Murder suspect Karen Read has been accused of trying to flee the state of Massachusetts by the family of her alleged victims family.
The family of late police officer John O’Keefe said in a court filing for the wrongful death lawsuit against Read that she has one foot out of Massachusetts, as reported by the Boston Herald.
Read, 44, put her three-bedroom home in Mansfield up for sale for $849,900, just two weeks after her case was declared a mistrial.
She is currently awaiting a January retrial for allegedly ramming into her boyfriend O’Keefe with her SUV and leaving the him to die in a snowstorm
OKeefes family is pushing for the civil lawsuit to forward and wants to lock in testimony from Read while while the criminal case against her plays out.
The family of late police officer John O’Keefe said in a court filing for the wrongful death lawsuit against Karen Read that she has one foot out of Massachusetts
OKeefes family is pushing for the civil lawsuit to forward and wants to lock in testimony from Read while while the criminal case against her plays out. He is pictured with Read
The O’Keefe family also has compelling reasons to lock in testimony from Karen Read, who seeks not only to poison the jury pool with her regular communications with the media, reporters and/or bloggers, but also has one foot out of Massachusetts now that her house has sold, the court filing read.
To avoid prejudice based on witness unavailability, failed memories and/or Karen Read’s attempts to poison the jury pool through her public statements, this Court should exercise its discretion to DENY a stay of the civil case pending the criminal matter’s resolution.
Reads lawyer would get a payout from the sell of her home, as they have mortgages on the property in order to secure legal fees from Read.
The accused killer had asked to delay the wrongful death lawsuit until her criminal trial is done.
The massive home is more than 2,000 square-feet with four bedrooms and three bathrooms. Read has made sure to keep the home updated over the years
Read, 44, put her three-bedroom home in Mansfield up for sell for $849,900, just two weeks after her case was declared a mistrial
The lawsuit filed in Plymouth Superior Court in Massachusetts by Paul O’Keefe on behalf of his family and his brother’s estate names Read, the Waterfall Bar & Grill and C.F. McCarthy’s as defendants. It asks for a jury trial.
Read has pleaded not guilty and awaits retrial on charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating a motor vehicle under the influence and leaving the scene of a fatal accident.
Her two-month criminal trial ended in July when the judge declared a mistrial after jurors said they were deadlocked.
The judge dismissed arguments that jurors later said they had unanimously agreed Read wasn’t guilty on the charges of second-degree murder and leaving the scene.
Read has pleaded not guilty and awaits retrial on charges of second-degree murder. She is seen with her lawyer Alan Jackson after a judge declared a mistrial in her case
Read has appealed the ruling to the state’s highest court.
The former adjunct professor at Bentley College says she dropped off O’Keefe, a 16-year member of the Boston police, outside the Canton home of another police officer after a night of bar-hopping.
His body was found in the front yard. An autopsy found O’Keefe died of hypothermia and blunt force trauma.
Read’s lawyers argued that O’Keefe was killed inside the home and that those involved chose to frame her because she was a convenient outsider.
The lawsuit says Read and O’Keefe had been arguing and that she knew she had hit him with her SUV before returning to his home.