Karen Read allegedly attacked individuals tied to the John O' Keefe case on social media

Karen Read has gone through two murder trials for the death of her ex-boyfriend, John O'Keefe, which happened in 2022. At the end of the second trial, she was was convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol.

While the criminal trial regarding John O'Keefe's murder has been resolved, Karen Read's legal troubles aren't over. Read, along with the blogger Aidan Kearney, are now facing a civil lawsuit for allegedly attacking individuals tied to the John Keefe case on social media.

Karen Read and Aidan Kearney allegedly ruined the reputations of individuals involved in the John O'Keefe case

As covered by Dateline, on the night of January 29, 2022, Karen Read and her then boyfriend, Boston police officer, John O'Keefe had gone out drinking. After that, Read had dropped O'Keefe off at a house party hosted by fellow officer Brian Albert in Canton, MA.

A few hours later, O'Keefe's body was discovered in the snow outside Brian Albert's house. O'Keefe's dead body had severe head trauma, and it was evident that he had suffered through hypothermia. Prosecutors then built a case against Read staring that she had backed her car into him, killing him in the process. However, Read's lawyers claimed that she was the victim and was framed by law enforcement.

On June 10, 2022, a Norfolk County grand jury indicted Karen Read on charges of second-degree murder and manslaughter while driving under the influence and leaving the scene of personal injury and death. Read pleaded not guilty to these charges.

While the case was still going on, Read's lawyers had publicly named a few people who had attended the house party on the night of January 29, 2022. Those names included Brian Albert, Colin Albert, and Brian Higgins. Read's lawyers alleged that O'Keefe was beaten inside the house.

Meanwhile, a blogger, Aidan Kearney, aka Turtleboy, covered the case in a detailed manner. He went on to confront and film witnesses in an agressive manner. Kearney was arrested in October 2023 for witness intimidation.

As CBS News reported, Karen Read's first murder trial took place from April to June 2024, at the end of which, the judge declared a mistrial because of a

"starkly divided"

jury. Her second murder trial, which took place from April to June 2025, ended with her getting acquitted of second-degree murder and manslaughter and then convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol. Now, in June 2026, key witnesses from the investigation, including Jennifer McCabe, Brian Albert, Colin Albert, and Brian Higgins, have filed an amended civil complaint against Karen Read and Aidan Kearney.

In the amended complaint, the plaintiffs have alleged that Read and Kearney had attacked the people involved in the John O'Keefe case on social media. They also alleged that Read and Kearney had tried to systematically destroy their reputation while creating an alternative narrative about O'Keefe's death.

The complaint alleges that Read and Kearney had used online followers to inflict relentless public scrutiny, emotional distress, and threats on the witnesses. The plaintiffs argue that this went far beyond standard public criticism and became illegal and coordinated intimidation and defamation. Through the complaint, they are now seeking damages.

Karen Read's legal team is maintaining their stance that she has had nothing to do with any malicious orchestration aimed to harm the plaintiffs' reputation. While the murder trial regarding O'Keefe's death is over, the civil lawsuit related to this will likely go on for quite some time.

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