DEDHAM, Mass. — Text messages exchanged between John O’Keefe and his girlfriend and alleged murderer Karen Read show the relationship was rocky during his final day.

“Things haven’t been great between us for awhile. Ever consider that?” O’Keefe texted Read at 2:26 p.m. on Jan. 28, 2022.

“Sick of always arguing and fighting. It’s been weekly for several months now. So yeh I’m not as quick to jump back into being lovie dovie as you apparently,” he texted six minutes later.

The text messages are produced here verbatim, with spelling, syntax and grammatical errors intact. They were read in court by Massachusetts State Police Trooper Nicholas Guarino, a member of the digital forensics unit assigned to the Norfolk District Attorney’s office. He had extracted forensic digital copies of both phones as requested by investigators but testified that his role in the investigation was limited to this specialty.

The couple exchanged a barrage of text messages in the afternoon and into the evening of O’Keefe’s last full day, ahead of what he cautioned would be an “intense” snowstorm in which driving would be dangerous.

The texts show that the couple had some kind of major argument that morning, which Read called “a rager” in one text. Read’s frequent calls to O’Keefe during the same time frame were all rejected, followed by him pleading with her to quit calling, like in this example: “Omg!! Stop calling.”

Read’s texts also reveal the troubles: “I know your heart isn’t in this anymore. I’ve felt it for awhile and esp lately. I am willing to try more but not if you approaching the point of Indifference,” she texted at 5:14 p.m.

A major part of the contention appears to be that their relationship is butting up against the responsibilities of O’Keefe’s niece and nephew, who he took in after the deaths of his older sister and her husband.

“I think the four of us together is toxic to this relationship,” Read texted at 8:33 p.m. as she pushed for the pair to meet up for drinks. Her reasoning was texted earlier: “I am paranoid now that everything I do w them is problematic. So rather see you for a minute without it kids around.”

Read, 45, of Mansfield, faces charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating a motor vehicle under the influence, and leaving the scene of an accident causing death.

Prosecutors say that Read backed her Lexus SUV into O’Keefe at up to 24 mph in the early morning hours of Jan. 29, 2022, leaving him to freeze and die on the front lawn of 34 Fairview Road in Canton. She was tried last year but that ended in mistrial.

The bars

While the relationship may have been faltering, O’Keefe had something to celebrate that day, his close friend Michael “Mike” Camerano testified earlier in the day. Camerano and O’Keefe had become close because their two girls had become very close, and on that day, Jan. 28, 2022, both girls were accepted into a competitive high school.

“I was at the house with John and the girls for a little celebration and we talked about how nice it was going to be, the change,” Camerano testified.

Meanwhile, Read’s texts and phone calls continued to pour in. As she prodded O’Keefe to go out for a drink with her, O’Keefe and Camerano decided that they would grab drinks at C.F. McCarthy’s bar in Canton, which they do around 7:41 p.m. according to a text from O’Keefe.

Read would show up to the bar later, Camerano testified. The group drank “for a couple of hours,” he said, before he left around “9:30, 10” p.m. because his son had broken a tooth while playing hockey in the back yard.

Under cross examination Camerano said that he also trusted Read with his kids and that to his knowledge O’Keefe and Read had a pretty good relationship. They “argued” about Read “spoiling” the kids. They had an “affectionate” embrace when Read arrived at the bar.

But, Camerano testified under questioning from prosecutor Hank Brennan, he did note some jealousy in the relationship: “They did everything together … You could see at times that she didn’t want other women around John.”

The couple would continue their night at the Waterfall Bar and Grill across the street, but testimony on that segment of the night is yet to come in the retrial.

Alcohol consumption

Along with the text messages, video surveillance from both McCarthy’s and the Waterfall were submitted into evidence. Managers from both authenticated the videos from the stand and were not cross examined.

The same videos played a pivotal role in the last trial, when a witness counted the drinks Read appeared to drink at both establishments. The witness found she had consumed nine alcoholic beverages across both bars. But that didn’t happen in court Thursday as the videos were not viewed at length.

Instead, Brennan played the jury multiple clips of Read media interviews in which she discussed her drinking that night. In an interview with 20/20 she said she had maybe four drinks at McCarthy’s but mere “sips” at Waterfall.

In an audio recording with Boston Magazine reporter Gretchen Voss, also played in court, Read said that she and O’Keefe were merely “happy” buzzed.

“I didn’t black out but I wasn’t as lucid as I would have been if I went to bed at 9 and had some tea,” she explained in another interview.

The paramedic

The day began with continuing cross examination of Canton Fire paramedic Daniel Whitley, who transported Read to the hospital for a psychological evaluation.

Attorney David Yannetti grilled Whitley over his Wednesday testimony that Read asked him in the ambulance asked him how long someone in weather-inappropriate dress could survive “sitting” out in the snow.

Following a tense exchange, Whitley admitted he had never previously testified to the use of the word “sitting” but was not trying to quote Read in his testimony but merely paraphrase her.

Up next

Thursday was a shortened day due to confusion over witness schedules. Friday is set to begin with court taking a field trip to view 34 Fairview Road, on whose lawn O’Keefe lay dead or dying more than three years ago. It is expected to not be a full court day.

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