arriving at court for her second trial. Image: Getty.

A tell-all interview.

Before her retrial, Karen gave a tell-all interview to Vanity Fair sharing her theory.

"I believe whatever happened to John was a setup to teach him a lesson or tune him up, and it got out of control," she alleged.

"No one would choose to kill someone in their own home and then set it up so sloppily."

She also briefly touched on those saying she was framed.

"The power that a district attorney has in any given county is staggering. It's scary," she said. "He can bring all the resources of the state to try to get a pound of flesh, which I believe is what he's doing."

A lawyer on Karen's team, Elizabeth Little, also spoke to the publication about the issues they've faced in trying to clear her name.

"We did numerous discovery requests … filed a motion to compel. We were given JPEG copies of photographs of zero metadata that were blurry and useless. After seven months of litigation, it comes out that they don't have the original photos…." she said.

"They came from a phone. The phone doesn't exist anymore. Initially you think, it's just incompetence. The more we dug, the more we realised that the stuff we were looking for was never gathered in the first place or was being intentionally withheld….

"It became hard to believe it was all an accident or mistake."

Karen says she was set up. Image: Getty.

The retrial.

Karen's second trial began in April 2025. After 31 days of testimony and 49 witnesses, the prosecution again argued she intentionally reversed her SUV into John after a night of drinking and then left the scene.

They presented forensic evidence including taillight fragments and paint transfer. A toxicologist estimated Karen's blood alcohol was between 0.14 and 0.29 at the time.

Multiple witnesses, including Jennifer McCabe and first responders, claimed Karen said "I hit him" at the scene. Cellphone data from Karen and John was used to construct a minute-by-minute timeline.

The jury also heard from Peggy O'Keefe, John's mother, who provided emotional testimony about learning of her son's death. She denied telling Karen that John "might have been hit by a car" — contradicting defence claims.

Then it was time for Karen's defence team to argue its turn of events.

The defence maintained their framing theory, highlighting the lead detective's firing for misconduct (including sending misogynistic texts about Karen) and questioning why no blood or glass was found on the driveway initially.

They referenced Jennifer's Google Search made at 6:23am: "hos long to die in cold." The defence seized on this, suggesting she searched before finding John's body — a point that created reasonable doubt.

Karen Read and Alan Jackson greet her supporters after she is acquitted. Image: Getty.

The defence also argued John's injuries weren't consistent with being hit by a car, but could be consistent with a fall or an assault. They claimed some wounds suggested a possible dog attack.

Karen's legal team tried to present her as a loving, distraught partner, not a murderer — emphasising her attempts to find John after he didn't come home.

Ultimately, the defence said the prosecution had failed to meet its burden of proof. No direct evidence, like security footage or eyewitness accounts, ever showed Karen striking John with her vehicle.

And it seems the jury agreed.

After 21 hours of deliberating across five days, jurors found Karen not guilty of second-degree murder and leaving the scene of an accident. She was found guilty only of driving under the influence and sentenced to one year of probation.

Supporters cheer as the verdicts are read in the Karen Read murder trial. Image: Getty.

Speaking outside court, Karen thanked her supporters, who turned out in droves to watch the verdict.

"I could not be standing here without these amazing supporters who have supported me and my team financially and, more importantly, emotionally for almost four years," Karen said, per CNN.

She added, "No one has fought harder for justice for John O'Keefe than I have. Than I have, and my team."

The case that divided a town and captivated the internet is finally over — but questions about what really happened that snowy night in January 2022 may linger forever.

Read our latest True Crime stories:

Sherri Papini claimed she was kidnapped by two Hispanic women. Then police found an old blog.

Bronwyn Winfield left the husband she was 'scared of'. Weeks later, she disappeared.

In 2005, Robert Farquharson committed an unthinkable act. Now his guilt is being questioned.

This article was first published in 2024 and has since been updated.

Feature image: Karen Read via ABC News.

Calling all Australians aged 16+ years! Take our survey now to go in the running to win a $50 gift voucher.

TAKE SURVEY ➤