DAY 6: Karen Read Retrial

Jen McCabe's first day on the stand, and Defense Attorney Alessi appears to be weaving a very confusing narrative when questioning the Cellebrite Expert.

TESTIMONIES OF THE DAY:

• Ian Whiffin (Cellebrite Expert) returned for his second day on the stand.

• Jen McCabe (John O’Keefe’s friend)

IAN WHIFFIN (Cellebrite Expert) —

This morning began with Defense Attorney Alessi cross-examining Ian Whiffin, followed by Prosecutor Brennan questioning him on re-direct.

I made a visual of the data shared yesterday and today regarding John’s phone detecting speed, as well as steps. Whiffin presented maps in a powerpoint yesterday which displayed the phone’s location data during this timeframe as it headed to the Albert property.

With the map, location pings, speed, and timestamps…

It’s a strong piece of collective data proving when Karen and John arrived on scene.

• Alessi asks if the amount of steps John’s phone registered between 12:31-12:32 could technically get him from the flag pole area to the house if he walked that way from point A to point B. Whiffin says, yes.

• Prosecution counters this by asking Whiffin if steps are calculated in the length of distance. Whiffin says, “No. IOS creates the calculation number of steps times the person's gate and provides the 25.4 meters volume.”

  Basically, a person could be pacing, walking in circles etc.

• Brennan also asks, “If that phone moves from the flagpole in a straight line away from the flagpole, like, for example, towards the house, wouldn't it have to move again before 6:04 am to get back to the flagpole?”.

  Defense objects. Judge allows a response.

  Whiffin agrees, “I would presume so”.

  (This is a pretty big hole in the defense’s story so far).

• Alessi questions Whiffin’s testing on how the iphone battery data is triggered in temperature changes. Alessi points out that John’s phone temp dropped at a much slower rate than his test when he put a phone in the freezer.

• Prosecutor Brennan counters this by asking if a body lying on top of a phone would be a factor in a phone’s temperature drop rate in cold weather. Defense objects. Sustained. Brennan asks if there was any type of warmth wrapped around the phone in his testing. Whiffin says no.

• The temperature graph from John’s battery temperature data shown in trial yesterday shows a decline in temperature from the time John arrived at the property to when his body was located hours later. The temperature shows an increase in warmth after EMT’s arrive on scene.

  

  Prosecutor Hank asks, “Anybody tried to tell you important points of the evening on January 29, 2022, in an attempt to influence your studies on the fact that a battery or a phone, when it gets colder, the battery temperature decreases?”

  Whiffin replies no.

  He confirms that he was “just tracking the data”.

• Alessi mentions in Whiffin’s location data report that at one point, the (white) circle expands showing the low accuracy location data of John’s phone beginning to move west towards the house for a moment.

  The expanded circle indicates a lack of phone service seeking exact location briefly. Whiffin says that several factors could cause this to occur like bad weather, being in a building, etc.

  Alessi asks if it’s possible that this data point shows John could have walked into house. Whiffin says yes.

  If looking at one isolated data point it could technically be possible, but Whiffin analyzed multiple data points in his conclusion that John did not go into the house.

  

• On redirect, Whiffin summarizes that his conclusion was multi-faceted. It wasn’t based on one weak data point.

  “It was based on the location data that recorded high accuracy, based on the health data that showed when the device moved and how far, based on the battery temperature information and based on the Doppler face detection information.” - Ian Whiffin

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JEN MCCABE (John’s Friend) -

• Arrived at the Waterfall bar around 9 PM on 1/28/22.

• Met up with family and friends, including Brian Albert and Brian Higgins.

• Was drinking beer that night.

• John O'Keefe and defendant, Karen Read, joined later. The mood was cheerful and celebratory.

• Karen mentioned wanting to go to D&E sub shop (Chris Albert’s business across the street). It was not uncommon for the friends to eat pizza there after it closed down. Ultimately, the group decided to go to Brian and Nicole Albert's house. Their young adult son, Brian Jr., was having a small birthday gathering with a few friends.

• Jen and her husband, Matt, left the Waterfall around midnight to go to her sister & brother-in-law’s house. (Brian & Nicole Albert).

• Weather was starting to snow lightly at this point.

• Jen says they arrived at her sister's house, greeted family, and engaged in casual conversation with the group there.

• Jen gave John directions over the phone. She mentions “Bella’s mom’s house” as a reference landmark along the way. John once dated Bella’s mom.

• Jen expected John and Karen to join them any moment. She texted and called several times. Noticed the SUV out front a few times. It had moved forward, and then eventually it was gone.

• The next morning Jen receives a frantic call from Kayley (John’s teenager niece) at 4:53 AM saying John didn’t come home last night. Kayley was extremely upset, and Karen was screaming in the background.

• Jen was groggy, but got up to help find John. She called Chris Albert but got no answer.

• She remembers seeing Karen's car outside her sister's house the night before, as well as texting John. Karen says she doesn’t remember even leaving the bar.

• Karen shows up at Jen’s house, mentions her taillight is cracked.

• John’s friend Kerry Roberts also pulls up. Jen drives Karen’s vehicle (Karen in passenger seat), Kerry follows behind, they head back to John’s house to make sure he isn’t there. The weather was poor, visibility was low.

• Kerry and Jen both take shoes off to enter John’s house, Karen doesn’t. It was noteworthy to Jen because it surprised her. John was very particular about no shoes in the house.

• They can’t find John, so they all get into Kerry’s vehicle and head to 34 Fairview to search.

• Kerry is driving, Jen in front passenger seat, Karen is in the back. Karen was hysterical, repeating questions about what if she hit John.

• At one point “Bella’s mom” (a woman John once dated briefly) is mentioned when passing near her home. Karen makes a comment questioning if he was cheating and could have gone to her house.

• As the vehicle approaches 34 Fairview, Karen suddenly yells that she sees John, prompting them to stop the car. Kerry turns to John and says something to the effect of “She’s batshit crazy” because they didn’t see John at that point.

• The women run over to the snow-covered lawn. Jen sees Kerry suddenly trying to remove snow from John's face.

• John was unresponsive so Jen called 911. They attempted CPR until the police arrived.

Jen’s testimony was very emotional today, and if it’s anything like last trial, she may be on the stand for a few days.

If you get a chance to watch the trial from today, Karen’s facial expressions and body language are very cold in juxtaposition to the witness, Jen McCabe’s, as she recalls the tragic discovery of John.

(Here’s a screenshot, but it doesn’t capture it as well as the actual video footage.)