Karen Read files lawsuit against investigators, key witnesses in O’Keefe case; alleges she was framed for murder
Karen Read, on Monday, filed a civil rights lawsuit against State Police investigators and key witnesses at her murder trials, accusing them of framing her for the death of her boyfriend in January 2022 in Canton.
A 46-page civil complaint filed in Bristol Superior Court said neither her slain boyfriend, Boston police Officer John O’Keefe, nor his family “has received justice.”
O’Keefe’s “killer, or killers, still walk free,” said the complaint, which is seeking unspecified financial damages. “Ms. Read seeks, at a minimum, to confront and redress these wrongs and others. More importantly, she seeks to force the Commonwealth to fulfill its duty to stop law enforcement from trampling the innocent to protect their own.”
Prosecutors had charged Read, 45, with second-degree murder and other counts in O’Keefe’s death.
They alleged that she backed her Lexus SUV in a drunken rage into him after dropping him off outside a Canton residence following a night of drinking. Her lawyers maintained that she was framed and that O’Keefe entered the property, owned at the time by a fellow Boston police officer, where he was fatally beaten and possibly mauled by a German shepherd before his body was planted on the front lawn.
Read’s first criminal trial ended in a hung jury last year, and she was acquitted in June at her retrial of killing O’Keefe, with jurors finding her guilty only of misdemeanor OUI, for which she received a year of probation.
Her lawsuit names the following defendants: State Police investigators Yuri Bukhenik and Brian Tully; former State Police investigator Michael Proctor, who was fired for misconduct in the Read case; retired Boston police officer Brian Albert and his wife Nicole Albert, who owned the property where O’Keefe’s body was found; Brian Higgins, an ATF agent who was at the Albert residence on the night in question and who had exchanged flirtatious texts with Read; and witnesses Jennifer McCabe, Nicole Albert’s sister, and Jennifer’s husband, Matt McCabe.
Representatives for Proctor and Bukhenik couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
Timothy M. Burke, a Needham attorney representing Tully, said Tuesday his client “looks forward to having the opportunity to publicly participate in the trial of this case.”
“A civil trial is decidedly different from the criminal prosecution, and the plaintiff in this case will no longer have the benefit of remaining silent and will be required to respond to a multitude of issues that were never resolved in the criminal case,” he said.
Lawyers for several other defendants sounded a similar note.
“The allegations made by Karen Read are entirely false, defamatory, and without merit,” said attorneys for the Alberts, McCabes, and Higgins in a joint statement. “Our clients categorically deny each and every claim. This lawsuit is nothing more than a continuation of a baseless conspiracy narrative that has caused significant harm to the reputations and lives of innocent people.”
“Our clients acted responsibly, fulfilling their civic duty as witnesses, and have participated appropriately in the legal process from the outset,” the lawyers continued. “Ms. Read’s claims distort the facts, misrepresent the evidence, and target private citizens in an attempt to deflect blame.”
O’Keefe’s family has also filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Read that remains pending in Plymouth Superior Court.
In a statement on Tuesday, Read’s lawyers said that for more than three years, she “was dragged through a baseless criminal prosecution engineered by individuals who abused their authority, manipulated the investigative process, and trampled her rights.”
“Our complaint lays out, in stark detail, the malicious prosecution, the conspiracy, the civil-rights violations, and the intentional misconduct that these defendants visited upon an innocent woman.”
Read “is fighting for accountability,” they continued. “And unlike the criminal case, this time the defendants don’t get to hide behind badges, back-channel favors, or manufactured narratives. They will have to answer in a court of law for every lie, every omission, every manipulated report, and every constitutional violation they committed. Karen Read is not backing down.”
Material from prior Globe stories was used in this report. This story will be updated.
Travis Andersen can be reached at travis.andersen@globe.com.
