5 most shocking details in A Body in the Snow: The Trial of Karen Read

A Body in the Snow: The Trial of Karen Read is airing across three nights this week, delving into the disturbing details of the death of Boston police officer John O’Keefe, and the subsequent trial of his girlfriend. 

Much like the Idaho murders or Johnny Depp vs Amber Heard, the Karen Read case sparked a media frenzy. It began in January 2022, when – just three days after O’Keefe was killed – Read was arrested for manslaughter, which was later bumped up to include second-degree murder. 

However, with new evidence coming to light, Read built up a strong following of supporters, who believe she’s the victim of police corruption and a conspiracy to frame her. The new true crime docu-series examines all of this and more, with five episodes unpacking the evidence and speaking with key figures.

A Body in the Snow: The Trial of Karen Read also interviews Read and her legal team as they prepare for trial. With five episodes airing across three nights starting today (March 17), we’ve put together a rundown of the most shocking moments. Warning: some may find this content distressing, and if you’re not familiar with the case, spoilers ahead.

Jennifer McCabe’s Google search

ID

As is explored in the true crime docu-series, one of the most contentious pieces of evidence shown during the trial was Jennifer McCabe’s Google search: “hos [sic] long to die in cold”. McCabe is the sister-in-law of Brian Albert. 

For context, O’Keefe’s body was found on the front lawn of 34 Fairview Road, Boston. That night, O’Keefe and Read had been out drinking when they met up with Brian Albert, a retired Boston police sergeant, his wife Nicole Albert (McCabe’s sister), and a group of their family and friends. 

The Alberts invited everyone for an afterparty at their house – 34 Fairview Road. According to those at the party, O’Keefe never made it to their home. However, Read claims that since she didn’t know the Alberts and their group, she got O’Keefe to go and check it was okay for them to go in.

According to Read, she saw O’Keefe walk in and never come back out, at which point she drove home and left him an angry voicemail questioning why he abandoned her. After noticing he was still missing, Read called McCabe just before 5am, and at around 6am, they went out looking for him.

ID

McCabe’s phone records show that she made a number of Google searches at around 6:23am, all of which are variations of “how long to die in the cold”. Since O’Keefe’s body was left out in the snow, this search makes sense. 

However, as Read’s defense team explains in A Body in the Snow: The Trial of Karen Read, they sought the help of a computer forensics expert to analyze McCabe’s cellphone records. 

Since he didn’t know much about the case, he didn’t realize the gravity of what he discovered: it appeared McCabe had searched how long it takes to die in the cold at 2:27am on the morning of O’Keefe’s death, January 29, 2022, before deleting it – hours before his body was found. 

“If Jen McCabe knew at 2:27am that John was about to be or was placed in the cold, that’s highly incriminating,” says Read. 

The prosecution team brought in their own experts, who argued that she did make the search after 6am, at the request of Read, but she used a tab that she had opened at 2:27am, and so it looks like she had searched it earlier than she did. 

The defense experts, however, claimed that the prosecution’s experts had used the wrong iOS, and that she had searched the term at 2:27am. 

As is said in A Body in the Snow, it became a “battle of the experts,” and will no doubt come up again when Read’s second trial unfolds in April 2025. 

Karen Read & Brian Higgins’ “flirty” texts

ID

Another bombshell moment in the trial involved Brian Higgins, a major player in this case. Higgins is an agent with the federal Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, and has an office in the Canton Police Department in Boston. 

The Canton PD was one of multiple institutions placed under federal investigation following allegations of a cover-up. The probe was announced as completed earlier this month, although the results are yet to be released. 

Regarding Higgins, he had been drinking at the Waterfall bar and ended up at the Albert home on the night in question. But, as was revealed through testimony, he and Read had been exchanging “flirty” text messages, and Higgins claimed Read unexpectedly kissed him a couple of weeks before O’Keefe’s death. 

WBZ reporter Kristina Rex describes it as a “pivotal moment” in the courtroom. The docu-series then shows Higgins’ testimony, as he reads out his text exchange with Read. She wrote, “You’re hot,” to which Higgins replied, “Are you serious or messing with me?”

“No, I’m serious,” she said, and Higgins told her that the “feeling is mutual. Is that bad?” He also asked Read what she liked about him, to which she responded, “I just feel like you’re from my neighborhood. And I think you’re hot.”

ID

Boston Herald journalist Flint McColgan says, “The Brian Higgins texts showed a budding relationship forming that did culminate in a kiss.” 

Retired FBI agent Jennifer Coffindaffer adds, “No wonder she didn’t want to go to the afterparty. She knew Brian Higgins was going to be there and she had been pursuing him.”

While the prosecution argued that this showed a motive for Read to kill O’Keefe, the defense argued the opposite: that Higgins had a reason to fight with O’Keefe. 

As Read’s attorney Alan Jackson says in the War Room, “When John and Karen walk into the bar, Brian Higgins was not expecting them. He texts Karen surreptitiously with John, ‘Um, well…’ He’s got a motive to not like John.”

Again, since the court case ended with a mistrial, none of these allegations have been confirmed, but they are examined in great detail in A Body in the Snow: The Trial of Karen Read.

Trooper Michael Proctor’s “dehumanizing” texts

ID

Pretty much anything related to Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor is contentious at this stage. But the most jaw-dropping evidence is the collection of “dehumanizing” text messages he sent about Read. 

For context, Proctor took over the investigation as homicide cases are usually under the jurisdiction of state police, and because of the conflict of interest between Brian Albert and his brother Kevin Albert, who himself is a Canton Police detective. 

However, he came into question not only in regard to how the investigation was handled but also due to his ties to the officers involved. Proctor himself testified that his sister was close friends with Albert’s sister-in-law, and that he had worked with and hung out with Kevin Albert.

Jackson explains that he was responsible for the “integrity of the investigation,” adding, “The problem is Trooper Proctor was connected to the Albert family, through his sister, through his mom, through his dad, and he should have been conflicted off the case. I couldn’t wait to get him on the cross.”

ID

The true crime docu-series then cuts to his cross-examination, during which time he was pressed about a series of texts about Read in a group chat with eight of his high school friends, which he had sent right at the start of his investigation. 

On January 29 – the day O’Keefe died – one of Proctor’s friends asked in the chat just before 11pm, “She hot at least?” Proctor replied, “Yep, she’s a babe. Weird Fall River accent, though. No ass. She’s a whack job c**t.”

After a friend asked if the homeowner (Albert) would “receive some sh*t,” Proctor said, “Nope, homeowner is a Boston cop, too.”

He additionally made an offensive comment referring to her medical condition and called her a slur, while his friend messaged him saying, “F**k her, b*tch,” after she claimed O’Keefe had been killed by the Alberts. 

After he had gone through Read’s attorney David Yannetti’s phone, Proctor wrote to his friend, “Funny, I’m going through his r******d client’s phone. No nudes so far. I hate that man, I truly hate him.”

But arguably the most shocking exchange of all came when Proctor messaged his sister, “Hopefully she kills herself,” referring to Read.

Ted Daniel, investigative reporter at WFXT-TV, is interviewed in A Body in the Snow, where he states, “There have been a number of jaw-dropping moments in this trial, but Proctor’s text messages were probably the most kind of, like, ‘Wow, are you kidding me, dude?’”

On the stand, Proctor agreed that his messages “dehumanized” Read, but he maintained that while they were “juvenile,” they didn’t impact his investigation. However, he was suspended from the force pending investigation, and is facing allegations of misconduct. 

Read herself says about the messages, “I’ve read posts on social media just about how humiliating it must’ve been for me, and degrading. I didn’t feel any of those things. I felt bad that we all had to listen to it because it was disgusting, but I didn’t feel humiliated at all. I didn’t say those words, he did.”

Pig DNA found in O’Keefe’s injuries

Another disturbing detail presented in A Body in the Snow: The Trial of Karen Read is related to O’Keefe’s injuries, which has left spectators divided about whether they were caused by a car accident. 

Notably, O’Keefe had lacerations on his arm that appeared to be caused by a dog or another animal. When swabs were taken from the wounds, forensic science analysis found no dog DNA present – however, there was evidence of pig DNA. 

When Brian Albert took the stand, he was questioned about his pet, a 70-90 pound German Shephard, who was nicknamed “not great with strangers” and was inside the house that night. Additionally, the Alberts rehomed the dog around half a year after O’Keefe’s death. 

With these facts in mind, the defense argued that the Alberts’ dog may have tried to attack O’Keefe, especially if a fight broke out at the residence. As for the pig DNA, they suggested the dog may have eaten a pig’s ear or another pork snack. 

The issue is that it’s very hard to prove these details. As Jackson points out, to this day, no investigator on the case has never walked into the Alberts’ home. And although the photos of O’Keefe’s injuries were taken on January 30, 2022, they weren’t released to Karen and her team until “sometime in May.”

With so much time passed and zero evidence from inside the home, it’s impossible to paint a clear picture of how O’Keefe sustained those wounds. But Jackson says the prosecution does “not have a theory that they can reasonably advance” about how they were caused by a motor strike. 

Ronald “Ronnie” Estanislao, a juror on the first trial, previously told Dexerto that the jury actually did reach a unanimous verdict on the second-degree murder charge: not guilty. However, since they weren’t informed that they could treat each charge separately, they said they couldn’t agree on the case overall and the judge declared a mistrial. 

The count they were divided on was manslaughter, but from a personal standpoint, Estanislao said he believed there was enough reasonable doubt to find Read not guilty. When asked about the most compelling evidence that led to this conclusion, he said the injuries played a major part.

“It was essentially the medical examiner’s report on the cause of death and the injuries, which seemed to be inconsistent with the cause of death,” he told us. 

As a paramedic himself, Estanislao found the medical evidence particularly compelling. 

“We debated that as a group, in terms of, there were other medical experts there, and we literally debated on whether it was consistent with the injuries,” he continued. “And for some of us, it was very hard to believe that the injuries were consistent with the cause of death.”

Turtleboy and the impact of the case

ID

In Episode 2 of the docu-series, we learn more about Aidan Kearney, aka Turtleboy, the YouTuber who broke key details about the case and ultimately sparked the #JusticeForKarenRead movement. 

Although social media has played an increasingly significant role in true crime (for better or worse), this instance is particularly surprising in terms of the speed at which it spread, and how it came from this one unconnected source. 

Turtleboy played a key role in shaping public opinion by publishing investigative reports, sharing court documents, and scrutinizing the prosecution’s evidence, while speaking directly with Read. 

Soon enough, hundreds of people started showing up outside the courthouse to share their support for Read, dressed in pink after she announced it as her favorite color. This led to opposing crowds appearing to support the theory that Read is responsible.

Turtleboy hasn’t been without controversy, with prosecutors accusing him of intimidating witnesses. He was arrested in October 2023 before being released on bail, but the case is still moving through the court system and isn’t expected to conclude until later this year. 

ID

Although Kearney isn’t interviewed for the docu-series, he is discussed by other Read supporters, including Richie Keough. “Turtleboy is the primary reason that there are people out in front of that courthouse every single day right now,” he says. 

Coffindaffer, meanwhile, states, “The problem is he’s crossed the boundary concerning jury selection and tainting a jury pool,” allegations Kearney continues to deny. 

Ultimately, the convergence of citizen journalism, social media outrage, and courtroom drama transformed this from a standard criminal trial into a nationwide spectacle – one that will continue to unfold as Read heads into her second trial in April 2025.

A Body In The Snow: The Trial Of Karen Read will premiere across three nights beginning Monday, March 17 at 9/8c on ID, and episodes will be available to stream on Max.

For more true crime news, read about if Alec Baldwin went to prison, the American Manhunt: Osama Bin Laden delay, and where Ruby Franke is now.