Karen Read defense floats theory that ‘jealous’ Brian Higgins fought John O’Keefe before death

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Boston Police Officer John O'Keefe's 2022 death could have been the result of a violent love triangle involving an ATF agent and his girlfriend, suspected killer Karen Read, who began texting each other just weeks before he was last seen alive, her defense posited on Monday inside a courtroom in Dedham, Massachusetts.

Read, now 45, is accused of killing her 46-year-old boyfriend, a Boston police officer, on Jan. 29, 2022. Police allege she hit him with the rear end of her Lexus SUV and drove off, incapacitating him and leaving him to die during a blizzard.

Read has pleaded not guilty and denied striking O'Keefe at all through her attorneys.

"You were just asked about your opinion whether or not there was a motive that you found for Brian Higgins to want to murder John O'Keefe," defense attorney Alan Jackson asked Sgt. Yuri Bukhenik of the Massachusetts State Police. "I'm asking you a different question. Did you, in your mind, in your opinion, after having read those texts, find a motive for Brian Higgins, perhaps want to confront John O'Keefe because of jealousy?"

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"If you're asking for my opinion, my opinion is that he wouldn't need to confront Mr. O'Keefe," Bukhenik said. "Mr. O'Keefe was not the one pursuing Mr. Higgins. It was your client that was pursuing Mr. Higgins."

On Friday, Jackson had Bukhenik read through a lengthy string of texts between Read and Higgins exchanged in the weeks before O'Keefe's death, where they flirted, invited one another over, discussed a kiss outside O'Keefe's house and frequently brought up heavy drinking. 

Read began the conversation, and Higgins' response was to ask how she got his number and why she was reaching out to him. Read stopped responding a few days before O'Keefe's death. Higgins, Read and O'Keefe were all present at the Waterfall Bar and Grille on Jan. 28, 2022, and Jackson asked Bukhenik whether surveillance video showed Higgins being aggressive toward O'Keefe.

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That same night, Higgins sent two unanswered texts to Read. 

"After weeks of communicating with Miss Read in a romantic manner, and then … seeing her walk in the door with John O'Keefe and sending the text message, ‘Umm. Well,’ after having been intoxicated, do you see that, detective, as an investigator, as a reasonable, objective investigator, as a possible scenario for Brian Higgins to be jealous about John O'Keefe?"

"There's a possibility there, but I didn't see it," Bukhenik said.

"Did you explore that possibility?" Jackson said. 

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Bukhenik testified that he did not but said he relied on the "totality of the investigation," which led to charges against Read.

Bukhenik returned to the stand for his third day of testimony and spent hours answering questions. His testimony concluded at the end of the day and Judge Beverly Cannone told him he would not have to return on Tuesday.

Under re-direct examination from special prosecutor Hank Brennan, Bukhenik testified that green marks on the back of O'Keefe's jeans looked like grass stains that he surmised had been sustained when O'Keefe fell to the ground after being struck.

On cross-examination, defense attorney Alan Jackson asked if grass stains could come from someone being dragged.

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"My common sense dictates that it was not a drag mark because it would have linear characterizations, and it would be both buttocks that are engaged in contact with the ground while being dragged," Bukhenik said.

Earlier in the day, Bukhenik read text messages from former state Trooper Michael Proctor, who has since been fired over his off-duty behavior during the initial investigation.

During questioning by Jackson, Bukhenik confirmed that Proctor called Read "retarded," said he hated her other defense attorney, David Yannetti, and wrote about searching her phone for nude selfies.

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Jackson also played video that appears to show Brian Higgins at the Canton Police Department headquarters about an hour after prosecutors say O'Keefe died.

Higgins was seen on surveillance video among a group of people at the Waterfall Bar and Grille along with Read and O'Keefe on Jan. 28. He also went to an after-party at 34 Fairview Road, a home owned by another Boston cop, Brian Albert.

O'Keefe was discovered dead outside the following morning.

Multiple witnesses have testified that they heard Read repeatedly saying, "I hit him," the morning Read and two former friends found O'Keefe dead under a mound of snow on Albert's lawn.

After sending jurors to lunch Monday, Cannone held a quick voir dire hearing and ultimately said she would not allow Jackson to question Bukhenik about what he knew about the relationship between Proctor and relatives of Albert, including one of his brothers, Chris, who was also at the Waterfall on Jan. 28.

Read could face up to life in prison if convicted of the top charge, second-degree murder. She is also accused of manslaughter and leaving the scene of a deadly accident. 

Police have not accused Higgins of a crime, and prosecutors say Read is the only suspect in O'Keefe's death.