Canton Conspiracy: S1-E3

Summary

KAREN: THE RETRIAL – Episode: Canton Conspiracy (S1-E3) Summary

Release Date: October 30, 2024

In the third episode of Season 1, titled "Canton Conspiracy," of the podcast series KAREN: THE RETRIAL, hosted by Law&Crime | Wondery, listeners are taken deeper into the complexities surrounding the retrial of Karen Read. This episode delves into the emergence of grassroots activism, the influence of online personalities, and the ensuing legal and ethical battles that have intensified the case against Karen Read, accused of killing Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe.

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1. The Mysterious Anonymous Tip [01:07 - 02:40]

The episode opens with a pivotal moment early in Karen Read’s defense: an anonymous phone call to her attorney, David Yannetti, claiming her innocence. At [01:32], Ted Daniel narrates, “David answers the phone and the guy gives a fake name and he says, you, client is innocent.” This tip introduces Steve Scanlon, a former sheriff's deputy, who later becomes a crucial figure in the defense’s narrative.

Scanlon provides what appears to be insider information, suggesting that Karen did not kill Officer O’Keefe and that foul play was involved within John’s circle. However, his credibility is questioned when he refuses to sign a formal affidavit and fails to provide consistent statements during police interviews, as detailed around [04:09]. Despite these inconsistencies, his initial claims sow seeds of doubt in the prosecution’s case.

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2. The Rise of Turtle Boy and the Free Karen Reid Movement [05:24 - 11:09]

A significant shift occurs with the introduction of Aidan Kearney, known online as "Turtle Boy." Starting around [05:42], Turtle Boy, a local blogger from Worcester, Massachusetts, begins extensively covering Karen Read’s case on his blog, TB Daily News, and through live streams. His provocative approach and willingness to challenge official narratives rapidly gain him a large following.

At [06:02], attorney Jennifer Roman explains, "He posted articles that he wrote about local individuals who got charged with crimes... he would then go through that person's social media and really comb through it." Turtle Boy’s relentless advocacy transforms Karen’s case from a low-profile local issue to a nationwide, even international, spectacle. His supporters adopt the color pink as a symbol for the "Free Karen Reid" movement, and rallies start to gain traction, as highlighted around [06:30].

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3. Building the Canton Conspiracy Theory [12:22 - 22:15]

With the support of Turtle Boy and his online following, Karen Read’s defense pivots to the "COVID Up" theory—a complex narrative alleging that Officer O’Keefe was killed in a conspiracy involving influential local figures with ties to the police. Aidan Kearney outlines the theory at [12:37]: “John o' Keefe was lured back to that house, beaten up in the basement, killed, attacked by the dog, and then later his body moved by fellow law enforcement officers, dragged outside and left on the front lawn. And then Karen Reed framed for that crime through planted evidence.”

This theory contradicts the initial prosecution’s view, suggesting a cover-up orchestrated by powerful individuals to protect their interests. Legal analysts and defense attorneys use this narrative to introduce reasonable doubt, arguing that the investigation was mishandled and potentially biased from the start.

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4. Public Obsession and Defense Strategy [11:09 - 22:15]

The synergy between Turtle Boy’s online presence and Karen Read’s defense strategy creates a media frenzy. Public interest surges as Turtle Boy maintains a direct line with the defense team, feeding them information to be disseminated online. Jennifer Roman observes at [09:03], “He really became a zealot for Karen Reid, where he really took up her fight.”

However, experts like legal analyst Rich Schoenstein critique the defense’s approach. At [24:35], Schoenstein notes, “Instead of going for that, the defense pursued this conspiracy theory. And the problem is they made it a binary choice for the jury.” This strategy risks presenting the case as an either/or scenario, potentially alienating jurors who may view the conspiracy narrative with skepticism.

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5. Prosecution’s Rebuttal and Maintaining Credibility [22:31 - 24:35]

As the defense solidifies its complex theories, the prosecution, led by Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey, stands firm against allegations of conspiracy. In a video released shortly after the May 2023 pretrial hearing, Morrissey emphatically states, “Conspiracy theories are not evidence… a desperate attempt to reassign guilt.”

Morrissey’s rebuttal aims to maintain the integrity of the prosecution’s case, emphasizing the lack of credible evidence supporting the defense’s claims. He underscores that no firsthand accounts place Officer O’Keefe inside the alleged crime scene, thereby challenging the foundation of the defense’s narrative.

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6. Arrest and Fallout of Turtle Boy [28:31 - 34:19]

The episode takes a dramatic turn with the arrest of Aidan Kearney on October 11, 2023, on charges of witness intimidation and conspiracy. By this point, Turtle Boy had authored over 100 articles supporting Karen Read, sold merchandise, and raised funds for her defense. Prosecutors presented evidence of his alleged harassment tactics, including doxxing witnesses and intimidating those involved in the case.

Witnesses testified to experiences such as protests outside their homes and harassment at personal events. Jennifer McCabe, a key witness, detailed at [30:57], “People come by my house, they take video, they scream… they tell me to kill myself. They tell me I'm a terrible mother.” These actions not only jeopardize the prosecution’s case but also tarnish the credibility of Karen Read’s defense, as jurors may view Turtle Boy’s behavior unfavorably.

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7. Impact on Karen Read’s Defense and Future Proceedings [34:19 - 36:32]

Turtle Boy’s legal troubles introduce complications for Karen Read’s defense. While some supporters view his arrest as an attempt to silence dissent, others recognize that his actions have undermined the case’s credibility. Legal analysts like Ian Runkle and Rich Schoenstein discuss the duality of Turtle Boy’s impact, noting that his investigative efforts uncovered new information but his methods may have backfired.

As the prosecution leverages Turtle Boy’s misconduct to cast doubt on the defense’s integrity, the episode highlights the precarious balance between advocacy and legal strategy. Ultimately, the episode concludes by emphasizing the unresolved questions surrounding Officer O’Keefe’s death and the intricate web of influences that continue to shape Karen Read’s retrial.

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Conclusion

"Canton Conspiracy" offers a comprehensive exploration of how grassroots activism and online personalities can dramatically influence high-stakes legal cases. Through detailed narration and insightful interviews, the episode captures the evolving dynamics of Karen Read’s defense, the role of conspiracy theories, and the profound implications these elements have on the pursuit of justice. As the retrial approaches, the case remains a contentious battleground where truth, perception, and power collide.

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Notable Quotes:

• Ted Daniel [01:07]: “In April 2023, David submitted to the court that started the allegations of a cover up where he said that this Google search was performed at 2:27 in the morning and that should essentially end the prosecution because in the words of the defense, it showed that other people might be culpable.”

• Aidan Kearney [12:37]: “I can't say which came first, the chicken or the egg here. I don't know if Turtle Boy started posting some of these theories or if the defense came up with these theories first, but certainly at the end of the day, they ended up very much the same.”

• Rich Schoenstein [24:35]: “Instead of going for that, the defense pursued this conspiracy theory. And the problem is they made it a binary choice for the jury.”

• Jennifer McCabe [30:57]: “People come by my house, they take video, they scream… they tell me to kill myself. They tell me I'm a terrible mother.”

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This detailed summary encapsulates the key discussions, insights, and developments presented in the "Canton Conspiracy" episode, offering listeners a thorough understanding of the intricate and high-stakes legal battle surrounding Karen Read’s retrial.

Transcript

[Paula Barros]

Wondery subscribers can binge all episodes of Karen early and ad free right now. Join Wondery in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

[Ian Runkle]

This is a Law and Crime Network presentation.

[Paula Barros]

This podcast explores themes of violence and death and contains harsh language. Please listen with care.

[Aidan Kearney]

When things really shifted is when this local blogger named Turtle Boy got involved in this case.

[Ted Daniel]

He really became a zealot for Karen Reed where he really took up her fight and a lot of people became interested in the story through him.

[Jennifer Roman]

He was uncovering this crazy web of entanglements between police officers and Karen Reid's boyfriend John o' Keefe and the lead detective, and it took on a life of its own. I definitely think that Aidan Kearney and.

[Ted Daniel]

The content creators took this case from.

[Jennifer Roman]

Just being a normal murder in the second degree case and took it to a whole nother level of making it the Depp v heard equivalent in criminal.

[Paula Barros]

Law from Law and Crime. I'm Paula Barrows and this is Karen. It's February 3, 2022, the day after Karen Reid was first arrested and charged with motor vehicle homicide, manslaughter and and leaving the scene of a motor vehicle collision causing death. Her defense attorney David Yannetti's phone rings. It's an unknown caller.

[Ted Daniel]

David answers the phone and the guy gives a fake name and he says, you, client is innocent.

[Paula Barros]

Janetti stops in his tracks. What did this anonymous caller know that he didn't? The unidentified male voice on the other end of the line goes on.

[Ted Daniel]

She did not kill John o'.

[Ian Runkle]

Keefe.

[Ted Daniel]

He was actually beaten up inside the house.

[Paula Barros]

The caller is pressed for his identity, but he hangs up before he could be unmasked. Yannetti is in a bind. While this tip could change everything, it ultimately meant nothing without a verifiable source.

[Ted Daniel]

And then about a month later, the anonymous caller identifies himself and comes into the office.

[Paula Barros]

He's a middle aged man with a strong build and a high and tight.

[Ted Daniel]

Haircut who was a former sheriff's deputy.

[Paula Barros]

And his name is Steve Scanlon.

[Ted Daniel]

This guy named Steve Scanlon tells them that he has inside information and actually names people in the house and says you need to look at those people.

[Paula Barros]

Scanlon allegedly also told Yannetti that he and Brian Albert were longtime friends. Investigative reporter at Boston 25 News, Ted Daniel recalls how Scanlon backed his claims.

[Ted Daniel]

My understanding is that Scanlon may have a daughter who was somehow connected to people in Canton. The theory amongst Karen Reid supporters is that Scanlon's daughter happened to speak to another young woman who also lived in Canton, who had was on sort of the periphery of what happened that night. And that the daughter said to Steve Scanlon, hey, this is what I'm hearing about what happened with John o' Keefe's death in Canton.

[Paula Barros]

On its face, what Scanlon shared with Yannetti veers into hearsay territory. But Scanlon's background actually emboldened Yannetti's confidence.

[Ted Daniel]

He's a private investigator and a former law enforcement officer. So I think that gave some credence initially to the defense that this guy had some verifiable information.

[Paula Barros]

But sources say when Yannetti asked Scanlon to sign an affidavit, a written statement confirmed by oath for use as evidence in court, he allegedly refused. Suddenly, Scanlon wasn't seeming so reliable. And months later, once police caught wind of his visit to Yannetti's office, they brought him in for an interview.

[Ted Daniel]

When you look at the interviews that the state police did with Scanlon, he definitely either walks back or doesn't commit. Or Scanlon says, hey, I never made any factual statements. I just said it's a possibility. But it's very strange, right?

[Paula Barros]

It is strange. Why would Scanlon go out of his way to make an anonymous call at the outset? If his conviction was weak, why would he take the time to show his face in Yannetti's office? Police had those questions, too. Here's Ted Daniel with what Scanlon allegedly told police when they inquired about his motivations for contacting Yannetti in the first place.

[Ted Daniel]

He's working as a private investigator now, and he was, you know, more looking for work, that he didn't necessarily make the allegations that the defense said he did.

[Paula Barros]

Scanlon may have been inconsistent, but for Karen Reed's defense team, his initial claim of foul play was still a lead they were willing to chase.

[Ted Daniel]

That was kind of what initially, I think, started this idea of a cover up. This sort of third party coming to the defense and saying, hey, your client is innocent. And that was sort of the tipping point for the defense.

[Paula Barros]

At this point in the investigation, the odds were really stacked against Karen, and her defense team needed something big. They began sinking their teeth into the COVID up theory. Reporter Christina Rex says Yannetti and his team didn't go without the help of an unexpected ally.

[Aidan Kearney]

When things really shifted is when this local blogger named Turtle Boy, that is his pseudonym, obviously got involved in this case.

[Paula Barros]

With a name like Turtle Boy, how legit could this guy be? And who is he really? Here's attorney Jennifer Roman.

[Aidan Kearney]

Aidan Kiernan's. Name. He really made a splash, shall we say, by pushing forth conspiracy theories and taking on these causes. He sort of took this case on pretty early on, pushing that there was a cover up. He's got a huge following and that really stirred up a lot of drama and really spurned the Free Karen Reid.

[Paula Barros]

Movement in its nascent phase. The Free Karen Reid movement began with a whisper.

[Aidan Kearney]

People were wearing pink shirts that became the Free Karen Reid color and there were Free Karen Reid rallies. You could go, you know, into a store on a weekend and you'd see people with Free Karen Reid hot pink T shirts on.

[Paula Barros]

But before it evolved into so much more than pink shirts and weekend meetups, Turtle Boy, AKA Aiden Kearney was just your run of the mill local blogger.

[Ted Daniel]

Turtle Boy's been around for a long time. He has always had this blog out of the community of Woost, Worcester, Massachusetts, which is, you know, about an hour from Boston.

[Paula Barros]

Readers typically came to the blond haired middle aged man's blog, TB Daily News for posts about local current events, sports and cultural critique. Though attorney Will Corman says Turtle Boy certainly wasn't known for playing it safe. In fact, what drew many of his followers was his provocative tone and bravado.

[Jennifer Roman]

He posted articles that he wrote about local individuals who got charged with crimes or local individuals who were running afoul of the law. He came at these cases or he came at his articles from a somewhat humorous bent. I think he was a little profane. I think that he has an innate ability to spend time really digging through people's lives. If he was going to write about somebody who was arrested for drunk driving, let's say some, you know, I'm making this up. But if he was going to be, if he was going to investigate some individual in a town who's arrest for drunk driving, he would then go through that person's social media and really comb through it and then plaster his blog with pictures of those people at parties, pictures those people drinking and sort of turn their lives upside down.

[Paula Barros]

This sort of armchair investigation is what his followers really ate up.

[Ted Daniel]

Had a really solid group of loyal readers. People supported him. He kind of often took the counter opinion on things and wasn't afraid to call people out.

[Paula Barros]

In April 2023, Turtle Boy began regularly writing about the case, which had up to that point received very little media attention. He posts multiple stories a day on his TV daily news blog and livestreams two, sometimes three times a week on YouTube. His reports claim that law enforcement officers and witnesses were framing Karen Reed in An elaborate conspiracy to protect o' Keefe's true killers. Here's Will Corman again.

[Jennifer Roman]

He then got his hooks into this case at the very beginning. I don't want to call it investigative reporting, but did that same sort of digging, if you will. And by three, four weeks into this case, he was originally the only person who was spending this much time looking into it. He was uncovering this crazy web of entanglements between police officers and Karen Reid's boyfriend, John o', Keefe, and the lead detective. And it took on a life of its own.

[Paula Barros]

Suddenly, Turtle Boy wasn't without help either.

[Ted Daniel]

He really became a zealot for, for Karen Reid, where he really took up her fight. And a lot of people became interested in the story through him.

[Jennifer Roman]

And then his supporters also started digging and looking through Facebook pages and Instagram pages and Twitter and so on and so forth and helped create sort of this background that I think Ms. Reed's attorneys could build off of.

[Paula Barros]

An all out phenomenon was underway. A guy who calls himself Turtle Boy had sparked a widespread public obsession.

[Jennifer Roman]

One of the fascinating things about the Karen Reid case is it is really easy to go down a rabbit hole and emerge four days later. It's hard to avoid. Once you start getting into it, it's hard to stop.

[Aidan Kearney]

Tipping.

[Paula Barros]

Culture is out of control.

[Aidan Kearney]

Yesterday I tipped someone just for handing me a napkin.

[Paula Barros]

So when hotels.com gives me up to 20% off for being a member, I finally get tipped. And you know what? It feels good. Hotels.com, members save up to 20% off at hundreds of thousands of hotels. Their insatiable appetite for connecting the dots that could potentially prove Karen Reid's innocence did nothing but favors for her defense team.

[Jennifer Roman]

I don't think this was a media strategy that was envisioned by attorney Iannetti or attorney Jackson, but good Lord, it certainly worked out to their benefit, in my opinion.

[Paula Barros]

Reporter Ted Daniels says Turtle Boy's reporting became so integral to the defense's case, he eventually had a direct line to them.

[Ted Daniel]

The defense had an investigator, right? The defense investigator would go out and find things out about this case that were unusual or suspect. And that information would then be fed to Turtle Boy, who would report on it. Because there were so many weird things with this case, Turtle Boy had a lot of stories to report. And I think it just kind of.

[Paula Barros]

Grew with the help and determination of Turtle Boy, the defense's case finally had legs.

[Jennifer Roman]

More and more information came out about these concentric circles, these overlapping relationships. And I think that, and I'm not trying to take away from the defense attorneys in any way, shape or form. I think that they were handed gift upon gift that allowed them to build the case that they did.

[Paula Barros]

And Karen Reid's case was officially catapulted out of the confines of local news.

[Aidan Kearney]

This belief that Karen Reid was not only innocent, but that she had been framed by police. That narrative is when it went from a local news story to a news story that all of Massachusetts was talking about to now an international news story. And I think that the Internet is probably 99% of the reason that that happened.

[Paula Barros]

So what did Karen Reid's defense team, Turtle Boy and their sympathizers, propose happened that stormy, Snowy night in January 2022? If Karen didn't kill John O', Keefe, who did? And how did he die?

[Aidan Kearney]

I can't say which came first, the chicken or the egg here. I don't know if Turtle Boy started posting some of these theories or if the defense came up with these theories first, but certainly at the end of the day, they ended up very much the same. They say John o' Keefe was lured back to that house, beaten up in the basement, killed, attacked by the dog, and then later his body moved by fellow law enforcement officers, dragged outside and left on the front lawn. And then Karen Reed framed for that crime through planted evidence.

[Paula Barros]

This theory is certainly a far cry from, and much more complex than what the Commonwealth of Massachusetts believed to be true.

[Jennifer Roman]

Karen Reid was a convenient scapegoat for an incident that had already happened.

[Paula Barros]

Was the group partying at Nicole and Brian Albert's home that night really that well connected to pull something so elaborate off? After all, Brian Albert himself claimed that he never even saw Karen or John arrive at his home. Attorney Ian Runkle explains.

[Ian Runkle]

So the suggestion here is basically that the Alberts have really strong connections to police, including connections to, like, the chief of police and so forth. They're sort of presented as this connected, powerful family that really didn't like outsiders. They didn't like the people who were not part of that world, which included Karen Reid. It's not really quite being suggested that they're a crime family or anything like that. It's not like they're the mob, but just that they're this, you know, powerful, insular family that look out for each other and that this is a major sort of factor in things. But the allegation here is that essentially, or at least what the defense has been trying to suggest is that when something went wrong in this house, maybe a fight, maybe whatever, that they all kind of banded together and wanted to cover it up and to hide it and that they were able to make that happen because of their police connections and their access to the police station, access to police officers in order to convince them that they should take various steps.

[Paula Barros]

Before we dive deeper, it's important to understand the culture in Canton that could lend itself to this theory gaining any sort of traction. Here's Massachusetts attorney Jennifer Roman.

[Aidan Kearney]

Again, something that I don't understand fully, but there's definitely a lot of distrust of the Canton police. And I don't know what the roots of that is or where that came from originally, but it's definitely there. And I think that that's contributed to this polarizing effect of this case with some people being absolutely adamant that these dirty cops did a cover up.

[Paula Barros]

Despite the ambiguous origin of the distrust in police, it was working for Karen's defense.

[Aidan Kearney]

They were at the Alberts home. Paul Everts, a retired Canton police officer, I think he even served as the police chief for a while. And when the first responders responded to that home, they knew exactly where they were going. They knew that they were dealing with one of their own. And they rushed this investigation and they employed this major cover up to prevent one of their own from going down.

[Paula Barros]

Jennifer illuminated one of the biggest red flags that further lends to this theory.

[Aidan Kearney]

The police made a snap judgment at the scene and never went in the home to determine whether or not anything the crime had occurred inside the home. They left their investigation strictly to the exterior of the home, which the defense says was extraordinarily problematic and tunnel visioned of them.

[Paula Barros]

There is something objectively curious about this. You'd think if John's body turned up dead a stone's throw from a home that belonged to people he knew and trusted, investigators would at least take a peek. But according to most of Karen Reid's supporters, they didn't even do the bare minimum.

[Ian Runkle]

We never will know what will have happened if they decided to have a look in that basement and, you know, spray some luminol around.

[Paula Barros]

Legal analyst Rich Schoenstein played devil's advocate when we asked him how investigators deliberately choosing not to take a look inside the Alberts home feeds into the COVID up theory.

[Rich Schoenstein]

Some police officer investigating should have walked inside that house at some point. I don't see how you didn't do that. That might have been in deference to the fact that it's owned by a police officer. That was a mistake, but it's not a conspiracy.

[Paula Barros]

Opinions aside, the revelation of these reported missteps began casting reasonable doubt over Karen being the culprit. However, the prosecution could counter that no one who was at the party the night before gave investigators any reason to enter the Alberts, none of the lay.

[Aidan Kearney]

Witnesses, none of them placed John O' Keefe inside. 34 Fairview Road, where this crime is alleged to have occurred. Karen Reed herself says she didn't see him go. You know, I mean, the defense never came up with anything that says, you know, she saw him go in the house. Nobody places him inside the house.

[Paula Barros]

This crucial detail is a big problem for Yannetti.

[Aidan Kearney]

The defense wants him inside the house because they're saying the fight occurred inside the home and that those bad apples inside the home were threw John o' Keeffe's body or dragged his body out and left him in the cold to die.

[Paula Barros]

But isn't it possible that the partygoers could all be in on the COVID up?

[Jennifer Roman]

The theory is that they were simply going to say, we never saw him, he never came into the house. And let that be that.

[Paula Barros]

To some watching the case closely, like criminal defense attorney Matt Timpanik, the idea that everyone was in on the COVID up just seems too far fetched.

[Jennifer Roman]

They had included 30, 40, 50 people in this conspiracy. It's like, all right, you can't really get like three people to agree, five people, but 30 to 50 people all agreed to, oh, we're just part of this railroading of Karen Reed to cover up the death of Officer John o'. Keefe. It's just preposterous.

[Paula Barros]

Each time the defense was thrown a curveball that might tamp the flames on their theory, they could always reliably come back to the haphazard investigation that took place on the day John's body was found and the days following.

[Rich Schoenstein]

They conducted a very sloppy investigation because this guy Proctor thought it was obvious what had happened. And then they realized obvious wasn't good enough. They needed evidence. They took some liberties in the way they put this case together because they realized too late there were things they should have done.

[Paula Barros]

Onlookers began to form strong opinions on Trooper Michael Proctor's investigation of the crime scene, or lack thereof. Here's Matt again.

[Jennifer Roman]

When you think about with the people who had access to it, especially with Michael Proctor, he's kind of just thrown into this as a situation. It's very clear. Trooper Michael Proctor, immediately seeing what was going on, needed to recuse himself. The reason he didn't, I don't know, maybe he thought that he could remain objective or whatever, but it's still it just added fuel to the defense's fire. He shouldn't have been involved in the investigation. When he showed up and realized what had happened, he should have handed it off to somebody else.

[Paula Barros]

For some Trooper Proctor was just way too close to this and also way out of his league on top of it all the way the evidence was reportedly approached and rushed through by Proctor and his colleagues, which we'll get to in due time, was just undeniable. No matter who you believe, says Alida Majejeka.

[Aidan Kearney]

The idea that the Canton PD as well as the Massachusetts State Police did not do enough to investigate this case properly, to look down all avenues, you know, whether you think that that was because they were framing her or whether you think that they just were not doing a proper investigation when they should have.

[Paula Barros]

And what about the piece of this cover up theory that alleges a fight inside the house could have led to John's untimely fate?

[Ian Runkle]

You've got a whole bunch of people who are drinking, who are a little sort of physical handsy. I don't believe the like. When the defense sort of suggested this as these people were sparring and the way they described it was playing grab ass. That can escalate to a physical fight very, very quickly. But there's all sorts of other possibilities.

[Paula Barros]

One of those other possibilities presented was the Albert's dog.

[Ian Runkle]

Even if you just get to something like, you know, the dog doesn't like strangers and jumps on him, maybe he falls back, hits his head, maybe there's no physical fist fight. I don't know exactly what goes on.

[Paula Barros]

Not knowing exactly what happened inside or outside that house on January 28th and 29th of 2022 is exactly what the defense needed a jury to feel. Ian explains how throwing multiple theories out into the ether created potential problems for the prosecution.

[Ian Runkle]

The problem is that when I'm sort of thinking about this, I have all sorts of possibilities, possible explanations, but I don't have one that I say I know this is what happened and the burden is on the prosecution. The prosecution has to show beyond a reasonable doubt that this was a homicide and also that Karen Reid was responsible.

[Paula Barros]

Karen's defense, with the help of Turtle Boy and a cadre of online sleuths, had officially built a case that was more complicated than your typical crime of passion.

[Jennifer Roman]

I definitely think that Aiden Kearney and the content creators took this case from just being a normal, relatively speaking, murder in the second degree case and took it to a whole nother level of making it the Depp v Heard Equivalent in criminal law.

[Paula Barros]

The COVID up theory was officially the defense's counter argument and they were sticking with it. Ted Daniel remembers when David Yannetti delivered the filing that threw the first stone of reasonable doubt.

[Ted Daniel]

In April of 2023, David submitted to the court that started the allegations of a cover up where he said that this Google search was performed at 2:27 in the morning and that should essentially end the prosecution because in the words of the defense, it showed that other people might be culpable.

[Paula Barros]

Yannetti alleged that the how long to die in the cold Google search that Karen supposedly asked Jennifer McCabe to make once they found John's body was actually made in the wee hours of the morning the day John died, nearly five hours before he was discovered. If it were true, it could change everything. And at a pretrial hearing on May 24, 2023, Karen's defense attorney, Alan Jackson implicated who he and his team believed were actually involved in the death of John o'. Keefe.

[Jennifer Roman]

By name, Brian Albert is integrally involved in the death of John O'.

[Paula Barros]

Keefe.

[Jennifer Roman]

He is implicated in the death of John O'.

[Aidan Kearney]

Keefe.

[Jennifer Roman]

Jennifer McCabe is equally implicated in the death of John O' Keefe and the subsequent cover up of that death. We are entitled to defend our client. What are they afraid of? They seem to be desperately fearful that we're actually going to get to the truth of what actually happened.

[Paula Barros]

The heat was on. It was now explicit and public who the defense believed was culpable and their faith in their client was crystal clear.

[Jennifer Roman]

No, she didn't do it. No, she didn't do it. This is an innocent woman. She didn't do it.

[Paula Barros]

But onlookers of the case, like Rich Showenstein saw holes in relying on the COVID up theory as the sole defense strategy. Were they making it more complicated than it needed to be?

[Rich Schoenstein]

So Alan Jackson is one of the premier trial lawyers in America. And to that extent, it's a little bit silly for me to second guess him, but I did have a disagreement with his trial strategy here. To me, this was a great reasonable doubt case. There's so much reasonable doubt about whether a car even hit John o', Keefe, whether that was even the cause of injury. There's reasonable doubt about whether Karen Reid would have had any intent to hit him. There's just reasonable doubt dripping off the vine. And instead of going for that, the defense pursued this conspiracy theory. And the problem is they made it a binary choice for the jury. Either she killed him or there's this Conspiracy, where he was killed in the house and all the police officers and all these witnesses are lying to you. And if those are the only two choices, I think that hurts the defense. I don't understand why they didn't just say no one saw it, no one knows anything could have happened. He could have been clubbed by a stranger. He could have fallen over and hit his head. Maybe he went in the house. Maybe he was hit by a plow, Maybe he was hit by another car. You don't know because the scientific evidence can't tell you what happened to me. That was a stronger defense, not the conspiracy defense.

[Paula Barros]

On the other side of the coin, attorney Jennifer Roman counters that leaning on the COVID up theory is precisely what Karen's case needed.

[Aidan Kearney]

The defense did a great job about suggesting that this Karen Reid did not hit him, that there's all this evidence that points that it had something happened after she left 34 Fairview and she had nothing to do with it. They don't actually have to tell us why there would have been a fight. There were some suggestions that Colin Alpert, who at the time was 17 years old, was a bit of a hothead and that him and John o' Keefe would have gotten into a tussle. There's some suggestion that everyone, you know, obviously every people had been drinking. And so the defense has sort of relied on the fact that this was just a bunch of people just acting poorly and acting badly. But they've never really given us an explanation for why there might be a fight. But again, they don't need to. It's not their job to prove what actually happened or what could have happened. Their job is to sow doubt and to say that you can't find beyond a reasonable doubt that Karen Reed hit him with her vehicle.

[Paula Barros]

After the May hearing, Karen broke her silence for the first time to reporters on the steps of the Norfolk County Superior Court. In a navy pinstripe blazer over a white button up blouse, she emotionally echoed the claims of both her attorneys and her supporters.

[Aidan Kearney]

We know who did it. We know and we know who spearheaded this cover up. You all know I tried to save his life. I tried to save his life. At six in the morning, I was covered in his blood. I was the only one trying to save his life. Said it feels we're the only ones.

[Paula Barros]

Fighting for the truth of what happened to John o'.

[Aidan Kearney]

Keefe. And me and my family and my attorneys and my team have marshaled every resource to get to the truth. Just feels like no one else wants it.

[Paula Barros]

While Karen, her team and her growing following were steadfast in the COVID up theory, the Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey wasn't buying it. So much so that Shortly after the May 2023 pretrial hearing, he released a video condemning their argument in front of a wall of law textbooks. Sporting an orange sailboat tie, Morrissey was resolute in the conviction that the defense's narrative was nothing more than a witch hunt.

[Jennifer Roman]

Conspiracy theories are not evidence. The idea that multiple police department EMTs, fire personnel, the medical examiner and prosecuting agencies are joined in or taken in by a vast conspiracy should be seen for what it is.

[Ted Daniel]

Completely contrary to the evidence and a.

[Jennifer Roman]

Desperate attempt to reassign guilt. There was no fight inside that home. Joan o' Keeffe did not enter the home.

[Paula Barros]

Now there were two squarely divided camps in the case of Karen Reed, and Turtle Boy had solidified himself as the poster boy for camp cover up. But his investigation didn't just turn up the heat for the prosecution.

[Jennifer Roman]

What is happening to the witnesses, some with no actual involvement in the case, is wrong.

[Ted Daniel]

It is contrary to the American values.

[Jennifer Roman]

Of fairness and the constitutional value of fair trial. It needs to stop.

[Paula Barros]

Now here's Jennifer Roman Again, he is.

[Aidan Kearney]

Involved, embroiled in his own criminal charges in part because of his conduct through this Karen Reid case. He's accused of trying to of intimidating witnesses and interfering with a criminal investigation.

[Paula Barros]

On October 11, 2023, Aiden Kearney, aka Turtle Boy, was arrested on charges of wit, intimidation and conspiracy, specifically harassing a witness and intercepting wire or oral communication of an unnamed victim. By the time the charges were brought against him, he had posted over 100 articles about the case, sold free Karen Reed merchandise with the Turtle Boy logo, and raised money for Reed's legal defense fund. He was arrested and subsequently arraigned in Stoughton District Court, the same court used for Karen's arraignment. In the courtroom, prosecutors drew on Turtle Boy's blog to provide evidence of the alleged witness intimidation. Witnesses summoned in the investigation of Karen Reed claimed they had been doxxed by him. In other words, they alleged he was publicly sharing personal information like addresses and phone numbers. Ian Runkle and Rich Showenstein recall what some witnesses claimed were the lengths Turtle Boy and his followers went to harass them.

[Ian Runkle]

Having protests at their house, protests at their school. You know, people sending them emails, text messages and so forth.

[Rich Schoenstein]

I think people have gone at the alberts and the McCabes and even the O'. Keefes. I mean, his fighting with the O', Keefes, to me, is mind boggling. They're. They're relatives of the victim. He should not be fighting with them.

[Paula Barros]

Rich isn't wrong. They did visit the McCabes. Here's Jennifer McCabe with her side of the story.

[Aidan Kearney]

People come by my house, they take video, they scream. They've gone to my child sporting events and called me names. They've written letters to my daughter's colleges and said that they shouldn't allow them to play. And then they've attached these horrific articles that have been complete lies about all of us. They send me Facebook messages, they call.

[Paula Barros]

My phone, home phone and cell phone.

[Aidan Kearney]

All hours of the night. They tell me to kill myself. They tell me I'm a terrible mother. They harass my children. It's just unimaginable what my entire family is going through. I go to the beach, they take pictures, they post it, they threaten that there are eyes everywhere. I'll never be able to live a normal life again.

[Paula Barros]

I am a witness.

[Aidan Kearney]

That's all I am. I am not on trial. I am a witness, and these people are terrorizing me.

[Paula Barros]

These charges brought against Turtle Boy, for which he pleaded not guilty to, created problems for the defense, says Ian Runkle.

[Ian Runkle]

This is also really contentious because it's clear that this sort of family and their friends also views themselves as very much wronged in this. And the prosecution was able to get out evidence that they had been harassed. And so that also creates an interesting aspect because it's possible that there will be some jurors who have sympathy for them, going, oh, they've been. They've been poorly treated as well.

[Paula Barros]

And the harassment tactics certainly didn't reflect well on the guy who made it his mission to bring justice for Karen Reed. In fact, it could potentially harm her case.

[Ian Runkle]

And this is one of the things that I sort of have to be mindful when I'm covering cases is to remind people, don't mess with the case. Right? Don't step into the case. The last thing you want is for somebody to interfere or to meddle in a way that can cause problems. And ultimately that evidence is going to have been harmful to Karen Reed. The evidence of the sort of harassment.

[Paula Barros]

Turtle Boy argued his charges alongside his attorney, Timothy bradle, citing his First Amendment rights. Turtle Boy was held on a $1,000 cash bond and released with some conditions to stay away from all the witnesses named by the prosecution in the case of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts vs Karen Reed. Following the arraignment, Turtle Boy held a press Conference reporting the news is not harassment.

[Jennifer Roman]

Asking questions is not harassment. You guys all heard. You all heard what they read out loud today. And by the way, I was arrested by that guy right there, Lieutenant Brian.

[Paula Barros]

Tully, one of the people I've been exposing.

[Rich Schoenstein]

One of the people I've been exposing, the man who signed all of those.

[Jennifer Roman]

Fraudulent police reports that we've now exposed for being lies.

[Paula Barros]

He had the audacity to come to my house and put me in handcuffs today. I'm not scared of him. And I will not be silenced.

[Jennifer Roman]

And I will.

[Paula Barros]

I will be steadfast.

[Jennifer Roman]

And keeping on with his mission to expose the real killers of John o'.

[Ian Runkle]

Keefe.

[Paula Barros]

Karen Reid's biggest crusader was now a certifiable threat to her case's credibility. And another polarizing figure connected to John o' Keefe's mysterious death.

[Ian Runkle]

There's people who want to love Turtle Boy and there's people who want to hate Turtle Boy. There's a lot more nuance than anybody really wants to ascribe to it.

[Paula Barros]

But some Turtle Boy supporters went so far as to say his arrest was just another attempt to silence the truth so surrounding the death of John o'. Keefe. And while Turtle Boy's legal troubles may not have done the defense team any favors, Ian and Rich say there's more than one way to look at it.

[Ian Runkle]

The flip side of that is that my understanding is that Turtle Boy did a whole lot of investigation and uncovered a whole lot of information that otherwise may never have come to light.

[Rich Schoenstein]

I do have some problems with the way he did things, but he did ask some good questions about law enforcement. So I can't say it's all bad.

[Paula Barros]

Before long, many of Turtle Boy's findings began to surface as tangible evidence. While Karen Reed's defense prepared their pre trial case.

[Aidan Kearney]

There are certain elements that are still very big questions for me that were brought up by the defense. Those taillight pieces, they really don't match the photos that were taken of the back of Karen Reid's car before it was picked up by, by Trooper Proctor and Trooper Buchanan.

[Jennifer Roman]

But unfortunately, when you have those pieces of tail light in the clothing that are so small that how would somebody actually plant this if you can't even pick it up?

[Ian Runkle]

The problem is that timeline is probably wrong, that it's probably an hour off, which then gives them plenty of time to break the taillight and sort of sprinkle it around.

[Jennifer Roman]

John o' Keefe's injuries are consistent with having been in a fight and are not consistent with having been hit by a car. That means that Cameron Reed did not kill him.

[Aidan Kearney]

I've often said that every crime scene is a puzzle, but what happens when you can't trust the pieces you have? We're left trying to determine if the evidence is really showing a true picture of what occurred.

[Ted Daniel]

That term, butt dial, is used by many of the Commonwealth's witnesses to explain the many calls between them and among them.

[Jennifer Roman]

And I've never seen a case where there have been so many butt dials, to be frank.

[Paula Barros]

That's all coming up on the next episode of Karen. This has been a law and crime production. I'm your host, Paula Barros. Our executive producer is Jessica Lowther. Our producer and writer is Cooper Maul. Our editor is Brad Mabie. Our researcher is Stephanie Doucet. Our bookers are Alyssa Fisher and Diane Kay. Legal and fact checking by Elizabeth Voulai. And special thanks to Shawn Panzera for designing our key art. Follow Karen in the Wondery app. You can binge the entire series early and ad free right now by joining Wondery in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify.