Was John O’Keefe alive to hear the “last words” from Karen Read when he died Jan. 29, 2022? That was a key question prosecutors and her defense sought answers to Friday in her retrial on murder charges in his death. 

Each side sought to fit them into the context of their respective cases.

During an ambulance ride after Read, Kerry Roberts and Jennifer McCabe found O’Keefe under a pile of snow outside another officer’s house, Read told paramedics about an argument she’d had with her boyfriend, both sides agree.

But a key point of contention Friday arose during the testimony of a Canton firefighter and paramedic named Jason Becker.

Dr. Garrey Faller reviews the medical record of defendant Karen Read as he testified during her trial Friday, April 25, 2025, in Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Mass.  (Josh Reynolds/New York Post via AP, Pool)

Dr. Garrey Faller also tookx the stand Friday. He oversaw the pathology lab when Read arrived Jan. 29, 2022, the same morning O’Keefe was found dead.

Faller testified Read had a blood alcohol level of .093%. when hospital staff collected a sample just after 9 a.m.

She and O’Keefe left the Waterfall Bar and Grille in Canton around midnight. Prosecutors played a clip Thursday from an interview in which she discussed spiking her own drinks with extra shots.

Before the testimony kicked off for the day, jurors were transported to view the crime scene at 34 Fairview Road in Canton. Police also towed in Read’s Lexus SUV to place it in the street outside the house, so jurors could see it in place and where a broken taillight had been. 

The first week of testimony is in the books. The trial was initially expected to take six to eight weeks.