Canton officer’s ties to family focus of testimony in Read case
DEDhAM — two central claims of Karen read’s defense team converged tuesday during the testimony of a Canton police officer: the assertions that evidence of a broken taillight found near boston police officer John o’Keefe’s snow-covered body had been planted, and that a network of first responders conspired to shield the truth of his killing.
on the stand for much of the sixth day of read’s high-profile murder trial was Michael lank, a detective sergeant with the Canton police on Jan. 29, 2022, when he was called to 34 fairview road for a report of a man lying unresponsive on the lawn near the curb.
lank, now a lieutenant, testified that he handled some evidence, including scooping some of o’Keefe’s dried blood into plastic cups police had gotten from a neighbor because the suburban department, which rarely handles violent crime scenes, didn’t have anything else that would work. he also spoke to the owners of the fairview road home, boston police officer brian Albert and his wife, Nicole.
Prosecutors allege that read, 44, drunkenly backed her SuV into o’Keefe, 46, and left him for dead in the snow outside a Canton home after a night of bar-hopping. Prosecutors claim the couple’s relationship was falling apart, and multiple first responders have testified that she had made statements after his body was found suggesting that o’Keefe’s death is her fault.
She has pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating under the influence of alcohol, and leaving the scene of personal injury or death.
on tuesday, read’s lawyers questioned lank about his ties to the Albert family. Judge beverly J. Cannone sent the jury away a few times as she heard lawyers’ arguments over lank’s past interactions with the Alberts. in one of those sessions on Monday, lank testified about a 2002 incident in which he fought a man who had an earlier altercation with Chris Albert, brian Albert’s brother. lank, who said he was a childhood friend of Chris Albert’s, testified said that he took part in the fight after “being struck.”
Defense lawyer Alan Jackson asked lank if “all of this incident was in furtherance of protecting a member of the Albert family when they asked f or help.”
No, said lank — he was looking to help a member of the public who was “in fear.”
Asked by a prosecutor on redirect if anything about that incident was relevant to the o’Keefe case, lank said “absolutely nothing.”
he said his relationship with brian Albert is “civil” and that they’ve had “disagreements” in the past.
After o’Keefe’s body was discovered around 6 a.m. in a snowstorm, lank testified that he spoke to the Albert sf or about 15 to 20 minutes in their home. Pressed by Jackson, he said he did not record the interview and that he did not search the home because he had no probable cause to do so, even though o’Keefe’s body was found outside. he also acknowledged he did not ask for anyone’s phones, did not separate the people in the home, and did not take notes of his discussion with the Alberts.
on feb. 4, 2022, lank said, he got a call from police lieutentant Paul Gallagher instructing him to return to fairview road, where Chief Ken berkowitz had “possibly discovered more evidence” at the scene. he said berkowitz brought his attention to a piece of red plastic near where o’Keefe’s body had been found.
“i photographed the piece of plastic as it sat,” lank said. he said no one touched the plastic and he contacted a State Police unit to respond. A trooper arrived on scene and “secured the item into a evidence bag,” lank said.
read’ s attorneys have claimed the taillight was broken in a different location and noted during other testimony that no shards of it were found on the scene the day o’Keefe died.
read’s attorneys maintain that read is the victim of a massive police coverup and that o’Keefe was beaten at a gathering in the Alberts’ home, and possibly bitten by the family’s dog.
Driven by the dueling narratives and an aggressive defense team, the case has drawn widespread media attention and forced Cannone to keep demonstrators 200 feet from the courthouse.
from the outset, Cannone told potential jurors that the trial might run up to two months. And it’s moved slowly, with asides like the meetings over lank and myriad sidebars as Cannone and the lawyers discuss issues out of the earshot of the rest of the courtroom.
After sending the jury away again on tuesday, Cannone admonished both sides’ lawyers for having too many issues with filing and logging evidence. on this occasion, read’s lawyers had introduced a police report that had too much information the jurors weren’t allowed to see, so they had to cut part of it off with scissors.
“We’re taking an awful lot of these jurors’ time — we’re taking days and weeks,” Cannone said. “let’s not squander it with repetitive evidence” and evidentiary issues like this, she said .“let’ s move this case along.”