DAY 9: Karen Read Retrial
Blizzard conditions, Solo cups, and another eyewitness account of Karen admitting she hit the victim, John O'Keefe.
The prosecution made some huge strides getting through witness testimonies today.
I imagine the jury is SO grateful for this type of momentum, as are we.
Let’s take a look at today’s testimonies…
List of witnesses who took the stand:
Hannah Knowles (Forensic Scientist)
Ryan Nagel (Vehicle witness)
Heather Maxon (Vehicle witness)
Sarah Levinson (Friend at 34 Fairview)
Katie McLaughlin (Medic-Firefighter)
Lt. Paul Gallagher (Officer)
HANNAH KNOWLES (Forensic Scientist)
Second day on the stand. The morning begins with Knowles on cross-examination by David Yannetti.
Yannetti asks Knowles if she is aware of what Good Samaritan Hospital’s accreditation is regarding blood sampling for BAC testing. Knowles does not know. She only knows her own lab’s accreditations.
She cannot vouch for how a patient’s blood is taken because her job was to examine the sample after taken.
Yannetti asks if Knowles was with Karen the night she was drinking (to see how much she consumed and when she officially stopped drinking). Knowles says, no.
Water content requires a conversion rate to figure out alcohol level in blood. The large range given for Karen’s alcohol retrograde BAC accounts for unknown factors.
RYAN NAGEL (Vehicle Witness)
Brother of Julie Nagel. Julie was a friend of Brian Albert Junior, and was at 34 Fairview the night in question.
The night of the incident, Ryan was at the bar, C.F. McCarthy’s, with friends. Left bar around midnight-ish (his general guess). Ryan got a text from Julie Nagel asking if he could pick her up and take her home. He told her yes.
Ryan Nagel, his girlfriend (at the time) Heather Maxon, and his friend, Ricky, head to 34 Fairview. They had never been there before. It took about 5-7 minutes.
Ricky is driving a truck. Ryan is in the front passenger seat. Heather in the backseat.
Arrived around 12:30am (his general guessing). Before turning onto Fairview from Cedarcrest Rd, a black SUV was at the intersection facing them. The SUV turned onto Fairview first, and then Ryan’s vehicle made a left following behind it.
The black SUV pulls up at the same house, parked in front of them about 1 car length ahead. SUV is near flag pole.
Ryan texts Julie they arrived. She comes outside moments later (maybe about 2 minutes) exiting the side front door, which is left of the garage.
Ryan opens his front passenger door to talk with Julie. She invites the friends into the house, but they decline. Julie decides to stay because she was offered a ride from Jen McCabe.
Ryan never sees a man exit the SUV or walk into the house.
As Ryan and friends begin to drive away, he notices the interior dome light is on in the SUV. He sees a woman with her hands on the steering wheel (10-2 position). Does not notice anyone else, but agreed that there could have been someone else on the other side of the vehicle. The dome light can be triggered by an opening door.
HEATHER MAXON (Vehicle Witness)
Ryan Nagel’s girlfriend at the time.
She was in the vehicle with him and the driver, Ricky. She sat in the back seat of the truck.
When turning onto Fairview Road, she recalls the black SUV at the intersection facing them. She describes seeing a female driver and a male passenger. Heather says the vehicle she was in yielded to the SUV who turned first onto Fairview. They followed behind.
Does not know the homeowners of 34 Fairview.
SUV parked in front of them. Heather doesn’t notice an interior dome light on in the SUV, but does recall it when they were leaving and drove by the vehicle.
Describes the same scene as Ryan Nagel. Julie Nagel comes out of house, chats with them briefly, invites them in, they decline. Her vehicle waits until Julie makes it back inside the house before driving away.
Never saw a man exit the SUV or approach the house.
Does recall seeing the female in the driver seat as they pulled away.
Defense asks if Heather could have been playing on her phone and not looking outside the whole time. Heather cannot recall if she had looked at her phone at any point.
SARAH LEVINSON (Friend of Brian Albert Jr.)
Friend of Brian Albert Junior. She was at 34 Fairview to celebrate his birthday that night.
The vibe of the night was celebratory, light, and joyful.
There were a handful of Brian Jr’s friends that came to celebrate.
The friends hung out in kitchen for the most part. Most of them left at about 11:30pm
The group of older adults coming from the Waterfall Bar trickled in after that. First recalls Brian Albert and Brian Higgins entering. After that Caitlin, Nicole, Jen, and Matt came in.
Music was playing. There was no arguing, no fighting. No tension. Vibe was good.
Sarah was not impaired.
Jen McCabe offered to drive Sarah and Julie Nagel home if they wanted to stay longer. They accepted.
Sarah saw Julie Nagel exit the house briefly to talk with Ryan Nagel, and then come back in right after.
No one else came into the house.
Sarah says they left around 1:30-2:00ish am.
Fresh snow on ground, so Sarah and Julie walked arm in arm down the front porch so they wouldn’t slip. Sarah was looking down for the most part watching her steps.
Stoop lights where on.
Got into the backseat of Jen and Matt’s car. Never looked directly in the side lawn area by flag pole.
Sarah has been friends with Brian Jr for years, and has been to his house about 20 times over the span of their friendship.
Wasn’t interviewed until October 2022.
KATIE MCLAUGHLIN (Medic-Firefighter)
Has been a medic for years in Canton.
Katie’s shift the day of the incident was scheduled ahead of time.
Only one medic is responsible for the final report at the end of their shift. That was not her role that evening.
She was responsible for asking “demographic” questions to get more info on the victim (allergies, etc), and during this process Karen Read said, “I hit him” several times.
Jen McCabe told Karen to stop and calm down.
Karen was hysterical, so Katie stopped questioning at that point. She heard Officer Saraf call for Officer Goode after Karen made the statement that she hit John.
Katie went to high school with the homeowner’s daughter, Caitlin Albert, around 10 years ago. They have different friend groups but sometimes those friend groups get together. They have attended the same events together over the years and are friendly, but not friends. No independent relationship.
Katie did not know that was Caitlin Albert’s family home at the time.
Defense Attorney Jackson tried to emphasize that in the last trial Katie said she went to school with “a girl” named Caitlin. (Clearly trying to insinuate that Katie was distancing herself from telling people they knew one another).
On redirect, Brennan points out that Jackson didn’t show the full context of that testimony. Katie did talk about them being at the same parties on occasion, and having mutual friends. Katie agrees, and says she talked about it like 20 times in the first trial.
Jackson asks if Katie was ever interviewed by Kevin Albert. Katie says no, the only people who reached out to her were from MSP.
LT PAUL GALLAGHER (Canton Police Officer)
Canton Police Officer - now retired as of 2024.
Worked 32 years as an officer. Rank LT.
Got to 34 Fairview after John O’Keefe was taken to the hospital. Officer Gallagher drove his own vehicle due to blizzard conditions (4-wheel drive, etc.). He was the highest ranking officer when he arrived.
Emergency lights were lit up on the emergency vehicles, but sirens were not on. Sirens are used for alerting cars on the road so there was no need for sirens.
Officers on scene when he arrived were:
Officer Goode
Officer Lank
Officer Mullaney
Officer Saraf
Gallagher saw no neighbors or civilians come out of their homes.
Crime scene tape was put up, but it was “blowing wildly in the wind” due to the blizzard. It even blew into the crime scene at one point. The scene tape did not last.
Officer Goode and Officer Lank went into 34 Fairview.
Gallagher recalls pink blood spots in the snow. Decides the best option is to use a leaf blower because it can blow top layer snow softly and in a controlled manner without disrupting the scene much.
As top layer snow was lightly removed, darker blood was seen. It was frozen and coagulated. Although at the time, they did not think a crime was committed, Gallagher chose to collect those blood spots out of an abundance of caution.
Due to the blizzard conditions rapidly changing the scene, they asked an off-duty officer who lived in the neighborhood if he had some sort of sanitary option for collecting snow. That officer had plastic, solo cups. The cups were used to collect the frozen evidence, and put inside a paper grocery bag temporarily. The bag was open at one point and then rolled closed. Not sealed forensically yet.
While searching the scene, LT Gallagher finds a broken cocktail glass. He shows it to the jury.
Evidence gets taken to the department, gets logged in, and receives an evidence number.
Evidence room is secured. Only evidence security officers have access to it. Lt Gallagher does not have access.
Fridge temp evidence was put into the fridge in evidence room.
Evidence eventually gets transferred to MSP. MSP came and collected it on 2/1/22.
After leaving the scene, Lt Gallagher and Officer Lank get called back to 34 Fairview because witness, Jen McCabe, remembered more important info from that morning.
Officer Lank interviewed Jen McCabe alone in the kitchen when they arrived. LT. Gallagher spoke with Brian Albert. Gallagher said there was no noteworthy or concerning behaviors from the witnesses.
Eventually the CPD recused themselves that day from the case because of the relational connection of Kevin Albert (an investigator for CPD) is brothers with the homeowners. MSP stepped in.
Had first interview with the prosecution April 2024.
As a high ranking officer, he oversees other officers. Makes sure they are properly documenting the scene.
Karen’s vehicle was processed at Canton Police Department.
Defense Attorney Jackson asks why he didn't write a report despite being a participant in the evidence search. Gallagher says that wasn’t his role.
Gallagher and Lank arrived to the crime
scene after John was transported, so they were informed of where John’s body had been located. Jackson asks Gallagher if he created a diagram. Gallagher says, no.
Defense Attorney Jackson asked Gallagher if there was a chance the DNA taken from the scene could have been contaminated the way it was collected, but LT Gallagher says it is hard to damage DNA.
Jackson asks why Gallagher used the Solo cups instead of having an officer grab swabs from the station. Gallagher said the only person who would have access to those evidence swabs would be him and Officer Lank, however due to the weather conditions, they considered the plastic cups the best option given the circumstances.
Gallagher notes that the "Solo cups “hold liquid terrifically”.
That’s a wrap… for today.
Also, if you’re interested in learning about some of the unrelenting harassment these witnesses — like Medic Katie McLaughlin — have endured, here’s an older post about it. These witnesses have been through a lot more than many people even realize, and I applaud their bravery for speaking their truth.
Thanks Tuesday