You’ve seen the headlines, the pink shirts, and the endless shouting matches on social media. But if you strip away the "Free Karen Read" stickers and the courtroom drama, you’re left with a cold, snowy morning in January 2022 that changed everything for two women who were once friends. Kerry Roberts and Karen Read. Their names are now permanently linked in one of the most polarizing murder trials in Massachusetts history.
Honestly, the relationship between these two is where the whole "official story" begins to crack or solidify, depending on who you believe. Kerry wasn't just a random witness. She was the one Karen called at 5:00 a.m. in a total panic. She was the one who drove the car to 34 Fairview Road. She was the one who felt the freezing snow on her knees as she tried to breathe life back into John O’Keefe’s lungs.
The 5:00 AM Phone Call That Started It All
It was dark. It was freezing. A blizzard was howling through Canton. Kerry Roberts testified that her phone rang at 5:00 a.m., and the voice on the other end was Karen Read, screaming.
"John's dead! Kerry, John's dead!"
That’s what Kerry told the jury. Think about that for a second. At 5:00 a.m., John O’Keefe hadn't been found yet. Nobody officially knew he was dead. To the prosecution, this is the "smoking gun" of a confession. To the defense, it’s the frantic hyperbole of a woman who knew her boyfriend was missing in a deadly storm and feared the worst.
Kerry didn't just stay on the phone. She got dressed, got in her car, and went to help. She picked up Karen and Jennifer McCabe. They were a trio of women looking for a man they all loved in different ways—Kerry as a lifelong best friend, Jen as a family friend, and Karen as his girlfriend.
What Happened at 34 Fairview?
When they pulled up to the Albert home, the scene was a white-out. Kerry testified that she couldn't see anything. The snow was too thick. But Karen? According to Kerry, Karen saw him immediately.
"There he is!"
Karen jumped out of the car and ran toward a mound of snow. Kerry followed. What they found was John O’Keefe, face up, eyes swollen, blood on his face, and his body beginning to be covered by the drifts.
The testimony here gets raw. Kerry described performing CPR, the frantic shouting, and Karen Read allegedly asking, "Did I hit him? Could I have hit him?" over and over again. Kerry’s response at the time was supportive. She told Karen, "No, you didn't hit him. Let's just find him."
But the "friendly" dynamic didn't last. Not by a long shot.
The Breakdown of a Friendship
The shift from "friend" to "key prosecution witness" didn't happen overnight, but it was brutal. In the courtroom, the tension between Kerry Roberts and Karen Read was thick enough to cut. Kerry was no longer the woman trying to comfort Karen; she was the woman pointing a finger.
During the retrial in 2025, defense attorney Alan Jackson went after Kerry’s credibility. It got heated. He grilled her on why her story changed.
- The Taillight: Kerry admitted during cross-examination that in her very first interview with State Police troopers on the day John died, she never mentioned Karen showing her a cracked taillight.
- The Google Search: There was a massive back-and-forth about whether Kerry heard Karen ask Jennifer McCabe to Google "how long to die in the cold."
- The Timeline: Kerry admitted she worked "communally" with Jen McCabe to piece together the morning's events.
This is where things get messy. When witnesses start "remembering" things together, the defense calls it a conspiracy. The prosecution calls it three traumatized women trying to make sense of a nightmare.
Why Kerry Roberts Still Matters
If you're following this case, you have to understand why Kerry is the pivot point. She doesn't have the same "insider" baggage as the Albert family. She wasn't at the party inside the house. She was an outsider who got pulled into the vortex because she was John's "right hand"—the person who helped him with his niece and nephew, the person he trusted most.
Her testimony is the emotional anchor for the O’Keefe family. While the "Free Karen Read" movement focuses on cell phone pings and police corruption, Kerry focuses on the man in the snow. She gave an interview to Good Morning America where she basically said people have forgotten John was the victim.
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"He’s not coming back," she said. And you could feel the weight of that.
What Most People Get Wrong
The internet loves a villain. Depending on which YouTube creator you watch, Kerry is either a grieving hero or a co-conspirator in a massive cover-up.
But the reality is likely more human. Kerry Roberts found her best friend frozen to death. That kind of trauma does weird things to your memory. Does it mean she's lying? Not necessarily. Does it mean her testimony is 100% accurate? Also not necessarily.
The defense successfully pointed out that Kerry’s "memory" of Karen’s confessions seemed to get more detailed as the months went on and the investigation leaned harder into Karen’s guilt.
What Really Happened With the Evidence?
Let's look at the facts that came out during Kerry’s time on the stand:
- The "John's Dead" Comment: Kerry stands by her claim that Karen said this before the body was found. This remains the most damaging part of her testimony.
- The CPR Scene: First responders confirmed Kerry was the one actively trying to save John. She was hysterical but functional.
- The House Visit: Before going to Fairview, they went to John’s house. Kerry testified they looked for him there first. This is important because it shows they weren't just "beelineing" for a body they already knew was there.
The Outcome and What’s Next
Karen Read was eventually found not guilty of second-degree murder in June 2025, though the saga of the "Canton cover-up" continues to haunt the town. Kerry Roberts remains one of the few people who was there at the very second the tragedy was discovered.
If you're looking for actionable insights on how to process this case, here is what you need to do:
Stop relying on TikTok snippets. The trial transcripts for Kerry Roberts' testimony are hours long. The nuances—the way she paused, the way she corrected herself, the way she looked at the O'Keefe family—don't translate to a 30-second clip.
Look at the "Why." Ask yourself why a lifelong friend of the victim would risk perjury to frame a woman she was friendly with. Then ask yourself why a woman's memory of a crime would "improve" after talking to investigators like Michael Proctor.
Watch the cross-examination. If you want to see how a witness holds up under pressure, watch Alan Jackson's cross of Kerry from the 2025 retrial. It reveals the gaps in the Commonwealth's timeline better than any opening statement ever could.
The story of Kerry Roberts and Karen Read isn't just about a broken taillight or a 911 call. It’s a story about how grief and suspicion can turn allies into enemies in the span of a single, snowy morning.