DEDHAM – Testimony in Karen Reads high profile murder case resumed on Tuesday. The day began with a cross-examination of Canton police officer Steve Saraf, who was the first member of law enforcement on scene when the body of Boston police officer John O’Keefe was discovered in 2022.
The start of testimony on Tuesday was scheduled to start at 9 am, but was delayed by about 25 minutes due to heavy traffic from a https://twitter.com/MassStatePolice/status/1785292741435334713 on Interstate 95 in Needham.
You can watch the proceedings live on CBS News Boston in the video player above.
Canton police response
Canton police officer Stephen Mullaney took the stand on Tuesday. He responded to the scene a short time after Saraf.
After a brief questioning by prosecutor Adam Lally, defense attorney David Yannetti cross-examined Mullaney about what he heard Read saying that day.
Mullaney said he did not hear Read, who he described as “absolutely hysterical,” say “I did it,” “It’s my fault,” or “I hit him.”
First responding officer cross-examined
Earlier, defense attorney Alan Jackson began Tuesday’s proceedings by questioning Saraf.
Jackson showed Saraf a dispatch log of the first three officers who responded to the Canton home where O’Keefe’s body was found. The defense attorney and Saraf agreed that the times and address in the log were not accurate.
“A dispatch log which is so vital in an investigation is completely false, isn’t it?” Jackson asked. Saraf responded that the inaccuracies were mistakes.
Jackson noted that Saraf told the grand jury that Read said at the scene “This is my fault,” but he did not write that in his report the day O’Keefe died. Saraf called it an “oversight.”
“That a woman, standing over the body of a fallen police officer, said to you ‘This is my fault?’ That’s a pretty important omission,” Jackson said.
Prosecutor Adam Lally briefly asked Saraf follow-up questions after Jackson’s cross-examination was completed, and the officer stepped down from the stand.
Who is Karen Read?
Reads trial got underway Monday inside Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Massachusetts with opening statements and the first witness.
Read is facing several charges, including second-degree murder and manslaughter while operating under the influence of alcohol. She has not been accused.
Recap or opening statements
Monday’s proceedings began with Lally’s opening statement.
“The only true and just verdict based on evidence is that the defendant Karen Read is guilty of murder in the second degree,” Lally said.
Read’s attorney David Yannetti began his opening statement by saying his client was framed.
“Her car never struck John O’Keefe. She never caused his death,” Yannetti said.
Yannetti focused much of his opening statement on what he called compromised and biased police work both by Canton police and Massachusetts State Police.
First witnesses called
John O’Keefe’s brother Paul was the first to take the stand in the trial, followed by his wife Erin. Paul and Erin O’Keefe each described their relationship with Read, and their recollections of learning that John O’Keefe had been killed.
Saraf was the third witness on Monday. During Saraf’s testimony, prosecutors showed video from his cruiser’s dashboard camera as he drove through a snowstorm and arrived on scene.
“She kept saying ‘This is all my fault, this is my fault, I did this. She was very hysterical. She kept asking ‘He’s dead. Is he dead? Is he dead?'” Saraf replied.
When asked Monday if they plan to question Saraf, Read’s attorneys said yes. That’s when the judge ended proceedings for the day, saying the cross-examination would begin Tuesday morning.
Matt Schooley
Matt Schooley is a digital producer at CBS Boston. He has been a member of the WBZ news team for the last decade.
