The blizzard that hit Canton, Massachusetts, on January 29, 2022, didn't just dump two feet of snow; it buried the truth about what happened to Boston Police Officer John O'Keefe. If you’ve spent any time on true crime forums, you’ve seen the phrase john o'keefe autopsy report pdf pop up a thousand times. People are obsessed with it. They’re looking for that "smoking gun" document that proves either Karen Read backed her Lexus into him or he was beaten inside a house and dumped like trash.
But here’s the thing: most people haven't actually read the full report. They’ve seen snippets on Twitter or heard "experts" argue about it on YouTube.
The actual medical findings are a lot more complicated than a simple "car vs. fight" narrative. Honestly, the medical examiner’s testimony was probably the most frustrating part of the whole trial for anyone looking for a clear-cut answer.
The Reality of the John O'Keefe Autopsy Report PDF
When Dr. Irini Scordi-Bello took the stand, she didn't give the prosecution the slam dunk they wanted. She didn't give the defense one either. Basically, she ruled the manner of death as undetermined. That’s a huge deal. It means that while she knew how he died physiologically, she couldn't say why it happened—whether it was an accident, a homicide, or something else.
According to the findings, the primary cause of death was blunt impact injuries to the head and hypothermia.
Think about that for a second.
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If you're hit by a car going 24 mph—the speed the prosecution claimed Karen Read was driving—you'd expect to see broken legs, a shattered pelvis, or massive internal bruising in the torso. John O'Keefe didn't have any of that. No broken bones below the neck. None.
Those Controversial Arm Injuries
One of the biggest reasons people keep searching for the john o'keefe autopsy report pdf is to see the photos of his right arm. It looked like he'd been through a paper shredder. There were deep, parallel scratches that the defense argued were clearly dog bites—specifically from a German Shepherd named Chloe that lived in the house at 34 Fairview Road.
Dr. Scordi-Bello described them as "superficial abrasions." She wouldn't commit to saying they were from a dog, but she also couldn't explain how a car hitting someone's arm would create those specific marks without breaking the underlying bone.
It’s weird.
Actually, it’s more than weird; it’s the central mystery of the medical evidence.
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Head Trauma and "Raccoon Eyes"
The autopsy documented a massive two-inch laceration on the back of O'Keefe's head. Beneath that were multiple skull fractures and significant bleeding on the brain. This is what caused the "raccoon eyes"—those deep, dark bruises around his eyelids that usually signal a basal skull fracture.
- The Prosecution's Take: He was struck by the car, spun around, and hit the frozen ground.
- The Defense's Take: He was punched or hit with an object, fell, and cracked his skull on the floor or a piece of furniture.
- The Medical Reality: Dr. Scordi-Bello admitted on cross-examination that the head injury was "not inconsistent" with a fall onto a flat, blunt surface. Like a floor. Or the frozen ground.
You see the problem? The autopsy report itself is a Rorschach test. You see what you want to see.
Why You Can't Just Download the PDF
You might be wondering why you can't just find a direct link to the john o'keefe autopsy report pdf on a government website. In Massachusetts, autopsy reports aren't public records. They are protected by privacy laws and are usually only released to the next of kin or through discovery in a criminal case.
Most of what the public knows comes from:
- Trial Testimony: Detailed notes from journalists who sat through hours of medical examiner testimony in 2024 and the 2025 retrial.
- Exhibits: Photos and charts shown to the jury that were later leaked or shared via court-reporting outlets like Court TV.
- Defense Affidavits: Legal filings where Karen Read's lawyers quoted sections of the report to argue their theory of a cover-up.
Hypothermia: The Silent Killer
One detail that often gets lost in the "fight vs. car" debate is O'Keefe's body temperature. When he was found in the snow at 6:00 a.m., his core temperature was 80 degrees. That is severe, life-threatening hypothermia.
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The report noted "Wischnewsky spots" in his stomach—small hemorrhages that are a classic sign of someone freezing to death. This suggests he was alive for a significant amount of time while lying in that snowbank. He didn't die instantly from the head wound. He was incapacitated and then succumbed to the elements.
This is why the timing of the "hos long to die in cold" Google search became such a flashpoint. If someone searched that at 2:27 a.m., while O'Keefe was potentially dying on the lawn, it changes everything.
The Experts Weigh In (And Disagree)
During the trials, we saw a parade of experts. Dr. Elizabeth Laposata, a renowned pathologist, testified for the defense that O'Keefe's injuries were "textbook" for a physical altercation and a fall, not a vehicle strike. Then you had the FBI-commissioned experts—who had no skin in the game—concluding that the damage to Read's SUV didn't match the physics of hitting a human body.
When you look at the john o'keefe autopsy report pdf through the lens of physics, it gets even muddier. A human body acts like a projectile when hit by a several-thousand-pound vehicle. The lack of "lower extremity" trauma remains the biggest hurdle for the prosecution's theory.
Actionable Insights for Following the Case
If you're still digging into the John O'Keefe case, here is how to navigate the medical evidence without getting lost in the conspiracy theories:
- Focus on the "Undetermined" Ruling: Understand that the state's own medical examiner couldn't call this a homicide. That is a massive hurdle for "beyond a reasonable doubt."
- Look at the Physics: Research "pedestrian-vehicle strike patterns." Compare them to the injuries listed in O'Keefe's report.
- Ignore the Noise: A lot of "leaked" documents online are actually just summaries written by bloggers. If it doesn't have the official seal of the Massachusetts Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, take it with a grain of salt.
- Check the Retrial Records: The 2025 retrial brought out even more nuances in the digital forensics regarding the time of death and how it matched the hypothermia findings.
The John O'Keefe case remains one of the most polarizing mysteries in recent history because the science itself is indecisive. The john o'keefe autopsy report pdf tells us how he died—a tragic combination of trauma and cold—but it remains a silent witness to who, if anyone, was responsible for putting him in that snowbank.
For those tracking the legal fallout, the focus has shifted from the autopsy itself to the federal investigation into the handling of the case. The medical facts are locked in; now, it’s about whether the investigation that collected those facts was tainted from the start.