Karen Read ReTrial ...

Okay, this is more of a head-scratcher than it first appears.

Because at first, it seems like an open-and-shut case - after bar-hopping, she drunk-drove her drunk cop boyfriend to his friend's house for an afterparty during a blizzard, but backed over and killed him (accidentally or on purpose), and in the morning, she noticed her taillight was busted out.  

When he didn't come home, she called everyone trying to find him, searching for him in the snow until they found him, and then said "Oh my God, I didn't kill him, did I?  Did I kill him?"

Also, she left horrible, verbally abusive voicemails for him previously, and admits they were arguing and she was angry when she dropped him off at his friend's house (nobody at the party liking her).

Now, Occam's razor says the simplest explanation is the answer - she killed him.

However, Occam's razor isn't always right -  some things aren't as simple as they first appear.

Because remember, we once believed the sun traveled across the sky over our flat earth because it "looked that way."

But let's go with Occam's razor for the sake of argument and just say that she's guilty.

Then what explains the below?

Everyone at the house party said O'Keefe never arrived, but the body had dog bites on the arm. Neither O'Keefe nor Karen Read owned a dog, but the friend who owned the house did have a dog known to be aggressive who was inside the house, that night, due to the blizzard. 

The bite marks were tested for DNA and came back positive for animal bites; however, they can't test the friend/homeowner's dog because the friend has since "sent it away because it was too aggressive," but no one can find where they sent it.

Though not in full view/correct angle, there is home-security movement-detection video of Karen arriving home and parking her car after dropping him off, and the rear taillight at least appears to still be intact from that angle - however, when she left in the morning, she discovers the busted taillight which is now also visible by that same motion-detection video.

The evidence collection at the scene was botched horribly, collected in red Solo cups and plastic shopping bags by the cop friends themselves - and most importantly -  pictures at the crime scene revealed the red taillight fragments belonging to Karen's car supposedly found near the body weren't covered with snow, like the body was, though it was a blizzard.

There had been a  a previous coverup in that same town police department over their cop friend strangling to death his underage teenage girlfriend. 

Anyone who has publicly written or spoken about the Canton police department ended up finding dead animals in their yard or hanging on ropes on their porches.

Two of the cops at the house that night have been suspended for not disclosing evidence about a separate cop cop friend - who impregnated and killed his underage girlfriend -  as well as inappropriately harassing their critics (one of their critics, however, "Turtleboy," a local blogger, also in legal trouble for harassment.).

Lastly and most importantly - the defense is hanging almost their entire argument entirely on this piece of evidence - Jennifer McCabe, girlfriend to one of the cops at the house that night. Googled ,  "How long does it take a body to die in the cold" at 2:27 a.m." - about an hour after O'Keefe was dropped off - and 4 hours before his body was found.

So the defense's theory is that O'Keefe actually did make it in the house, the dog attacked him, he hit the dog, his cop friend who owned the house became angry and then the two physically fought and O'Keefe went down hard, busting his head on the floor, and later died. 

Then the cops and their wives/girlfriends at the party - already under suspicion for not disclosing information about their other cop buddy (the strangler cop)  - panicked, covering it up by pinning it on Karen (whom they didn't like). 

So let's go with Occam's razor and say Karen is guilty, whether she did it on purpose or not - but then we still have these questions:

Where did those dog bites come from and where is the dog now?

Why weren't the shards of taillight covered in snow, like the body?

Why was her taillight not busted upon arriving home after dropping him off, but was busted by 6:30 a.m.?

Why was anyone at the friend's house searching for how long it takes for someone to die in the cold at 2:27 a.m. - 4 hours before his body was found?

But is it enough to cause "reasonable doubt" by its legal definition for the jury to find her not guilty?

I don't know.

I will say that in watching her interviews, even if Karen IS guilty, I believe she believes herself that she's not guilty, whether she's convinced herself of it or not  - but that's not uncommon - some people can't come to terms later with what they've done, especially when drunk.

The saddest thing about this whole story is the O'Keefe's niece and nephew, whom he adopted, after they lost both parents to cancer (their mother was O'Keefe's sister) and O'Keefe is now dead, too - so these children have lost everyone they've ever known as a parent 😢

So I don't know, though she's most likely guilty, I will admit, those are odd things that do leave doubt, so I will officially say that I have no opinion, I just don't know?

What I DO know for sure is that - I would never hang out with any of those people on either side ever! 

Bar-hopping cops during blizzards who drive home drunk?

Bartenders that let already-drunk cops carry more liquor home in glasses, after closing time, during blizzards? 

One of those cops being O'Keefe, who is partying instead of being home with his adopted kids during a blizzard?

Cops that say nothing, despite knowing their other cop friend had an inappropriate, pedophilic relationship with an underage teen, got her pregnant, and then strangled her to death?

Girlfriends that scream "I hate you" on repeat voicemails that drive drunk during blizzards and drop off their drunk boyfriend's and don't wait for him to make it to the door?

However, this case has been an interesting case study of people going with what they choose to believe, rather than actual evidence, a malady that is rampant nowadays, because people don't seem to know the difference between belief/opinion and fact.

The only thing I know for sure is that not only would I never want to hang out with any of these people, but remind me never to go to Canton, Massachusetts!