Jennifer McCabe appears on the stand for her third day of testimony after dropping the ball earlier in the week. She is considered a star witness on the prosecution’s side in Karen Read’s murder retrial. Read stands trial for the death of her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe. McCabe was a close friend of O’Keefe and was the one who invited them to an afterparty on the night of his death.
McCabe’s Testimony
The morning O’Keefe was found, Jennifer McCabe was with Karen Read, the Massachusetts woman who is accused of backing into O’Keefe with her SUV and leaving him to freeze to death in the snow. On April 29, McCabe testified to prosecutors that she heard Read say, “I hit him, I hit him, I hit him,” the morning his body was found.
Karen Read’s defense attorney, Alan Jackson, attempted to place doubt on McCabe’s testimony. During his cross-examination today, May 2, he pointed out a chain of text messages that show her, her husband, sister, and police officer brother-in-law were complicit following O’Keefe’s death.
It has been a constant battle between the defense and prosecution over who killed John O’Keefe. Karen Read maintains her innocence and insists she is being framed by the group who were in the home the night O’Keefe died. She claims she is going down for his murder to cover up the corruption of the Boston Police Department.
Her first trial, which lasted months in 2024, ended in a hung jury. McCabe’s testimony during the first trial made her a star witness, and she is expected to continue to play a crucial role in the retrial. The prosecution entered more of McCabe’s text messages as evidence, attempting to show her genuine concern for O’Keefe that night. One of her texts sent around 5:30 a.m. read, “Please answer so I know you’re OK.”
The same afternoon, following the finding of O’Keefe’s body, she sent a text message to a friend saying, “My mind is racing. I have that awful feeling in my gut like I am about to puke. Besides seeing the awful image, trying to wrap my mind around what happened to him.”
The Morning Of
McCabe described the morning in the Canton neighborhood when O’Keefe’s body was found. When speaking to the prosecution, she claimed it was eerily quiet, no sirens, and no neighbors came out to help. Upon cross-examination from the defense, they cast doubt on her testimony when they pressed her about the flashing lights, loud noises, and Karen Read’s screams. She confirmed those things after denying it to the prosecution.
Karen Read’s defense focused on the timeline of events that occurred when they found O’Keefe’s body. McCabe testified to calling 911 before calling her sister, Nicole Albert, twice with no avail. She said she did not think to grab her brother-in-law, Brian Albert, a police officer, who could have better helped the situation.
Alan Jackson pressed McCabe, “The reason you didn’t go inside the house is because you knew better.” He asked, “You knew what really happened, didn’t you?” McCabe responded, “At that moment, I didn’t know that (O’Keefe) was hit by a vehicle and there was tail light found next to him.”
Watch Karen Read’s Trial Live
Jennifer McCabe’s three-day-long testimony concluded on May 2, 2025. The defense tries to cast doubt on her testimony by challenging her memory. They want to show the jury she may not remember events correctly or may be leaving out pertinent details. If you want to watch the Karen Read trial live, visit CourtTV to view the proceedings from Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Massachusetts. Proceedings begin at 9 a.m. ET.
