Probe of town police in Karen Read case finds no sign of ‘conspiracy to frame’

An unbiased company discovered no proof of a canopy by the police in Canton, Massachusetts, on the dying of the Boston police officer, John O’Keefe as a part of an audit to the division ordered final yr.

The inhabitants of town demanded an exterior evaluation in November 2024 to research the response of the police to the dying of O’Keefe. Civil servants selected an organization referred to as 5 Stones Intelligence (5SI) to carry out it between November 18, 2024 and March 30 of this yr.

The 206 pages report was unveiled on Tuesday, the identical day as the beginning of the jury choice for the second take a look at of Karen Learn, the girlfriend of O’Keefe who’s accused of killing him in a drunk hit-and-run after a struggle.

Karen Learn and John O’Keefe: Inside Evolution of Boston Homicide Thriller since July Mistrial

Karen Learn Exits Norfolk Superior Court docket in Dedham, Massachusetts, Wednesday 2 April 2025. (Dario Alequin for Fox Information Digital)

The primary means of Learn led to a mistrial after her protection claimed bias towards her of the principle investigator, missteps on the crime scene and a possible cover-up.

The auditors centered on accusations of a cover-up that’s particular to the police of Canton-but members of varied legislation enforcement companies have been concerned within the investigation or as witnesses who have been with O’Keefe that night.

“Our workforce has not found data that might point out that every one actions of Canton PD officers or investigators have been a part of a conspiracy to border an individual for the homicide of Mr. O’Keefe,” 5si thought.

Go right here for full protection of the 2nd Karen Learn Trial

Karen Learn and John O’Keefe (Courtesy of Karen Learn)

Karen Learn Jury Choice: Dozens in Pool have already got an opinion concerning the case

The 5SI report discovered numerous errors inside the division, together with:

• The primary officers on stage ought to have photographed O’Keefe’s physique earlier than he was positioned in an ambulance and hurried to the hospital.
• Witness interviews ought to have been carried out on the Canton police headquarters.
• The police ought to have secured the crime scene exterior the Boston Brian Albert police officer.
• Canton Police has an “inconsistent” inner enterprise course of.

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They suggested that Canton investigators endure “superior coaching” into analysis into against the law scene and that every one patrol automobiles have to be geared up with kits for the crime scene and proof. They referred to as for a rise in police finances.

John O’Keefe (Boston Police Division)

Additionally they found that the division revealed by the division doesn’t have full protection of the neighborhood and that officers don’t obtain work cellphones. They suggest giving all officers work telephones and rewriting the division’s coverage to allow them to use their work telephones to take photographs of the crime scene, by no means their private telephones.

Aidan Kearney, the blogger generally known as Turtleboy, walks to the courtroom previous to the collection of the jury for the trial towards Karen learn exterior Norfolk County Superior Court docket, April 1, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (Charles Krupa/AP)

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Auditors additionally referred to the Sandra Birchmore case and recommends that supervisors assess all dying instances for accuracy.

“A Canton PD -Detective wrote that Sandra Birchmore died of a suicide within the first report,” Auditors wrote. “It was later established that she was killed by strangulation.”

Ex-Stoughton police officer Matthew Farwell is sued within the homicide of Sandra Birchmore. (AP | imagn)

A suspect in that case was charged in August and he was a police officer within the close by metropolis of Stoughton, one other suburb of Boston. Matthew Farwell, 38, is accused of strangling her after she informed him that she had develop into pregnant along with his youngster after which established the stage to make it appear like she had dedicated suicide. He has not argued responsible.

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Learn’s motion began with the collection of the jury this week after the primary fell aside, demonstrably due to the flexibility of the protection to assault researchers and the way in which through which they dealt with the analysis, specialists say.

“Sloppy analysis [or] An nearly in judgment argument is Protection Advocate 101, “mentioned Neaea Rahmani, a Los Angeles -based take a look at lawyer and former Federal Public Prosecutor who follows the case.” They use it in nearly each homicide case through which they don’t argue any accident or self -defense. “

Within the case of Learn, the principle investigator had a tough time being the witness, as a result of jury members shake their heads throughout a lecture from his SMS messages through which he joked concerning the seek for her cellphone for nudes and referred to as her a “C —“. The state police fired him final month after a month -long evaluation of his habits.

“The investigation was ominous about religion; proof, witnesses and the entire place crime have been incorrect,” Rahmani informed Fox Information Digital. “Throw in Michael Proctor, the worst witness of legislation enforcement I’ve seen in OJ since Mark Fuhrman, the protection has a discipline day with this case.”

Learn the total report:

From Thursday afternoon, eight jury members had been paneled, in keeping with WCVB TVA neighborhood station. 12 sitting jury members and 4 alternations will probably be chosen earlier than the opening statements will begin.

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Danielle Wallace from Fox Information has contributed to this report.