The Canton, Massachusetts, couple who owned the home at the center of the Karen Read murder trial took the stand Friday. Brian and Nicole Albert have been the subject of intense public speculation for months — while prosecutors say Read killed her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe...
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As week two comes to close, jurors in the
Karen Read trial heard testimony from friends of Boston police Officer John O'Keefe.
Some of the witnesses taking the stand were
Canton Selectman Chris Albert and his wife Julie Albert.
Julie will be back on the stand again Friday morning. She was out with Read and O'Keefe the night before O'Keefe was found dead on her brother-in-law Brian Albert's front lawn.
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Chris Albert's testimony
Chris Albert, the brother of Boston Police Officer Brian Albert and a friend of O'Keefe's, testified about how he met up with O'Keefe at the Waterfall Bar & Grill in Canton on the night before O'Keefe's death.
He said he left around midnight, right around when O'Keefe and Read did, and went home to go to sleep. He said his son Colin had been at his brother's house that night celebrating his nephew's birthday, and returned home a short time later.
Albert said he woke up the next morning and his wife told him that O'Keefe had died and had been found on his brother's lawn on Fairview Road.
"I was in shock," he said. "I was like, 'What are you talking about?'"
He said he and his wife went over to his brother's house, where a number of other people had gathered, including several of those who had been at the Waterfall the night before.
Under cross-examination, defense attorney David Yannetti attempted to establish that the Albert family has a long standing in town and is a powerful family, with Albert on the Select Board and a brother who was on the Canton Police Department.
He then started to ask Albert about his connections to
Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor, the lead investigator in the Karen Read case who is currently the subject of an internal investigation into a potential violation of department policy. Sources have told NBC10 Boston the investigation is connected to the Read case.
Albert confirmed that he has known Proctor for about 15 years.
The defense also sought to establish that Albert and former Canton Police Chief Kenneth Berkowitz have known each other for decades. Albert said Berkowitz once attended a campaign event of his and donated to his campaign for Select Board.
Yannetti even displayed a photo for jurors showing the two of them together at the event.
The defense also asked about Albert's brother, Brian Albert, and his involvement in the Boston Police Department's fugitive unit. Chris Albert testified that he and Brian Albert spent time together at the holidays and would occasionally socialize together.
"You would agree with me that the Albert family is well-known in the town of Canton," Yannetti said in his cross-examination.
"We have a big family," Albert replied.
Yannetti went on to ask if he agreed that "the Albert family is a powerful family in the town of Canton," but the prosecution objected, and Judge Beverly Cannone sustained.
Yannetti also got Albert to acknowledge that he and Proctor had attended social events together in the past.
The defense also entered a text exchange between Chris Albert and O'Keefe into evidence where Albert told O'Keefe to come to the Waterfall.
"Get over here," the first text message from Albert said, followed by another that said, "If not I'm going to f--- up your lawn," followed by a laughing emoji.
"It's a joke," Albert told Yannetti.
Yannetti also asked Albert about the amount Albert had to drink on the night before O'Keefe's death. Albert said he was fine and in control of his faculties. He was also asked if he noticed any arguments between O'Keefe and Read.
"I didn't notice anything irregular," he said.
Albert also testified that he was the last person to leave the Waterfall that night. Yannetti questioned Albert about his assertion that he arrived back home between 12:05 and 12:10 a.m., showing a short clip of the Waterfall surveillance video showing Albert leaving the bar just before 12:14 a.m.
"That would mean it would have been impossible for you to get home to Maple Street by 12:05 or 12:10, correct?" Yannetti said.
"Yes," Albert replied.
Albert said the walking distance from Waterfall to his house was about five minutes, meaning he would have actually arrived home closer to 12:19 or 12:20 a.m.
Soon after arriving home, Albert testified that he changed out of his wet clothes and then began to drift of to sleep within about 15 minutes, or about 12:35 a.m. He said his son Colin came home at some point after that and woke him up to say goodnight.
Yannetti tried to get Albert to acknowledge that O'Keefe, who lived nearby, did not like people walking on his lawn. But Albert denied that Colin ever did anything on O'Keefe's lawn that would have annoyed him. He also denied that he knew that O'Keefe didn't like people going on his lawn.
He did say that O'Keefe once yelled at Albert's younger son Dylan for walking on his lawn, but said it was meant as a joke and O'Keefe later brought Dylan candy as a way to apologize.
The jury was also shown a photo of Chris Albert and his wife, Julie, in front of O'Keefe home.
