Shocking testimony in the Karen Read trial is revealing new details from the night that Boston Police Officer John O'Keefe died.
www.necn.com
<snip>
Julie Nagel testifies
Nagel, another friend of Brian Albert Jr. who was at the Albert home on the night before O'Keefe's death, was the next witness to testify.
She also testified about the birthday gathering, saying they were listening to music, drinking beer and seltzers and eating some food.
"It was Brian's birthday, so you know, we were there just to have fun," Nagel said.
She was asked about how people arrived at the home, specifically Colin Albert, Brian Albert Jr.'s cousin. She said at some point between 11:30-11:45 p.m. someone picked him up but she didn't know who it was.
Nagel said she stayed at the house until about 1:30 a.m. on Jan. 29. She had texted her brother around 12:15 a.m. asking him to pick her up. He arrived a short time later and texted him to say that he was outside. He arrived with two other people.
She said she had looked out to the driveway at one point and saw a vehicle by the mailbox, but by the time her brother arrived that vehicle was gone.
"It was a black SUV," she said.
Nagel said she invited her brother and his friends to come inside, but they said they just wanted to go home, so she ultimately decided to stay and arranged to get a ride home later in the evening from Jennifer and Matthew McCabe.
Prosecutors showed Nagel a photo of the outside of the Albert home, and she used a laser pointer to show the door she exited the house from to speak with her brother. She also pointed out that her brother's truck was parked at the end of the driveway. She also pointed to three areas in front of the home where she said she had seen the black SUV before her brother arrived.
As Nagel left the home later that night in the McCabes' vehicle, she said she noticed "something out of the ordinary... like a black blob" on the ground by the flagpole in front of the home.
"It was pretty dark out, but the snow was kinda heavy at that time," she said. "You couldn't really see too much."
Using the laser pointer, she pointed to an area near the flag pole where she saw the "black blob" -- around the same area where she said she had seen the black SUV at one point earlier in the evening.
"I did say out loud, 'I think I might have saw something,' but I was also intoxicated, drinking, so didn't really know what it was, what I saw."
She said the object she saw was "probably 5 or 6 feet long."
Yannetti then cross-examined Nagel, getting her to acknowledge that she was at the Albert home for about eight hours in all.
He also pointed out that Nagel wasn't interviewed by Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor, the lead investigator in the Karen Read case, until eight months after O'Keefe was found dead on the Alberts' lawn.
Yannetti also asked Nagel about her ties to the Albert family, including being a close friend of Brian Albert Jr. and having driven the McCabes' daughter around and pet sat for their dog.
Nagel also testified that she saw Colin Albert at the Albert home that night, but wasn't sure what time he left.
Yannetti also asked her how much she drank that night, to which she replied, "A decent amount." She said she was drinking Michelob Ultras, but doesn't remember if she brought them or if they were there at the house already.
He also asked Nagel about how she originally asked her brother to come pick her up, but later changed her mind and decided not to go home with him. She said when he arrived, she decided she wanted to stay at the Albert house longer.
When she eventually left the house around 1:45 a.m., Nagel said she did not see a body in the yard.
Yannetti also pointed out that the first time Nagel said that the object she saw in the snow outside the Albert home was "5 or 6 feet long" was during her testimony on Tuesday.
He also asked Nagel if she thought the object she saw in the snow was a body, and she said she did not.
"You didn't think that this was a person who was in trouble, correct?" Yannetti asked.
"I don't know, no," Nagel said.
"You didn't ask Matthew McCabe to stop? You didn't ask him to back up?" Yannetti asked.
"No," Nagel replied.
Yannetti pointed out that Levinson, who was in the car with her, was a nurse, and Brian Albert, the owner of the home, was a police officer and first responder. But she didn't ask either of them.
"That's because you did not see a body on that lawn, correct?" Yannetti said.
"I mean, I don't know what I saw, but I saw an object," Nagel said.
"You were drinking for hours, is that correct?" Yannetti countered. "You were intoxicated."
"Some would say, yeah," she said.
Yannetti then pointed out that even after Nagel found out that O'Keefe had died, she didn't contact investigators to let them know what she had seen that night.
Court adjourned for the day around 1 p.m. with Nagel still on the stand. Tuesday was a scheduled half day. A full day of testimony is expected on Wednesday.
