Adrian
In a dramatic turn of events during KAREN READ‘s second murder trial, crash reconstructionist DR. DANIEL WOLFE admitted on Monday that he shared notes with the defense team during the first trial, potentially violating a sequestration order. The revelation came during a contentious evidence hearing without jurors present, as special prosecutor HANK BRENNAN raised concerns about delays in discovery.
DR. WOLFE, whose testimony is pivotal to KAREN READ‘s defense, previously testified that the damage to her SUV—the alleged murder weapon—was inconsistent with a collision involving JOHN O’KEEFE, a Boston police officer found dead on a colleague’s lawn during a blizzard on January 29, 2022. On Monday, he acknowledged sharing talking points with the defense and receiving information about prior witness testimony, despite a sequestration order. He also admitted to discussing the case with the defense team on the encrypted messaging app, Signal.
Judge BEVERLY CANNONE sent jurors home at lunchtime, resuming court with a scheduled hearing involving crash reconstruction experts from the ARCCA firm. The fate of their testimony remains uncertain, as BRENNAN has repeatedly accused the defense and ARCCA of delaying expert witness disclosures. DR. WOLFE, one of two ARCCA forensic scientists who testified in the first trial, stated that the firm’s work would not be completed until May 7, over a month after the trial began.
The defense countered that the delay stemmed from the prosecution’s slow handling of its own expert disclosures, which were provided in late March. Jury selection began on April 1.
During the hearing, BRENNAN questioned DR. WOLFE about his awareness of prior witness testimony, including DNA evidence and O’KEEFE‘s outstretched arm, which he did not include in his expert reports. DR. WOLFE admitted he was unaware of the sequestration order.
DR. ANDREW RENTSCHLER, the other ARCCA expert, also testified without jurors present. Judge CANONNE is weighing whether their new findings, which are not yet finalized, should be presented to the jury. DR. RENTSCHLER stated he could expedite the findings if ordered to do so.
Earlier in the day, digital forensics expert IAN WHIFFIN of Cellebrite testified about data recovered from the phones of JOHN O’KEEFE and witness JENNIFER MCCABE. His testimony challenged two key defense theories: that MCCABE made a hypothermia-related Google search hours before O’KEEFE was discovered, and that O’KEEFE was injured elsewhere and moved to the lawn. WHIFFIN confirmed the search occurred around 6 a.m., supporting the prosecution’s timeline.
WHIFFIN also reconstructed O’KEEFE‘s final movements using location pings, Apple Health records, and phone battery temperature data. His findings indicated O’KEEFE stopped responding to calls shortly after 12:30 a.m. near the flagpole outside 34 Fairview Road, where he was later found with fatal injuries.
KAREN READ has pleaded not guilty to charges of striking O’KEEFE with her SUV during a drunken argument and leaving him to die in a snowstorm. Her defense maintains that her vehicle never made contact with O’KEEFE.
WHIFFIN is expected to return to the stand Tuesday for cross-examination at 9 a.m.
[Sources: Fox News, True Crime Team]
