Here's the narrative of today's testimonies.
To be read from bottom up.
The prosecution and defense laid out competing theories of John O'Keefe's death during opening statements Tuesday in Karen Read's second trial. Testimony resumes Wednesday.
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3:46 p.m. - Cannone sends jurors home for the day
Cannone told Roberts she could step down after a brief sidebar with the lawyers. She will pick up her testimony on Wednesday morning.
Cannone cautioned the jury to avoid media coverage of the trial or discussing it with anyone.
3:30 p.m. - Roberts testifies about search for O’Keefe
After the call to police, Roberts drove to the home of another woman who was friends with O’Keefe, Jennifer McCabe.
When she arrived to McCabe’s home, Read pointed Roberts to her taillight, which Roberts said was missing a piece.
At the time, Roberts said she didn’t think anything of it and the trio drove to O’Keefe’s home in two cars to search for him.
When they arrived at O’Keefe’s home, the group of women went inside to search for him. They went in through the garage and Roberts began looking through the first floor of the home.
Roberts said she looked through five or six rooms downstairs while McCabe searched upstairs. Read was standing in O’Keefe’s room at the top of the stairs, not moving.
When they couldn’t find O’Keefe at his home, the trio set off for 34 Fairview Road with McCabe giving directions. Roberts said she and McCabe were looking out both windows as they drove.
Read was “very frantic.”
When they arrived, Read began screaming, “there he is” and started kicking the door to try and get out. Roberts said she was looking around but didn’t see anything.
Read ran right over to what appeared to be a mound of snow when she got out of the car, Roberts said.
3:26 p.m. - Roberts’ call to Canton Police played
On the morning of O’Keefe’s death, after getting the frantic call from Read, Roberts called Canton Police to see if O’Keefe had been picked up that night.
Roberts says in the call that she also called area hospitals, who told her O’Keefe hadn’t been checked in.
The dispatcher told Roberts they didn’t get any calls and no one was arrested overnight. Roberts told him it was unusual that O’Keefe didn’t return home.
3:20 p.m. - Roberts describes 5 a.m. phone call from Read
On the morning of O’Keefe’s death, Read called Roberts at 5 a.m.
Roberts, who testified she was half-asleep, said Read screamed, “Kerry, Kerry, Kerry, John’s dead” and hung up.
Read was so loud on the phone that it woke up Roberts’ husband.
3:05 p.m. - Roberts testifies about relationship with O’Keefe
Roberts, whose son is the same age as O’Keefe’s nephew, said she and O’Keefe went to high school together in Braintree but were not close.
The pair became close after O’Keefe’s sister and brother-in-law died and he became the guardian of his niece and nephew, Roberts said.
Roberts lived in the same neighborhood as O’Keefe and he was the emergency contact for her children at school.
“There was a lot of us that jumped in to help” O’Keefe raise the children, Roberts said. “The community came together” in the wake of O’Keefe’s sister and brother-in-law’s death, she said.
3 p.m. - Prosecution calls next witness
Brennan called Kerry Roberts — one of the two women with Read on the morning O’Keefe was found — to the stand after Nuttall’s testimony concluded.
Before Roberts took the stand, Brennan played a clip of Read’s interview with Investigation Discovery for the docuseries, “A Body in the Snow.”
In it, Read says, “I know I said ‘I hit him’” as part of a discussion of how her memory has been warped by her review of the evidence in the case.
2:55 p.m. - Nuttall says no one exited the home
On re-cross examination, Nuttall said he never saw anyone exit the home as first responders worked on O’Keefe.
That’s despite the “chaotic” scene that featured screaming, flashing lights and the sound of emergency response vehicles.
Jackson also attempted to undermine Nuttall’s version of events, saying his testimony didn’t line up with the videos both sides played during questioning.
Specifically, Nuttall’s statements about who was performing CPR on O’Keefe and when appeared to be inconsistent with the video, Jackson said.
2:40 p.m. - Read told others, ‘I hit him’
After a brief sidebar, Brennan asked Nuttall if he had heard Read say “I hit him” to anyone else at the scene.
Nuttall said he heard her say it “in the background” as he was treating O’Keefe.
“That was not our focus,” he said.
2:36 p.m. - Nuttall says Brennan never influenced testimony
As Brennan continued his questioning of Nuttall, he asked if he had ever told Nuttall to “stick to a story.”
Nuttall said he hadn’t, and that during their meetings, Brennan told him his testimony needed to be his best recollection of what happened.
2:30 p.m. - Brennan questions Nuttall about video shown by defense
On redirect, Brennan asked Nuttall if the moment he heard Read say “I hit him” was included in the dash cam video played by Jackson during cross-examination.
Nuttall said it wasn’t, and Brennan played the video from the moment paramedics arrived.
2:13 p.m. - Jackson questions Nuttall about meeting with lead investigator
Jackson asked Nuttall if he remembered telling former Trooper Michael Proctor that he saw Read “praying” over O’Keefe’s body.
Nuttall said he did not recall saying anything like that, and appeared confused when Jackson asked.
“I have no recollection of saying that anybody prayed over anybody in this case,” he said after reviewing a copy of Proctor’s report.
During the first trial, Nuttall testified his memory of conversations with Proctor was “faulty.” On Tuesday, he confirmed that was still true.
Nuttall denied ever saying that Read prayed over O’Keefe.
“That’s really not something that I ever would have said,” he said.
2 p.m. - Nuttall resumes testimony after lunch
Nuttall returned to the stand after a lunch break, and Jackson began a line of questioning about whether the first responders discussed the incident after returning to the fire station.
“Do you remember discussing your observations and what happened at the scene?” Jackson asked.
Nuttall said he had not. Instead, the group discussed what equipment they used on the call and whether any of it needed to be replaced.
1:05 p.m. - Jackson grills Nuttall about O’Keefe’s injuries
Nuttall said in addition to the lacerations on his arm, O’Keefe had a hematoma — a golf-ball-sized swollen wound — above his right eye.
That injury is often the result of blunt force trauma, such as being hit, Nuttall said.
Jackson asked Nuttall if O’Keefe’s injuries could be consistent with a fight. Brennan objected and Nuttall said he couldn’t answer the question.
But Jackson said Nuttall answered the very same question at the first trial.
Cannone called a sidebar and adjourned the trial for lunch afterward.
12:57 p.m. - Nuttall testifies about O’Keefe’s clothing
During the first trial, and during his testimony before a grand jury, Nuttall said he remembered O’Keefe wearing a puffy winter coat on the morning he was found.
At Jackson’s prompting, Nuttall admitted he was “completely wrong” about the clothing.
In fact, O’Keefe was wearing a short-sleeve T-shirt and a thin hoodie, Jackson told Nuttall.
12:49 p.m. - Jackson begins cross-examination of Nuttall
Nuttall said he had three conversations with prosecutors before he testified, including one on Monday night.
During a meeting with prosecutors three weeks ago, Nuttall went over his testimony during the first trial. In his testimony at Read’s first trial, Nuttall testified he heard Read say “I hit him” twice, not the three times he said he heard it during his testimony Tuesday.
Jackson asked Nuttall about a second meeting with Brennan and State Police Detective Lt. Brian Tully, the former head of the State Police Detective Unit assigned to the district attorney’s office.
During the meeting, the group went over the “I hit him” statement again.
Jackson grilled Nuttall about the difference between his testimony in the first and second trials.
Canton Fire Department paramedic Timothy Nuttall testifies during Karen Read's second murder trial at Norfolk Superior Court on Tuesday, April 22, 2025 in Dedham, Mass. (Stuart Cahill/The Boston Herald via AP, Pool)BH
12:32 p.m. - Prosecution plays dashcam footage
Brennan played footage taken from a dash camera in a police cruiser on the morning of O’Keefe’s death.
Read can be seen running and screaming in the footage as Nuttall and another firefighter began working on O’Keefe.
The audio in the footage cut out around the moment when Nuttall said he heard Read say she hit O’Keefe.
12:25 p.m. - Nuttall explains ‘I hit him’ statement
Nuttall said as he knelt near O’Keefe’s head, he looked up to see Read with blood on her face.
As he provided ventilation to O’Keefe, Read told Nuttall, “I hit him,” “I hit him,” “I hit him.”
“I remember it very distinctly,” Nuttall said.
The morning O’Keefe was found stood out more than most calls Nuttall had been on, he said, because of the setting and the unknown nature of the call.
Nuttall noted that he was not a police officer or an investigator, and his only focus on the morning he found O’Keefe was to try and save his life.
12:15 p.m. - Canton firefighter testifies about finding O’Keefe
Nuttall said snow was coming down heavily when he arrived to 34 Fairview Road on the morning of Jan. 29, 2022.
Nuttall heard screaming and followed the noise, where he discovered Read and two other women: Jennifer McCabe and Kerry Roberts. He rushed over to O’Keefe, who was lying on his back where the front lawn met the sidewalk.
Nuttall tried to find a pulse, but O’Keefe wasn’t breathing. O’Keefe was cold to the touch, he said.
“There was no signs of life,” he said.
Because O’Keefe was cold to the touch, first responders attempted to resuscitate him. Nuttall said O’Keefe’s fingers were white and stiff, which can be signs of hypothermia and frostbite.
12 p.m. - Prosecution calls first witness
Nuttall, the first responder who said he heard Read say, “I hit him,” was called as the first witness for the prosecution.
His testimony began with him describing his background and experience.
On the morning of Jan. 29, 2022, Nuttall said he arrived to work early, just before 6 a.m. Not long after entering the building, Nuttall heard a dispatcher say an unresponsive man had been found in a snow bank.
