Forensics expert and “Body Bags” host Joseph Scott Morgan says testimony from the medical examiner in the Karen Read murder trial will play a crucial role.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, a Norfolk County grand jury in Massachusetts indicted Read in 2022 on murder, motor vehicle manslaughter, and leaving the scene of a collision causing death charges. She’s accused of killing her boyfriend, John O’Keefe, a Boston police officer.
Opening statements in Read’s trial begin Monday.
According to court documents, Read was initially arrested on manslaughter charges after she allegedly hit O’Keefe with her SUV, then left him for dead outside a friend’s residence in Canton. Police said the incident happened after Read had a night out involving drinking.
O’Keefe’s cause of death is currently “undetermined,” and Morgan says the medical examiner will likely have to explain why there still isn’t a clear cause of death.
“I urge everybody that’s following this case to really pay close attention to what the medical examiner says, because they will be asked to explain the logic behind listing this as an undetermined,” Morgan said to FOX News Digital.
“I would expect the defense to particularly focus in on that question, and it will be framed in a manner in which they will say, ‘Well, you know, we’ve got the prosecutor here that is saying that this is, in fact, a murder. What is it, doctor, what is keeping you from ruling this as a homicide?”
A jury was chosen from a pool of hundreds of potential jurors on Wednesday, marking the beginning of what is anticipated to be a “lengthy and tense trial.”
Read has pleaded not guilty.
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[Featured image: Karen Reed/LinkedIn and John O’Keefe/Police Handout]
