It’s been nearly four years since Karen Read found her boyfriend, Boston Police officer John O’Keefe, in the snow on the front lawn of a fellow officer’s Canton home.
But the Read phenomenon shows no signs of slowing down, with several adaptations of her story in the works, including a forthcoming series starring Mass. native Elizabeth Banks.
Lifetime is throwing its hat in the ring on Saturday, when “Accused: The Karen Read Story” premieres. It’s a largely faithful telling of the saga surrounding Read, which began when O’Keefe died on Jan. 29, 2022 and led to two widely watched criminal trials (Read was acquitted in June of all charges having to do with O’Keefe’s death).
Katie Cassidy stars as Read in the film, with Luke Humphrey playing O’Keefe. MassLive was provided an early copy of the film.
What ‘Accused: The Karen Read Story’ gets rightRead’s panicked phone calls
The film depicts a seemingly hungover Read making a series of panicked phone calls on the morning of Jan. 29, 2022 after she wakes up to find O’Keefe hasn’t returned to his home in Canton. Read calls two of O’Keefe’s friends: Jennifer McCabe and Kerry Roberts, and the three of them venture out to look for him.
McCabe is later shown taking the stand during a dramatized version of Read’s trial.
The Red Solo Cups
Police officers famously — or infamously — used red Solo cups at the scene of O’Keefe’s death to collect evidence, storing blood-soaked snow in the cups. The film depicts red slush inside one of the cups.
Those Proctor texts
Michael Proctor, the former Massachusetts State Police trooper who led the criminal investigation into Read, is depicted sending the unprofessional text messages about Read that ultimately led to his firing. In a group chat with friends from high school, Proctor called Read a “whack-job (expletive),” adding she was a “babe” with a “weird Fall River accent.”
He is later seen being questioned about his texts on the stand during Read’s trial.
Read’s voicemails
After dropping O’Keefe off at 34 Fairview Road in Canton, where he would later be found, Read left him several angry voicemails. Those voicemails, including one where Read says, “John I (expletive) hate you,” were a central part of the evidence against Read at her two criminal trials. In the film, an actor playing prosecutor Adam Lally (who is not named) asks for the voicemails to be played aloud. The cursing is removed.
Verdict reached — then withdrawn
Jurors during Read’s retrial did actually alert court officers that they had come to a verdict, then swiftly changed their minds and reported they no longer had a verdict. It was a dramatic enough moment that the script didn’t even have to fake it.
What ‘Accused: The Karen Read Story’ gets wrongThe police response
At the scene of O’Keefe’s death, viewers clearly see a Boston Police officer collecting blood in Solo cups. Though O’Keefe was a Boston officer, Canton Police led the initial response — and used the Solo cups.
‘Turtleboy’
Aidan Kearney, the blogger who goes by “Turtleboy” online, is portrayed in the film as a mostly mild-mannered advocate for peaceful protests in support of Read. While Kearney was arguably Read’s most fervent supporter, his methods were more confrontational than portrayed.
Kearney held what he dubbed “rolling rallies” and regularly accused McCabe and others of being “murderers” responsible for the death of O’Keefe. He has since been charged with numerous counts of witness intimidation for his conduct, which his lawyers say is protected by the First Amendment.
An omission
The film leaves out Elizabeth Little, one of the lawyers who worked on Read’s defense. Little is a partner at Alan Jackson’s Los Angeles, California, law firm. Jackson headed up Read’s criminal defense.
Little was on the defense team for both of Read’s trials. While she didn’t question many witnesses, she was responsible for writing many of the pre-trial motions.
The film spends most of its time portraying the first trial, meaning Robert Alessi, who joined the team ahead of Read’s retrial, is also left out.