"I ***ing hate you," said Karen Read in voice messages to John O'Keefe, all of which prosecutors say she left after allegedly hitting her boyfriend and leaving him to die in the middle of a blizzard.
Prosecutors in the Karen Read trial rested their case on Friday after playing voicemails she left for boyfriend John O'Keefe on the day of his death.
Massachusetts State Police Trooper Nicholas Guarino testified that Read called O'Keefe 53 times between 12:30 a.m. and approximately 6 a.m. on Jan. 29, 2021, and left him eight voice messages.
Jurors then heard those voicemails:
- 12:37 a.m. - "John I f***ing hate you.”
- 12:59 a.m. - "Nobody knows where the f*** you are, you f***ing pervert."
- 1:11 a.m. - "I'm with your f***ing niece and nephew. You f***ing pervert. You’re a f***ing pervert."
- 1:18 a.m. - "John I am going home. I cannot believe ... I need to go home. You are f***ing using me right now. You are f***ing another girl. [Redacted] is sleeping next to me. You are a f***ing loser. F*** yourself."
A month before his death, Read accused O'Keefe of cheating on her with the younger sister of a friend while they vacationed in Aruba. The woman in question, Marietta Sullivan, testified in court last month that O'Keefe was a "big brother" to her and "family friend," denying the two ever kissed on the mouth or had a romantic attachment.
Another friend of O'Keefe's, Brian Higgins, also testified last month that Read kissed him two weeks before O'Keefe's death.
Read also made a call at 5:23 a.m. and left an unintelligible message, as well as one at 6:08 a.m. in which Jennifer McCabe - who was with Read when she discovered O'Keefe's body - can be heard speaking with 911 as Read wails in the background.
"The voicemails came across as very angry, using a lot of crass language," Court TV correspondent Matt Johnson tells Inside Edition.
Johnson, who has been covering the Karen Read murder trial from Norfolk Superior Court, added that the messages "might have been very surprising for this jury that was looking up and then taking lots of notes after looking over at the defendant."
Read is charged with murdering her cop boyfriend, an officer with the Boston Police Department, by hitting him with her car and leaving him outside in the cold and snow to die. Her defense team claims she is being framed in a massive cover-up, and alleges Michael Proctor is one of the key players in that cover-up. Proctor denied that claim during his testimony.
Prosecutors presented these voicemails as evidence of the allegedly fractured relationship between Read and O'Keefe at the time of his death.
These voicemails could also help the defense however, since according to prosecutors they were all made after Read allegedly hit O'Keefe with her car and left him to die in a snowstorm.
Prosecutors also attempted to introduce additional evidence from Read's phone but were denied by Judge Beverly Cannone. Read allegedly searched for a DUI lawyer a few hours after O'Keefe's death but the defense argued that this was because lead investigator Michael Proctor had contacted her moments before she made that search.
This comes one week after Proctor was questioned about messages he sent over the course of the investigation, including one in which he said that he hoped Read "kills herself."
Forced to answer for his remark, Proctor said: "My emotions got the best of me with that figure of speech."
Proctor was also questioned about texts in which he referred to Read as a "whacko," a "whack job," and one where he referred to the defendant as a c-word. He tried to avoid saying that slur, but after the defense objected, the judge ordered him to say the word.
In addition, the jury heard texts he exchanged with a fellow trooper after seizing and searching Read's phone, one of which read: "no nudes so far." He also referred to her as "a babe" with "no ass" and disparaged her "Fall River" accent in a text to friends on the day of O'Keefe's murder.
In another text, someone asked about the fallout the homeowner Brian Albert might have received since O'Keefe's body was discovered on his property.
"Bet the owner of the home will receive some s***," wrote Proctor's friend.
"Nope, homeowner is a Boston cop, too," replied Proctor.
Brian Albert has not been charged with a crime.
Then, after Read's arrest, Proctor's sister texted to inform him that Albert wanted to buy him a present. Proctor said he never received a gift from the man.
Trooper Proctor repeatedly apologized to the jury during his testimony, saying at one point: ”Comments I shouldn’t have made, that I’m not proud of,” Proctor said. “These juvenile, unprofessional comments had zero impact on the facts, the evidence, and the integrity of the investigation."
On top of all this this, Proctor is also the focus of an internal investigation by MSP over "a potential violation of Department policy" a spokesperson tells Inside Edition Digital. The reason for the investigation is not being shared by the MSP at this time and the spokesperson said that the trooper "remains on full duty."
The defense has argued that Proctor planted the evidence at the crime scene. Proctor denied that claim multiple times on Monday.
Proctor has not been charged with any crime, and the MSP will not say if the internal investigation into the trooper is related to the Karen Read case.
"Trooper Proctor has been fully cooperative in responding to the investigations conducted by the US Attorney’s Office and the Massachusetts State Police Internal Affairs Unit," Proctor's lawyer Michael R. DiStefano tells Inside Edition Digital. "To be clear, Trooper Proctor remains steadfast in the integrity of the work he performed investigating the death of Mr. John O’Keefe."
