Det. Lt. Brian Tully was followed on the stand Thursday by multiple DNA analysts.
By Abby Patkin
On the stand Thursday:
- Andre Porto, Massachusetts State Police Crime Lab
- Tess Chart, BODE Technology
- Nicholas Bradford, BODE Technology
- Sgt. Brian Gallerani, Needham Police Department
- Det. Lt. Brian Tully, Massachusetts State Police
3:05 p.m. update: O’Keefe considerably more likely to be a source of DNA found on broken drinking glass, forensic scientist says
Massachusetts State Police Crime Lab forensic scientist Andre Porto testified about performing DNA testing on several pieces of evidence in Karen Read’s case.
Like Bode Technology DNA analyst Nicholas Bradford, who testified before him, Porto said it was considerably more likely than not that O’Keefe contributed to a three-person mixture of DNA found on Read’s taillight.
Porto testified that no human DNA was detected in a hair found on the back of Read’s SUV. However, he also noted that the State Police Crime Lab is not equipped for mitochondrial testing, which looks for DNA from a different part of the cell. Before Porto took the stand, Bode forensic DNA analyst Tess Chart told jurors the mitochondrial DNA profile pulled from the hair was consistent with O’Keefe’s.
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Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally sought to clarify what the initial lack of detectable DNA told scientists in the State Police Crime Lab.
“So that’s not so much to say that there is no DNA on the hair. It’s just that it was below the level of detection that you’re qualified to report on, is that fair to say?” he asked.
“Correct,” Porto replied.
Porto also testified that a piece of glass found on Read’s rear bumper produced a similar result of insufficient human DNA.
“At the quantitative step, we do have a cutoff, a certain value where if we detect human DNA that’s below this cutoff, we’ve validated that it’s most likely not going to provide a profile that can be used, so we halt testing at that step,” he explained.
However, he said the lab was able to generate a DNA profile from an exterior swab of a broken drinking glass found at the scene. The sample once again found a mix of DNA from three people, and O’Keefe was a substantially likely source, according to Porto.
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Several witnesses have testified that O’Keefe was seen on surveillance footage leaving a bar with a glass in hand before Read drove him over to an afterparty at 34 Fairview Road on Jan. 29, 2022.
Porto also testified about analyzing samples taken from O’Keefe’s clothing, several of which were considerably more likely than not to include O’Keefe’s DNA. The defense decided against cross-examining Porto, and Judge Beverly Cannone released jurors early.
2:22 p.m. update: Hair from Read’s SUV was consistent with O’Keefe, forensic DNA analyst testifies
The mitochondrial DNA profile of a hair pulled from the back of Karen Read’s SUV was consistent with John O’Keefe, forensic DNA analyst Tess Chart testified.
Chart, who works at Bode Technology, said she received the hair sample for testing, as well as O’Keefe’s DNA profile for comparison. The hair sample had already been dissolved and was “an amount of liquid in a tube” by the time it reached her, she explained.
The lab was able to obtain mitochondrial DNA profiles from the hair and from O’Keefe’s sample, and Chart testified that both profiles were consistent.
“So therefore, John O’Keefe cannot be excluded as a possible contributor of that hair,” she explained.
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The lab next turned to EMPOP, “an international populations database that houses different mitochondrial DNA profiles,” Chart said.
Using EMPOP, they found the mitochondrial profile from the hair was not seen within the African American, U.S. caucasian, and U.S. Hispanic databases, she said.
“So by not seeing it in the database, this means that we’re able to exclude at least 99.895% of the population from being a source of that evidence,” Chart testified. Read’s lawyers had no questions for her.
1 p.m. update: There’s a ‘very strong’ likelihood O’Keefe’s DNA was on Read’s taillight, analyst explains
A sample from Karen Read’s taillight turned up a mixture of DNA from three people, including at least one male, a DNA analyst with Bode Technology testified.
Nicholas Bradford confirmed the lab was tasked with testing several items from Read’s case, including an apparent hair recovered from Read’s rear passenger side panel, a sample from her taillight, and two buccal swabs from Massachusetts State Police Sgt. Yuriy Bukhenik and Trooper Michael Proctor. He said authorities also provided John O’Keefe’s DNA profile for comparison.
Bradford testified that testing showed “very strong support” for including O’Keefe’s DNA in the mix from the taillight and for excluding Bukhenik and Proctor’s DNA.
As for the hair, he said the autosomal, or nuclear, DNA results were below the level of detection and analysts would not have obtained a useful profile.
“A lot of times, hairs — unless they have a root attached — they’re not a great sample for nuclear STR (short tandem repeat) testing,” he explained. “They can be, but it’s sometimes hit or miss.”
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However, Bradford noted there are other forms of DNA that exist outside the nucleus of a cell — mitochondrial DNA, for example.
“We decided it was worth a try to do mitochondrial DNA testing on the hair,” he said. Read’s lawyers opted to forgo cross-examination.
12:30 p.m. update: Needham sgt. testifies about swabbing Bukhenik and Proctor for DNA testing
Needham Police Sgt. Brian Gallerani testified about visiting the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office in Canton on Jan. 16, 2024, to collect buccal swabs from Massachusetts State Police Sgt. Yuriy Bukhenik and Trooper Michael Proctor.
He said he swabbed the insides of their mouths, sealed the swabs in an evidence kit, and brought them back to the Needham Police Department to be entered into evidence.
Gallerani testified that he learned at some point the swabs were due to be shipped to Bode Technology, a lab in Virginia. The defense had no questions for Gallerani.
12:25 p.m. update: Karen Read called John O’Keefe dozens of times the morning he died, Det. Lt. Brian Tully testifies
Karen Read made dozens of calls to John O’Keefe from around the time she dropped him off at 34 Fairview Road after midnight on Jan. 29, 2022, to when she found his body on the home’s front lawn hours later, according to Massachusetts State Police Det. Lt. Brian Tully.
“Starting at 12:33 a.m. to 6:03 a.m., there were 53 phone calls from Ms. Read to a phone number associated with John O’Keefe,” he said.
In that time and after finding O’Keefe unresponsive in the snow shortly after 6 a.m., Read also made calls to her mother and father, Jennifer McCabe, Kerry Roberts, Michael and Katherine Camerano, and members of O’Keefe’s family, Tully noted.
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He spoke about the information investigators can glean from phone records, explaining that cellphone carriers memorialize data about the specific antennas used during calls. According to Tully, those phone records can also tell investigators roughly how far away the device was from an antenna, even when someone was not actively using their phone. He walked jurors through maps showing the antennas Read’s phone pinged at various points throughout the morning of the 29th.
“These records are just depicting where the handset was, but as we all know, we all travel with our cellphone within arm’s reach,” Tully noted.
Using those maps and surveillance footage from several locations in Canton, Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally sought to retrace Read’s steps from the morning O’Keefe died. Tully testified that a “large, black SUV” can be seen on surveillance footage going past the town library on Washington Street at about 5:15 a.m. and a nearby temple around 5:18 a.m.
Tully said Read arrived at McCabe’s home on Country Lane at about 5:35 a.m., though he believed that timing was inconsistent with the distance between the temple and the McCabes’ house.
“It would take you much quicker to get there,” Tully said. “It’s about a mile and a half from Temple Beth Abraham to Country Lane. You would continue north on Washington Street and just take a left into the Country Lane neighborhood.”
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He confirmed Read would have had enough time to stop at 34 Fairview Road before continuing on to McCabe’s house.
On cross-examination, defense attorney Alan Jackson pointed to a map showing the cellphone tower Read’s phone pinged between 5:20 a.m. and 5:37 a.m. He noted the tower was about 2.4 miles away from 34 Fairview Road and about one mile from McCabe’s home.
Tully confirmed Read’s phone pinged two towers closer to 34 Fairview Road when she was at the scene after finding O’Keefe’s body around 6 a.m.
“Importantly, though, between 5:20 and 5:37 a.m., neither of those two towers ever picked up her phone or any signal from her phone, correct?” Jackson asked.
“Correct,” Tully confirmed.
“So based on those facts, it’s far more likely that Karen Read was actually at Jennifer McCabe’s and on her way to Jennifer McCabe’s at and around 5 a.m. than going to 34 Fairview Road, correct?” Jackson proposed. Judge Beverly Cannone sustained an objection from prosecutors before Tully could reply.
Answering a question from Lally on redirect examination, Tully explained that while distance is the greatest predictor of which tower a phone will ping, “there are things that can disrupt a cellphone signal, which would cause a handset not to connect to the closest antenna.” He named physical obstructions, elevation, and precipitation as a few examples.
Why didn’t investigators search inside 34 Fairview Road?
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During his direct examination, Tully also testified that investigators had no reason to believe evidence might be found inside 34 Fairview Road.
“I don’t believe that Mr. O’Keefe entered the home, so I had no nexus to the house” for requesting a search warrant, he explained.
Later, Tully said he viewed photos taken of O’Keefe’s injuries at Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton. He testified specifically about the scrapes along O’Keefe’s right arm.
“I noticed the abrasions had a certain pattern on them, and I know that when a blunt force object is involved in causing an abrasion, the characteristics of the object that comes in contact with a person will often leave the characteristics on that person in the form of an abrasion,” Tully said.
Tully went on to add, “I’d be comfortable in saying the marks on Mr. O’Keefe are consistent with—” but was stopped short by an objection from the defense.
Jackson later revisited investigators’ decision not to search inside 34 Fairview Road, noting that O’Keefe was found on the home’s front lawn without a winter coat.
“I’m asking if you believe it was reasonable if a man is found 30 feet outside the front door of a home and he’s got no winter gear on whatsoever, that perhaps he came from inside the home not having donned his winter gear,” he said.
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“It’s not reasonable, given other information I had,” Tully replied.
Jackson also had Tully hold up several pieces of plastic recovered from the scene.
“There are five items in … those two bags, right? Just the plastic?” Jackson asked.
“Correct,” Tully confirmed.
“And your report very clearly says there were three items of plastic evidence recovered at the scene, correct?” Jackson asked.
“Yes,” Tully said.
“So my question once again is, where did the extra two items come from?” Jackon pressed.
“Well, as memorialized on the bag, it says ‘pieces of clear plastic.’ So I will take the hit that my report does not properly memorialize it,” Tully said. “But I would argue that the handwritten notes on the bag that are contemporaneous to the collection of the evidence would be more accurate.”
He also suggested one of the smaller pieces of plastic could have broken off from a larger one.
What about the witness who allegedly saw a Ford Edge?
At Jackson’s prompting, Tully confirmed he became aware at some point that an eyewitness placed a Ford Edge in front of Fairview Road early on Jan. 29, 2022. However, he said he wasn’t satisfied with the witness’s reliability.
“The person has given the statement multiple times, and it appears to have changed over those times,” Tully said. “It also appears that the person observed this vehicle from a distance, and also the identification of a Ford Edge seemed highly suggestive the way that I had read the account of it. If I had done that as a police officer, this court would throw out that identification.”
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He later explained that the witness was driving in a blizzard, claimed to have seen the Ford Edge at a distance from a neighboring street, and self-reported that he was color blind.
He also noted the person who interviewed the witness — a private investigator working for the defense, according to prior court documents — confirmed the vehicle make and model in a “highly suggestive” manner. According to Tully, the investigator brought the witness outside and “allegedly pointed to a motor vehicle that was in a parking lot and said, ‘Is that it?’ And the witness said, ‘Yes, that’s it.’”
Jackson asked whether any members of the Albert family owned a Ford Edge. Tully said he couldn’t recall and did not look at vehicle registration records to check.
Livestream via NBC10 Boston.
The Karen Read murder trial resumes Thursday with additional testimony from Massachusetts State Police Det. Lt. Brian Tully, who supervises the unit that investigated Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe’s death.
O’Keefe was found injured and unresponsive on a lawn in Canton on Jan. 29, 2022, and prosecutors say Read — his girlfriend of two years — is to blame.
More on Karen Read:
- ‘Shame on you, sir’: Trooper Proctor admits he ‘dehumanized’ Karen Read with vulgar texts
- Watch: Trooper Michael Proctor cross-examined in Karen Read trial
- Trooper Michael Proctor reads his ‘unprofessional and regrettable’ texts on the stand in Karen Read trial
The couple had gone out drinking with friends the night before, and Read, 44, is accused of drunkenly and intentionally backing her SUV into O’Keefe while dropping him off at an afterparty after midnight on the 29th. However, lawyers for the Mansfield woman say O’Keefe entered the home and was beaten, possibly attacked by the family dog, and dumped outside in the snow.
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Tully leads the State Police detective unit out of the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office. He testified Wednesday that he first learned of O’Keefe’s injuries in a call from State Police Sgt. Yuriy Bukhenik shortly after 7 a.m. on Jan. 29.
“Normally, I would not get a call like that, but we learned that Mr. O’Keefe was an active Boston police officer,” Tully explained. “Sgt. Bukhenik wanted to make me aware of it at that point.”
Tully said Bukhenik and State Police Trooper Michael Proctor began investigating the case that day and provided updates as they learned new information. He testified about some of the evidence investigators found at the scene outside 34 Fairview Road, including a sneaker that matched the size, style, and color of the one Bukhenik and Proctor found with O’Keefe’s clothing at Good Samaritan Medical Center.
“The shoe that was recovered by the troopers at the hospital was a right sneaker,” Tully said. “This one found was the left, or a left.”
He also recalled conversations about the Canton Police Department’s potential conflict of interest in the case, given Canton Det. Kevin Albert’s brother, Brian Albert, owned 34 Fairview Road at the time.
“Because of the appearance of a conflict, we had made a decision that the Canton police was going to take a step back from the investigation and that State Police would do the investigation without them,” Tully noted.
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Proctor, who testified earlier this week, came under fire for his personal ties to the Alberts, as well as the vulgar texts about Read he sent to family, friends, and colleagues throughout his investigation into O’Keefe’s death.
After becoming aware of Proctor’s texts, “I had a long discussion with him about the content and nature of them,” Tully testified. “I expressed my displeasure at his unprofessionalism and the content of them, and I reported it up my chain of command.”
Testifying earlier on Wednesday, Proctor admitted he used language that dehumanized Read, with some texts calling her a “wack job c**t” and “retarded,” and others making light of her Crohn’s disease.
Days into the investigation, Proctor texted his sister: “Hopefully she kills herself.” On the stand, he confirmed he was talking about Read.
“My emotions got the best of me based on the fact that Ms. Read hit Mr. O’Keefe with her vehicle and left him to die on the side of the road,” Proctor explained. “So my emotions got the best of me with that figure of speech.”
He described his texts as “juvenile and regrettable” but said he stood by the investigation into O’Keefe’s death.
“This investigation was done with the utmost integrity, not just by me, but my supervisors and other troopers in my office,” Proctor said.
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