SERIALously - 170: Karen Read Verdict Watch, 8th Grade Girl Murdered By 21-Yr-Old BF & Sherri Papini’s Ex-Husband SPEAKS

Episode Date: June 27, 2024

Headline Highlights: Today’s episode dives into everything happening this week in true crime. From new cases to updates on existing ones and more. Sandra Birchmore Episode https://pod.fo/e/234c90  Mica Miller Case: Insane Allegations From JP's Ex-Wife & Case Updates https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cawZkXZ8GBc  Karen Read: Ep. 135 Cold Blooded Murderer or Cover-Up? The VERY Controversial Case & A Deep Dive of Everything We Know https://pod.fo/e/22c58f  Madalina Cojocari Videos: Where is Madalina Cojocari? | Little Girl Vanishes and Parents Point The Finger At Each Other https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtZb0vbrHGw Madalina Cojocari Update | Unsealed Documents, Jail Phone Calls, & Sightings? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ka9TafB8HBA Shop the Merch: www.annieelise.com Follow the podcast on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@serialouslypodcast  Follow the podcast on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/serialouslypod/       Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/annieelise     All Social Media Links: https://www.flowcode.com/page/annieelise_     SERIALously FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/SERIALouslyAnnieElise/     About Me: https://annieelise.com/    For Business Inquiries: [e-mail] Sources: Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office Law & Crime Court TV NBC 10 Boston CBS News Audio Credits: Good Morning America Court TV Law & Crime NBC 10 Boston

Hey, True Crime Besties, welcome back to an all new episode of Serialously with me, Annie Elise, Headline Highlights edition, also Hamptons edition. I'm still here on vacay, although I will say this week it's not really vacation. I brought all my recording equipment with me, my camera, my tripods, my mic, all that, so I've been doing a lot of recording this week, but here and there I've been popping outside to enjoy the summer weather and the sunshine, but yeah, still here and beautiful scenery. But in any event, there's a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot going on in the true crime world

this week. So, you know, I had to jump on the mic and I got to break it all down for you because, whoo, guys, we've got so much to talk about. I wanna start with this case that is kind of taking the media by storm, but what's interesting is there's a lot of details about the specifics in the house that are unclear, and you'll understand that as I continue.

But anyway, Aliana Dickey was this 15-year-old girl who had just finished 8th grade in Massachusetts. On June 14th, she was supposed to go to her 8th grade graduation. However, she didn't show up to her graduation. Now it's unclear how she was supposed to get there or if she had planned on writing there with friends, but when her family noticed that she wasn't there, they of course obviously knew that something was wrong.

So her family tried to find out where she was, thinking that there was no way that she would be still at home, that she had to either be on her way or would be there soon. They were trying to figure it all out. But after a while, and having no luck in finding her, they ended up going back to the house. Now when they got there, around 6pm, they found Aliana. But unfortunately, she was dead. So her grandmother called 911. When the police arrived at the scene, they found her on the ground with multiple gunshot wounds.

There were also multiple shell casings found surrounding her. So the question that everybody was wondering, law enforcement, family, everybody, was what happened to Aliana? Why was she shot? Who would want a 15-year-old girl dead? Well, the investigators later found out that Aliana? Why was she shot? Who would want a 15 year old girl dead? Well, the investigators later found out that Aliana was in a relationship with a guy named Trevor Beatty. Now before I go any further guys, Trevor is 21 years old. So why on earth is a 15 year old dating or in a relationship, which I use those terms very loosely, with a 21 year old. Why they're together is truly beyond me, and I would actually argue that a 21 year old

cannot be in a relationship with a 15 year old. That's grooming, that is abuse, that is abuse of power, all of the things. But apparently, Trevor and Aliana had a very rocky and abusive relationship together. And allegedly, Trevor hit Aliana and had even threatened her in the past. So the police started putting all of this together, right? And then they realized that just after midnight on June 14th, the day of Aliana's graduation, the police had received a call from someone saying that a male and a female were outside fighting across the street.

Specifically, the caller said that a female was screaming, get off of me, get away from me, I don't want to be with you anymore. And then this caller heard gunshots. So police ended up responding to that call, but they couldn't find anybody arguing or anything like what the caller had said. However, later on, they ended up recovering video near the scene. And in this video, it showed Aliana yelling for help and then Trevor leaving Aliana's house.

Trevor took an Uber to and from her house. So he literally called an Uber after he committed murder. And get this, the driver felt like Trevor was actually being extremely suspicious. And the Uber driver actually called the police the next day to report the incident, which I love that, because we always say, when you see something, say something, if something doesn't feel right,

and this Uber driver said, yo, something is not right with this guy's behavior, and he called the police the next day to report the incident. Now again, unfortunately, there aren't a lot of details about the family situation, or if Aliana was by herself all night or how this could have really happened and nobody in her family noticing before she then just didn't show up to her eighth grade graduation. But ultimately, the boyfriend, the predator, whatever you want to call him, Trevor, he was arrested and he has now been charged with murder, home invasion, and also a slew of gun charges. Trevor was denied bail and he was in court recently. At the hearing, the prosecution said, on June 12, 2024, Aliana confided in one person that

this defendant made statements such as, I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill your grandma, and that he was planning to shoot up her house and that he threatened to kidnap her and shoot her. After this hearing, Aliana's grandmother talked to the reporters and said, he's a coward. He couldn't even show his face. A 21 year old monster. So this case is still breaking. A lot of details are still coming to light, but I will be sure to update you guys as we continue. It's truly horrifying never that it makes it okay for anybody to be a predator

in these kinds of relationships, but these ones always hit incredibly close to home. I was in a relationship which of course didn't end up in murder, thank God, but in a very toxic relationship when I was 17 with somebody who was 26, a little bit older obviously than 15, but still anytime there's an age gap like that and there is somebody just grossly abusing their power,

their age, their presence, it just infuriates me. And this poor girl could have never known what was going to happen and that this was going to be her fate, especially right on the heels of graduating and going to high school. And it's just extremely, extremely tragic. Now, I want to, before we get into the next case, I do want to give you a quick, brief update on the Madelena Kojikari case

because there has been another update in this case. If you're unfamiliar with the case, Madelena was last seen getting off her school bus back in November of 2022, but then she was never seen since then. Her mom and her stepdad ended up being arrested. They had failed to report her missing for I believe it was like three weeks. The only reason they ended up reporting her missing was because the truancy officer at the school called a meeting saying like, Hey, I need to know why Madelina hasn't been at school. And so then they had no other choice but to report her as missing. They get arrested for failure to report and this case guys

I mean, I did a deep dive on it. I will link it It is so convoluted and messy there are allegations of human trafficking drug use child abuse by the stepdad all sorts of crazy things But what was so upsetting and so crazy about this case is that the mom and the stepdad? so crazy about this case is that the mom and the stepdad, neither one of them was charged or even named as a suspect in Madelina's disappearance when it seemed like okay obviously the writing's on the wall right there's something shady why wouldn't a mother report her daughter is missing for three weeks but this week there was breaking news because her mom Diana was officially named as a suspect in Madelina's disappearance. Now even though she is now considered a suspect, they said that she is not currently wanted or

facing any other charges at this time. Just a suspect. So we don't know much more about that. We don't know why she has finally, finally been named a suspect, but I'm sure they're holding lots of information close to the vest as they investigate. This has been a long time coming and I'm hopeful that that means they're one step closer to finding Madelina, but this case was very very messy. So again, I will link the deep dive to that so that you can get caught up and let's hope that we get some answers soon. Speaking of answers, I want to talk for a moment about Micah Miller and the Examiner report that was released. We have been talking a lot about Micah Miller on this podcast and over on my YouTube channel,

Tend to Life. And this case is getting messier by the day. New allegations are surfacing, new videos, new documents, new accusations. I mean, you name it. And a new report has now been released by the Medical Examiner's Office in regards to Micah Miller. So most of you know who I'm talking about, but if you don't, Micah Miller was a 30-year-old woman living in South Carolina who passed away at the end of April.

Her cause of death was ruled as self-inflicted. She was in the process of getting divorced from her husband, who also happened to be a pastor. His name is J.P. Miller. And after her death, a lot of allegations came to the surface regarding abuse by her husband JP. And it really started to make people question the circumstances around her death.

So like always, if you want that full breakdown, I did do a podcast on it back on May 20th, but I will link it in the show notes for you below. I also did an update on my YouTube channel just last week with this case that has a lot of the current information, so there is definitely no shortage of updates or information if you still need to get caught up. But anyway, in this Medical Examiner's Report, it came out this

week and it had a lot of details in it. The report states that law enforcement on the scene found two spent casings and one live round on the bank. If you remember, Micah's body was found submerged in the water beside tree limbs, and it was a hundred feet from the shell casings that they had found. She was brought back to shore by a boat by law enforcement, and the gun that matched with those shell casings was found in the water. It was found five feet from the bank, and it matched up with the gun case that was found in Mica's car. The report then went into Mica's mental health history, saying that Mica was hospitalized on November 29, 2022 until December 5, 2022,

and that she had been hospitalized for suicidal precautions for bipolar, reoccurring manic episode, THC dependency, and dependent personality disorder. She was then hospitalized again from February 7th, 2024 until February 12th, 2024. Again, this is all according to the medical examiner's report. It went on to say that she did have a previous suicide attempt with a firearm, and then in February it references Delta-8 gummy consumption, and also increased paranoia with bizarre behavior. Then it says, quote,

descendant family did confirm her previous suicide attempt by firearm. And I am curious what family member confirmed that, if it was JP, if it was her sister, her dad, it doesn't say. Also, three days before Micah's death, she saw a doctor where she was prescribed 25 milligrams of hydroxine for anxiety.

And I hope I'm saying that right, but I probably didn't. I probably butchered that name. These medical names always confuse me. But then it says that a regional pathologist assisted and examined Micah's body, and the findings in this were consistent with the reported incident It goes on saying upon further consultation with the office of the chief medical examiner and law enforcement There was no concern for foul play and an autopsy was not warranted

Now this is important because a lot of people were also up in arms thinking that JP drove Micah to commit suicide and that it was shady that he didn't allow the autopsy to take place, he didn't allow a tox report to be run, and then that he just wanted her cremated immediately and people thought that that was really suspicious. But here they're saying that there was no concern for foul play and that the autopsy was not warranted. There was also a body mapping chart that was attached to this report and this is unsettling guys because it showed injuries that Micah had including where the bullet went in and out of her head, closed skull fractures in the front and the

back of her head, two black eyes, and several minute postmortem wounds on her hands, all consistent with retrieval from the river and the brush. Now ultimately this report was a lot, and a lot of people have been talking about it and it has raised more questions, but it was ruled that her injuries did align with her death being a suicide. Look, I'm not a medical examiner, I'm not a doctor, but I will say this. I have reported on many suicides in the past. I can't think of one where they also had two black eyes when it happened.

I'm not saying that that means that this wasn't suicide. I think it's pretty cut and dry that it was. But with all of these abrasions and black eyes, I can't help but wonder, and this is purely me speculating, so please do your own research, but I can't help but wonder and this is purely me speculating. So please do your own research But I can't help but wonder if there was an altercation Prior to her going to that pawn shop buying the gun and deciding that this was her only way out. We know from past reports and statements from Micah's family and even his exes that JP had a very

Strong way of controlling people emotional control financial control, like being abusive in all sorts of ways, not just physical. And I don't know, it just gives me pause and like I said, we keep learning more and more about this case. It seems like honestly every other day there's a new update. So it's going to be really interesting to see what else comes out in this. Speaking of shady partners, I never thought I'd be talking about this case again, but lo and behold there is an update with Sherry Papini. The ultimate gone girl, the ultimate psychopath in my opinion, sociopath. You gotta hear what's going on now with Sherry. So we're

gonna get into all of that but first we're gonna take one quick quick break to hear from today's sponsor. Are you a true crime enthusiast looking for a podcast that leaves no stone unturned and has engaging storytelling the entire time? Well, meet Crime Weekly where gripping storytelling meets a detective's perspective. Hosted by Derek Lavasser, a seasoned private investigator and former police detective who has also been featured on multiple shows,

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enough of Crime Weekly. Once again, that is Crime Weekly on all podcast platforms. enough of Crime Weekly. Once again, that is Crime Weekly on all podcast platforms. Alright, so let's talk about Sherry Papini. Sherry is the infamous woman who faked her abduction and lied about it for nearly six years. Then she ended up going to prison over it. And she is back in the headlines this week because now her ex-husband Keith, who stuck by her side and believed her even though the police confronted her about the lies literally right in front of him. He and he later admitted he was suspicious of Sherry back then, but that he just wanted to be a supportive husband, you know, whatever, to each their own.

But he's now speaking out and, you know, I get it why he stuck by her in a sense because he they have children, he wanted to be a supportive husband, but also like, and you would have to kind of think to yourself like who in their right mind would ever make something like this up? Sherry would. Sherry would, my guy. She was crazy. So he spoke out to Good Morning America, and I want you guys to take a listen. She made us all believe that her story was true. Every single day she committed to the lie. He was the husband at the center of a kidnapping hoax that captivated the country. The search for a

missing mom in California, Sherry, Pappini vanished Wednesday while jogging near her home. Now, Keith Pappini, after seven years of silence, is sitting down with GMA, revealing new details about how his wife Sherry faked her own disappearance, lied to authorities and claimed that she'd been kidnapped by two Hispanic women. The hoax didn't just last the 22 days that she had disappeared. It lasted for years, six years. And every single day. And that's what people don't realize.

It was every single day. In the new Hulu documentary series, Perfect Wife, Keith recounts the years-long saga. What made you want to sit down and revisit all of that. I wanted to get the truth out there and really wanted to let everybody know like how convincing Sherry was all those years and how believed everything that she was telling me in 2016, the

California mother of 2 vanishing after going for a job the frantic 22 day search for Sherry began with Keith's 911 call I'm like totally freaking out thinking like somebody like what you're after as the husband Keith was the first person police questioned in her disappearance, but he passed a polygraph test. You say that you're living this perfect life. There were cracks was telling other people that you were abusive she told friends friends that you'd kill her if she ever left you.

Are those allegations true? Oh, of course not. Those allegations hurt and they're painful. Did you ever physically or mentally abuse her? Never. Keith helping lead the search, but without any luck. Then, on Thanksgiving Day, Sherry turned up on the side of a highway. Are you chained up? Okay, shackled, bruised and branded. And when we interviewed Keith right after it happened in 2016, he broke down. She literally lived through

hell. But now he says even then there was doubt. When you first encountered her in the hospital, what was your first instinct? When I pulled back the curtain and I saw her and I saw the look in her eyes, I felt in that moment that she was lying. And it wasn't until when I really got close and I could just see the amount of injuries, bruises, burns to her body. And it was a shock to me. And I remember thinking how horrible of me to even think that she could have done this to herself. For years, authorities searched for her supposed Hispanic campters.

The amount of fear that our family lived in that was fake is excruciating. I mean, the security at our house, new doors, new locks, new lights, new cameras. Then in August of 2020, trace DNA found on Sherry led authorities to her former boyfriend, James Reyes, who they say helped Sherry carry out her plan. He passed a polygraph and has never been charged with a crime. Investigators confronting Sherry about her hoax Keith

right there. There's no way it's. But it wasn't until 19 months later in March of 2022 that Sherry was finally arrested later convicted of lying to a federal officer and serving 10 months in prison. She apologized in court, but has Sherry ever apologized to you or the children? No, never. She has no remorse that I have ever witnessed or seen. Do you still talk to her? I do not talk to Sherry at all. It's very difficult for me.

Why do you think that she essentially concocted this hoax, disappeared, beat herself to a pulp for 22 days, and then continued to lie about it for years? I think she wanted me to be her knight in shining armor and run to her, and I think that she wanted me to be her knight in shining armor and run to her. And I think that she wanted to plan a fake kidnapping. But in her version, I was supposed to find her. And Keith says the ordeal still haunts him.

Do you think you'll ever be able to get out from under the shadow of the Sherry Papini hoax? I think it's always going to be there. We do want to move past it. I do want to provide my children, you know, an amazing childhood. But I think it'll always be there. We understand that Sherry does have a new boyfriend now, and Keith says that she told their kids that she's now authoring two children's books. And when asked Keith, is he happier now?

He says, no, but he is healing and he's trying to offer his kids the best childhood he can. There's also a brand new documentary out on Hulu called Perfect Wife, the mysterious disappearance of Sherry Papini. And I highly, highly recommend watching it. I binged it literally last night here in the Hamptons,

and it is absolutely crazy. Keith is featured throughout the whole thing telling the story as everything happened. There's a lot of footage that I had never seen of when Sherry's being interviewed, when she's recounting certain things and certain memories, but then, and I don't know if I'm just misremembering, but there was this whole other element to it and I don't know if you would classify it as Munchausen's or what you would, but where she would have the children inhaling rubbing alcohol and she would want them going to the doctors, which I don't know if I just can't remember that or if I missed that completely, but I learned so much more watching this documentary or docu-series, I should say.

And I never thought that I would talk about Sheri again or need to watch anything related to her case again, but I do highly recommend it because it was really, really informative. Now I wanna switch over to Massachusetts. Good old Boston, Good old Karen Reed. But also the Sandra Burchmore case. You may have heard me talk about this case in passing in the past.

In passing in the past. Um, because it's a really disgusting case and it's about police officers, cover-ups, grooming. Feels very in line with Karen Reed, doesn't it? So not the grooming, but the cover up, you got what I'm saying. So anyway, this week, more potential news about Sandra Burchmore's death was released. And for a recap, Sandra Burchmore was found dead in her Canton apartment back in February 2021. She was just 23 years old. Initially, her death was determined to be a suicide by the state medical examiner.

She was also, though, three months pregnant at the time of her death. Since then, her family has been fighting for justice in what they believe was not a suicide. They think that it was a homicide. And the reason that this case was so, so odd in the first place is that it's another case of a Massachusetts police officer, multiple ones actually, allegedly covering up a crime for one of their own. Which like I said has pretty much been a hot and heavily debated topic because of the Karen Reed case, which we're also going to talk about here in a minute guys. So the Sandra Burchmore case is actually a really crazy case and I will link the full episode in the show notes. Trust me, you want to hear it. It is wild. But in short, police officers Matthew Farwell, William Farwell, and Robert Devine are all

accused of exploiting and abusing Sandra for over a decade. Starting when she was just 13 years old and when she got involved in the police department's Explorer Youth Program. They were the leaders. I believe one was a sergeant, one was like a captain, something like that. And it was this youth program for younger, I don't believe it was underprivileged, but younger kids to join to learn about the program,

learn about being an officer. And meanwhile, these three creepo predator officers were grooming her and exploiting her and abusing her, starting at just 13 years old. Then the sexual relationship with Matthew, one of the officers apparently continued, and Sandra ended up becoming pregnant with Matthew's child. This as a result of their sexual relationship. Now the night before she was found, the police officer that

impregnated her and reportedly had been abusing her, Matthew, was seen entering her apartment complex lobby at 914 p.m. Then he exited just 29 minutes later. Apparently he didn't want this child. He also, though, apparently didn't want Sandra alive, and he certainly didn't want his wife finding out that he was not only having an affair, but that he got this other woman pregnant. And also, he would obviously want to keep it under wraps if there had in fact been ongoing underage sexual abuse which following her death an internal investigation by the police department revealed the allegations that matt had been sexually abusing her starting when she was just 15 years old so she was found dead and her death was ruled a suicide despite the very

suspicious crime scene and i go into all of the details guys on that podcast episode. I'm just giving you the very, very high level, but this scene, it read super staged in my opinion. I was shocked that they ruled as a suicide and there were people at the school who had spoken out that were friends with Sandra's. I mean, it's very, very crazy.

So you definitely need to listen. But anyway, her death was ruled a suicide despite the suspicious crime scene, but her family and friends were also adamantly all saying that Sandra was really excited to become a mother she never would have committed suicide she never would have killed her unborn child they were blown away by this and now as it turns out even though it was ruled as a suicide dr. Michael Baden, a former chief medical examiner of New York City, was hired by Sandra's family and he is disputing the

suicide ruling. According to him, quote, Ms. Burchmore did not die of suicidal hanging. The cause of Ms. Burchmore's death is strangulation and the manner of death is homicide. So in this report he also pointed to the injuries on Sandra saying that that's what supports him basically saying that this ruling is not correct. He pointed to a fracture that was on the bone in her neck which he stated is uncommon in suicidal hangings but it is seen in about half of the homicides by strangulation of women and he was just saying you know the evidence doesn't point to this. Now in response to his claims, the police chief Donna McNamara released a statement saying,

I was profoundly disturbed and troubled by what I read. While I am not a trained medical examiner and I am not qualified to draw any direct conclusions, the findings certainly warrant further examination at the highest level. the findings certainly warrant further examination at the highest level. As always, we will continue to assist with any effort to ensure that truth and justice prevail." Which I gotta say, I don't know if that's because they really are making sure that truth and justice

wanna prevail or they just don't want more heat because Massachusetts as a state in general is like under fire for all these alleged police coverups. But in any event, I don't really hear what the reasoning is. You should have it examined at the highest level and hopefully some answers come from it. As a side note, Sanders family is also currently suing the city of Stoughton where this all went down for, I believe it's for wrongful death, but I could be wrong. But again, broke it all down in the episode for you. So we went deeper into

this. That episode was released on April 25th, so you just have to scroll back a little bit. I also will link it in the show notes. So speaking of Massachusetts, let's talk about Karen Reed. Karen Reed, Karen Reed, Karen Reed. Last week, Karen Reed hinted that she might testify, but ultimately that didn't happen. So now the Karen Reed trial is finally coming to an end as both the Commonwealth and the Defense gave their closing arguments on Tuesday, June 25th. Most commonly, the prosecution will give closing arguments, then the Defense, then the prosecution has the opportunity to present a rebuttal since they have the burden of proof. However, in

Massachusetts, the Defense gave their arguments first, then the Commonwealth, and obviously no rebuttal since the Commonwealth went last. Now as a reminder, Karen is charged with second-degree murder, which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison. She's also been charged along with that with manslaughter while operating under the influence of alcohol and leaving a scene of personal injury and death. The manslaughter charge carries a penalty of 5-20 years in prison, and that other charge has a maximum penalty of 10 years. So let's unpack these closing arguments a little bit. Alan Jackson, for the defense, gave their closing arguments.

He started off by saying, you've been lied to. And then later he said, ladies and gentlemen, there was a cover up in this case, plain and simple. He argued that evidence, including an inverted video of Karen's SUV in the Canton Police Department's garage, was all intentionally manipulated. Take a listen. Look the other way. Look the other way. Four words that sum up the Commonwealth's entire case. Four words that sum up the hopes of those who have tried to deceive you. Conflicts of interest? Doesn't matter. Just look the other way. Magic hairs, magic glass? Look the other way. Late night calls and Google searches,

falsified affidavits, inverted videos, and butt dials galore just look the other way. That's what they want. That's what they're counting on, but the uncontrovertible fact is you have been lied to in this courtroom. And your job is to make sure you don't ever, ever look the other way. Your singular duty is to stare down the evidence

and do it unflinchingly and do it unwaveringly. You see, you're the only thing standing between Karen Reed and the tyranny of injustice. It's a job you didn't ask for, probably a job you didn't want, but it's the greatest responsibility we have as citizens here in America. Lest the government stop answering to us,

and we start answering to the government. And lo be tied, anyone, anyone of us, anyone of us, who might find ourselves in the crosshairs of a micro proctor, of a quote. It's a quote about the truth. And I want to share it with you. It means that it's been observed that to tell an untruth, to exaggerate, to make a false claim, it's a cancer. One lie begets another, and it's a malignancy that grows over time. And that, folks, is how a cover-up is born. That's how a Massachusetts state trooper says in whispered tones to his friends when he thought no one was looking or listening how he would make a case, how he would make it cut and dry, no matter the truth. How he would make sure to put, quote,

serious charges on the girl. In other words, pin it on the girl. You may ask yourself, how does this happen? How could this happen? It's 2024, surely people aren't gonna come to this courtroom, this hall of justice, and lie to us, just give us false information. They wouldn't do that.

They wouldn't try to cover up the truth. The Alberts, the McCabes, Higgins, Lank, Michael Crochter, Yuri Bukhenik, Brian Tully. You don't have to wonder if they would lie to support their narrative. You need only wonder how many times they did lie. Over and over and over, they and others were caught deceiving you. Big things, small things, it didn't really matter. They feared nothing. They'll look you in the eye and deny phone calls.

They'll deny secret meetings. They'll claim that calls are butt dials and butt dials are answered. They'll show you a video and tell you left is right and right is left. They'll magically turn three pieces of plastic into five right before your eyes. And even when they're caught with their own lies, they won't blink, they don't sweat. They'll just look you in the eye and demand, pay no attention. You folks

look the other way. Ladies and gentlemen, there was a cover-up in this case, plain and simple. You'll surely say to yourself, I don't want to believe it. I don't want to believe that could happen in our community. But sadly, over the past eight weeks, you've seen it right before your eyes. So how does a cover-up happen? How could that happen? Well, let's count the ways, shall we? Handpick your investigator. Make sure it's someone we know, someone on our side. Keep them close. Offer them help. Offer them a gift. Have secret friends and family meetings.

Get your story straight. Delete your call history. Make mysterious phone calls at 2 22 a.m. Delete Google searches. Monitor police activity. Get rid of evidence. Get rid of your dog. Destroy your phones.

Destroy your SIM card. For the investigator, decide on a narrative early on. Don't go to the crime scene. Don't take witnesses in for questioning. Question all the witnesses together. Ignore witnesses who don't fit your narrative. Allow friends and family to contact those same witnesses. Don't record interviews. Write vague and false police reports. Omit witnesses' names. Omit witnesses' interviews altogether. Don't photograph the evidence. Don't record interviews, write vague and false police reports, omit witnesses' names, omit witnesses' interviews altogether. Don't photograph the evidence, don't conduct any forensics, don't document the evidence, don't document the logs, don't create any logs whatsoever, and don't maintain a chain of custody. Keep all the evidence in the hands of one person and then manipulate that evidence including videos. Don't turn over videos.

Invert videos. Turn 416 p.m. into 530 p.m. in affidavits. Turn three pieces of taillight into five pieces of taillight. Delete 42 minutes of surveillance footage. Hide personal relationships. Make this case cut and dry, and ensure the homeowner, quote, never sees any shit because he's a Boston cop. But most important, pick your Patsy and pin it on the girl. It's not that it could happen. It's that every single one of those things

I just mentioned did happen right in front of you. Now, the overall theme of the argument was that Karen was quote a convenient outsider to place the blame on all to protect everybody at 34 Fairview the night that John O'Keefe was killed. He said that the prosecution has not proved its case at all and focused most of their time during the trial about snow. He pointed to multiple instances of weird coincidences too, like how nothing was recorded by law enforcement when they interviewed anyone, how critical pieces of evidence, like pieces of cracked taillight,

had a very sketchy chain of custody, how the Albert's German Shepherd, Chloe, was rehomed, those Google searches from 2.27 a.m. for how long to die in the cold, and how it just seemed like just about everything that the defense raised the prosecution had an excuse for. He also went really hard on trooper Proctor who in my opinion is just a complete loser and completely shit the bed on the state's case as the lead investigator. I mean talk about conflict of interest this guy it was

appalling to watch and when his text messages were leaked, those were equally bad, which, if you wanna get caught up cuz you haven't been following the trial, again, it's on the podcast, I keep saying that. I should just make that a blanket statement, right? So Alan Jackson backed up his arguments by reminding the jury of experts who testified for the defense, like the crash reconstruction expert, and their medical examiner, who said that the injuries on John's arm looked like they could be from a dog. So overall, the argument was solid. I mean,

at least to me. Whether you agree or not with all of Alan Jackson's court romantics, it's hard to deny how strong his storytelling capabilities were and how persuasive his arguments are. So next, prosecutor Adam for the Commonwealth gave the state's closing argument. I hit him, I hit him, I hit him, I hit him. Those are the words of the defendant. Four times, you heard testimony from four different witnesses who overheard and observed those statements from the defendant

on January 29th, 2020. You heard testimony from firefighter Timothy Nuttall. He was trying to bag valed mask Mr. O'Keefe. He was working on resuscitative efforts to try to save Mr. O'Keefe's life. He asked if anyone saw anything or knew what happened, and the defendant said, I hit him, I hit him, I hit him, I hit him. Firefighter Anthony Flemati was asking if anyone had information

on why Mr. O'Keefe was there in the snow. The defendant repeatedly said, I hit him, I hit him, oh my God, I hit him. Firefighter Katie McLaughlin was tasked by firefighter Flamati with asking for biographical information and for what the cause was of the traumatic injuries that all the firefighters testified that they observed of Mr. O'Keefe. She asked the defendant. The defendant said I hit him repeatedly. Jennifer McKay stated initially over the phone when speaking with the defendant that

the defendant said, could I have hit him in the car while they're on the phone with Ms. Roberts going from Ms. McCabe's house to Mr. O'Keefe's house? Did I hit him? Could I have hit him? Once on scene, once asked, as Ms. McCabe described by an EMT, for name, age, things like that related to Mr. O'Keefe, what caused the trauma? She indicated in her testimony

that the defendant said repeatedly, I hit him. Lally then moved to Trooper Proctor's text messages about Karen Reed. They're basically the elephant in the room. Let me first just address Triple Proctor. The text messages Triple Proctor are unprofessional, they're indefensible, they're inexcusable. However, as distasteful as those messages are

and their content is, I submit they had no bearing whatsoever, or impact whatsoever, on the integrity of the entirety of the investigation that Massachusetts State Police collectively conduct. Lally then reiterated that as terrible as those text messages are, Trooper Proctor said in one that he hoped Karen Reed might take her own life, while on the stand he said it was just a figure of speech. Lally said it is not evidence of a frame up.

As was asked of Trooper Proctor on cross-examination, these were texts from his personal phone that he never thought would see the light of day. He was asked whether or not he ever thought that he would be asked about these in a courtroom, put to him as sort of a safe space, a safe place for him to discuss, if you will. What do you not see in those text messages? You don't see any discussion or any illusion of any conspiracy, of any framing of the defendant, of any planting of any evidence, no evidence whatsoever. Why? Because it didn't happen. There is no conspiracy, there is no cover-up, there is no evidence of any of that beyond speculation, rampant

speculation and conjecture on behalf of the defendant. He argued that Karen and John's relationship was on the rocks and that in a drunken rage, Karen intentionally killed John and then purposely left him to die in the cold. Then the next morning he pointed out how data from Karen's car shows that she drunk in rage, Karen intentionally killed John and then purposely left him to die in the cold. Then, the next morning, he pointed out how data from Karen's car shows that she reversed going 24 miles per hour for 62 feet and then drove away. And then he played multiple voicemails of Karen, quote, seething in rage as she was screaming, John, I fucking hate you. So within minutes of that vehicle's data,

going 24.2 miles an hour in reverse for 62 and a half feet, the defendant leaves that voicemail seething in rage as she's screaming, John, I fucking hate you. 1255, the defendant texts John, see you later. 1259, the defendant calls, leaves another voicemail for Mr. O'Keefe. But somebody did know where Mr. O'Keefe was. The defendant knew exactly where he was.

She had driven him there, she had struck him there, she had left him to die. However, I will say that it felt like, even though it wasn't necessarily a rebuttal argument, it felt a lot like that. It felt like instead of the prosecution laying out the case in a clear way, it felt like they were more so addressing things that were brought up by the defense. And actually, maybe that's

been their problem the whole time. I mean, it's no secret that at times the Commonwealth has been very lackluster and some of their witnesses have been like straight up completely embarrassing. But for most of their case, it felt like they were combating the defense instead of proving their own theory. And to that point, what exactly is their theory? That Karen was so drunk that she purposely hit John O'Keefe and that she was drunk the next morning and pretended like she only thought her and John

were at the waterfall bar and that that's the last time she saw him, but instead she actually killed him intentionally and then called his phone 53 times after she killed him and left voicemails screaming at him and asking where he was knowing that she killed him. I don't think so personally, that's just my opinion. I think if anything, if it's not a cover up, it's more in line with maybe she was blackout drunk, had no idea that she hit him, and then thought he wasn't coming home and that he was

still at that party and was like raging pissed being like where the fuck are you get your ass home because I don't know unless she was just trying to set up like a perfect alibi if she was this calculated murder I really don't think she is that's my personal opinion but I also am not sold on the idea that this was some elaborate cover up by the police. Do I think they fumbled and messed things up like from the jump 1,000 million percent, but I don't know that he was killed inside 34 Fairview.

Maybe, I don't know, I don't know. I keep telling you, I keep going back and forth. I'm glad I'm not on this jury. So anyway, after closing arguments, the jury was given instructions and then they started deliberations. This was on Tuesday afternoon. And then deliberations continued on through Wednesday. Now on Wednesday, there was a little dust up in court regarding the jury instructions on the forms that they were given for the manslaughter charges. The defense

asked the judge why on the forms there isn't an option for not guilty. And the judge basically said this is how we do it here and this is a standard verdict form. However, the defense was not satisfied with this and ultimately the judge added amended language to these verdict forms. But during all of this, Karen actually smirked and kind of laughed and the judge snapped back at her. Listen. Alright, so why are we out here? Your Honour, I just saw the verdict forms and as we discussed yesterday, the amendments that the court indicated it would make them... Oh no, no. ...not remain.

Okay, I did not say I'd make it. I said I'd think about it. I said I was tired and I needed to think about it. What you said before you retired and you needed to think about it was you agreed that there needs to be not guilty options for the subordinate charges under count two. I said that it made sense to me but no I did not change it upon looking at it because the verdict slip this verdict slip as submitted to the jury is exactly how it always is in Massachusetts. I don't really care how it always is in Massachusetts. I care about whether or not it's appropriate. It's appropriate. It's appropriate. It's appropriate. You make my argument if you were to line judge why it's not appropriate.

For a superior charge, they have to decide that she is not guilty of the superior charge and that is the starting point of whether or not she is guilty or not guilty of any subordinate charge, often called a lesser included. Once they decide that she's not guilty of the superior charge, now there's two additional charges that they've been instructed. They must decide whether she's guilty or not guilty of. How do they decide that she's not guilty of the first subordinate charge in voluntary manslaughter? Okay, anything else you want to say Mr. Jackson?

I'd like an answer from the court. How do they decide that she's not guilty of involuntary manslaughter on that verdict? That's their decision to make. And how do they make it if they don't have an option to check a box that says not guilty? They don't check the box that says guilty, do they? And then when they go to the next block, they don't check the block that says guilty, and on the top, you're left with not guilty, okay? So it's the absence of the check mark

that the court determines is the not guilty finding by the jury? Yes, that's what the verdict slip reads. It reads not guilty. If they don't check block two, three, or four, the verdict slip reads not guilty, okay? That's how it is, Mr. Jackson. Well, apparently that's how it's going to be because of the court's order. That is not how it should be and it's over our strong objection. They need to see that there is a not guilty option

for the subordinate charges. If they come back guilty on, for instance, involuntary manslaughter, that's immediately appealable. They didn't have an option on the verdict form to find her not guilty. It's almost like the court is directing a verdict to the subordinate charges. Okay, I disagree with you. Ms. Tionetti, you've seen verdict slips exactly like this.

Okay? I actually haven't heard. Have you had no lesser includeds? No, I've always had lesser includeds, but I have not seen a verdict slip there where knock-up is not an option for the rest of the court. I disagree with you. Alright, excuse me?

This is funny, Ms. Reed? Alright, we're done. So in the end, the jury came back in and the judge read to them the new jury instructions with the amended language to that particular verdict form. So now the jury is back deliberating, and pretty much everybody in the country is on the edge of their seat waiting for this verdict to come in. Personally, I'm thinking hung jury or not guilty. Maybe maybe manslaughter charges, but I can't imagine true second degree murder charges.

But we will all know what the jury decides pretty soon and I will definitely keep you guys posted over on Twitter or TikTok or actually even on Instagram because it's easier for me to go live and or post all my stories. So make sure you're following everywhere. My handle is the same everywhere. It's at underscore Annie Elise. So go follow right now over there. That's all we've got for headline highlights this week guys. It has been a doozy. We have a brand new case though on Monday that we are doing like a super insane deep dive into. You guys have been asking for it. It is a wild one.

You're not going to want to miss it. So if you're not following this podcast yet, I highly encourage you. It takes two seconds. Just look in the top corner of whatever app you're listening to this on and click follow so that you don't miss those episodes and so you'll see as soon as a new episode is uploaded. Other than that, thank you guys so so much for tuning in and I will be back on the mic with you very soon. And as a reminder, if you feel like you need a little bit more of your true crime fix going

into the weekend, we do offer brand new exclusive podcast only episodes every single Friday. They're ad free and you can get access to those either through Apple podcasts or through Patreon. Alright guys, thanks so much and until the next one, be nice, don't kill people, stay safe, watch your back, all the things. Alright, bye guys!