IDThe Canton Police Department in Massachusetts was heavily involved in the investigation into John O’Keefe’s death, and now it’s facing the wrath of Karen Read’s supporters.
Just days after O’Keefe’s body was found, Read was charged with manslaughter and second-degree murder, with officials accusing her of knocking her boyfriend with her SUV in the early morning hours of January 29, 2022.
However, as is explored in the new docu-series A Body in the Snow: The Trial of Karen Read, her defense has another theory: Read is the victim of a police cover-up. They claim that O’Keefe was killed inside the house of retired Boston cop Brian Albert that night.
Both sides are dealing with allegations at this stage, as last year’s court case ended with a mistrial. However, the #JusticeForKarenRead movement shows no signs of slowing, and it’s had an impact on the reputation of Canton PD.
Karen Read supporters slam “corrupt” Canton Police Department
IDThe Canton Police Department currently has a 1.6 star rating on Google, with the force receiving dozens of angry reviews accusing its officers of corruption.
To give you some background, the Canton Police were among the first to respond when O’Keefe was discovered outside the Albert home, and assisted in securing the scene and gathering early evidence.
Additionally, Brian Albert’s brother Kevin is a detective on the force. Last year, it was announced that Kevin had been placed on paid administrative leave due to his actions on a case he investigated with Trooper Michael Proctor, who was assigned the Read case.
Following the “dehumanizing” text messages Proctor sent to his friends about Read at the start of his investigation, he was fired from his post as a Massachusetts State Police investigator in March 2025.
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Ahead of Read’s second trial, her supporters continue to criticize the various factions involved in the case, including Canton PD.
On Google Reviews, one wrote, “Absolute joke of a police department! Framed an innocent woman and covered your own backs. We are not stupid, we can see through your lies! It’s obvious that evidence was planted, tampered with, and gotten rid of!
“You had no feelings for Officer John O’Keefe, not one mention, but you went to a funeral of a fallen officer you did not know! But you did not go to one of your own. Disgusting and I hope all involved are promptly dealt with by the FBI.”
Another said, “When the department and all those involved would rather an innocent woman go to prison than whoever actually did this can sit up there and commit perjury day in and day out. You wonder why some don’t respect the police.
“Corruption at its finest, need to clean house and restart. Stay far away from this city and its PD, you’d be going five under and they’d tell the judge you were going 30 over. These are the cops everyone talks about negatively and thinks all cops are like. Change the narrative.”
“Your defense is falling apart. Frame the story how you want… we’re not slow,” added a third. “How many more fairy tale stories till we’ve had enough? How many more dead officers until you finally feel you’re man enough?”
A fourth chimed in, “Appalling unprofessional conduct and absolutely incompetent at performing investigative work. Everyone working at Canton PD should be fired.
“RIP John O’Keefe it is very sad your family will never know what actually happened to you since the Canton Police are corrupt beyond belief.”
Karen Read hearing could delay second trial
IDAlthough the second Karen Read trial is set to take place in April 2025, this date could be pushed back following a hearing on Tuesday, March 18.
As reported by CBS News, the hearing ultimately involved “setting the ground rules” for the upcoming court case.
Part of this saw Judge Beverly Cannone give Read’s defense team a stern warning about “repeated misrepresentations to the court,” referring to the ARCCA witnesses in the first trial.
The ARCCA witnesses were hired by the federal investigation into allegations of corruption and were brought in by the defense team, where they testified that O’Keefe’s injuries were inconsistent with a motor vehicle incident.
The defense presented the witnesses as unbiased and unpaid, despite the discovery of an invoice that was paid to them. Although Cannone gave them a warning, she didn’t remove any of Read’s attorneys ahead of the second trial.
During Tuesday’s hearing, the defense also requested for the trial date to be delayed while the federal First Circuit Court of Appeals considers whether to dismiss two charges against Read, including second-degree murder.
IDEven though the first trial ended with a hung jury, juror Ronald “Ronnie” Estanislao previously told Dexerto that they hadn’t been properly informed that they were able to treat each charge separately.
He said that the 12 jurors did, in fact, reach a unanimous decision on counts one and three. They agreed that Read was not guilty of second-degree murder and leaving the scene of personal injury and death.
The only one they were divided over was manslaughter while OUI. If the jury had been informed that they could treat the charges separately, Read would only face a retrial for the manslaughter charge, but now a new jury and court case will unfold for all three counts.
“ I honestly believe that there should be a retrial based on what happened because right now it seems like it was a hung jury on all three charges,” he told us.
“Unfortunately, that’s not truly the case, but on the record, legally, it wasn’t noted that we voted for charge one and charge three. So I think it’s reasonable to say, by the letter of the law, it looks like we were a hung jury for all three charges.
“That being said, I think the circumstances that led to that should have never occurred in the first place, and it’s a travesty of the current justice system that the instructions weren’t clearer and that we have to resolve in a retrial.”
Right now, Cannone is yet to confirm whether the retrial will be delayed and whether those two charges will be dismissed, as all parties involved are considering the facts.
To learn more about the case, A Body in the Snow: The Trial of Karen Read Episodes 1-4 are streaming on Max now, with the finale set to air on ID and Max on March 19, 2025.
You can also check out the other new documentaries coming to streaming this month, and read about the American Manhunt: Osama Bin Laden delay and where Ruby Franke is now.