As John O’Keefe’s death approaches its third anniversary, his accused killer Karen Read says he is “the happiest criminal accused in America”, pointing to her innocence and the support she has garnered.

Read is also suing O’Keefe’s family for alleging that she hit her boyfriend of two years, a Boston police officer, with her car and left him to die in a major snowstorm in Canton, without having evidence that he mistreated him while he was alive.

In an explosive the second article of it two-part series In that case, Vanity Fair broke down how Read and the O’Keefes cut ties in the fateful early morning of January 29, 2022, with Read responding to the family’s criticism.

O’Keefe, a 16-year Boston police veteran, died at age 46 that morning, shortly after Read found his bloodied body covered in snow on the front lawn of 34 Fairview Rd., in Canton – a property his BPD colleague, Brian. Albert owned at the time.

Her defense attorneys say outside actors killed O’Keefe and conspired with state and local police to frame her for his murder.

“I’ve cried and cried on John O’Keefe, but that’s not productive now,” Read told a magazine reporter who spent three days with her in August. “I don’t feel the acute sadness… We weren’t married. The public is now hearing a lot for the first time, but they have to realize that we went through these stages of pain.”

“It’s gotten to the point where — John, if you can hear me — I’ve done everything I can,” Read added. “I don’t think your family can be saved. They want to see me incarcerated for the rest of my life, despite the fact that they never saw evidence while you were alive that I mistreated you.”

Read also responded to a Daily Mail headline calling her “America’s Happiest Murder Accused”.

“If being innocent and enjoying support and refusing to be down day in and day out, month in and year out, year in and year out makes me the happiest criminal accused in America,” she said, “then I’m the happiest accused of murder in America”.

Paul O’Keefe, in an interview with WBZ-TV days after Read’s first trial resulted in a cancellation of the process in July, he highlighted how his brother and Read had fallen out and that the pair were “coming towards the end of their relationship”.

Read admitted to Vanity Fair that she and John O’Keefe had argued, but maintained that she was never abusive or neglectful.

In a statement to Vanity Fair, the family said they believed Read was “responsible for John O’Keefe’s death. Unlike most people accused of murder and sued for wrongful death, Karen Read embraced her celebrity in extraordinary ways.”

Read responded to the claim: “First of all, I don’t want to be here. … if you think for one second that anyone has fought harder to find the truth about what happened to John and enlighten everyone about what happened to John than me, you’re wrong.”

Vanity Fair also divulged more details about Read’s expenses during the case. She owes more than $5 million in deferred legal bills ahead of her second anticipated trial in late January.

Read housed his defense team – attorneys David Yannetti, Alan Jackson and Elizabeth Little – in the same hotel throughout the nine-week trial and “negotiated rates with two Uber drivers to transport the team to and from court.”

“She paid $1.2 million before and during court proceedings between bails; housing, feeding and transporting three lawyers; and hiring private investigators and experts,” the magazine reported. “For this, she used her savings, about $500,000 from her since-depleted legal fund and $400,000 donated by friends and family.”

Originally published: October 30, 2024 at 5:31 PM EDT