Karen Read Speaks Out for First Time Since Murder Trial — and Shares Her 'Little Epiphanies' By Christina Coulter

Karen Read is speaking publicly for the first time since a Massachusetts jury acquitted her in June of murdering her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe — describing a slower-than-expected return to normal life and a series of “little epiphanies.”

“There’s moments I have every day that have these little epiphanies of, ‘Wow, this is the first time I’ve done fill-in-the-blank in the last four years that I wasn’t living with this nightmare,’” she told WRKO host Howie Carr in an interview Thursday. “It’s not quite as I expected. I was expecting a switch to be flipped … but it’s been more like a dimmer — the lights are coming on a little brighter each week.” 

Read also delivered a pointed message to Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey and state investigators: “You lost. You lost big time, and you know what you did,” she said.

In the interview, Read, 45, said she’s rebuilding after years of upheaval. She sold her Mansfield home, moved in with her parents between trials, and lost her positions at Fidelity Investments, where she worked in equity research, and as an adjunct professor at Bentley University.

“That job was not just a job — that was my career, and I still miss it,” she said, adding that she’s not sure she could “hop back on the commuter rail and walk through South Station every day.”

Read and her attorney Alan Jackson suggested further legal action is on the table. Jackson said they “damn well intend” to use the courts again to air what they view as the truth about the case. Read added that she’s considering telling her story in a book. 

Asked about reports that Prime Video is developing a limited series with Elizabeth Banks set to portray her, Read said she has no involvement. “I have nothing to do with that; it’s not authorized by me in any way,” she said, while Jackson added that it is “Karen Read’s story to tell,” not Hollywood’s. 

Related Stories

Karen Read Acquitted of Murder in 2022 Death of Boston Police Officer Boyfriend John O’Keefe

Karen Read Asks Judge to Order Return of Lexus and Phones After Acquittal in Officer’s Death

She also said authorities have not yet returned her Lexus SUV — evidence throughout the case — calling the delay “just logistics at this point,” and noting it would require outreach from the district attorney’s office. 

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.

O’Keefe, 46, was found in the snow outside then–Boston police officer Brian Albert’s Canton home on Jan. 29, 2022; an autopsy said blunt-force trauma and hypothermia led to his death.

Prosecutors alleged Read, intoxicated after a night out, struck him while backing up her SUV and left him outside. The defense argued he was fatally injured inside the house and that Read was framed.

Her first trial ended in a mistrial in 2024. In a 2025 retrial, jurors acquitted her on charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter, motor-vehicle homicide and leaving the scene. She was convicted only of operating under the influence and received one year of probation. 

Jurors in the retrial also heard evidence that, during the overnight hours before O’Keefe was found, Read called him 44 times and left multiple voicemails. In the final message, she can be heard screaming after seeing him in the snow.