The Eve Of The Karen Read and John O’Keefe Re-Trial. Towel’s Thoughts (Editorial).

By; Grant Smith-Ellis
Date; 4/14/25
Time; 11:15am ET

It is the eve of opening arguments, along with witness testimony, in the Karen Read and John O'Keefe re-trial.

Something feels different, though.

Content creators and the media are moving on to other cases. Karen and her defense team seem to know the new Lexus GPS data is bad. The federal probe into John's death is confirmed as over. A newly-expanded buffer zone has saved Norfolk Superior Court from a circus, and the Free Karen Read movement now fades from the historical scene with an embarrassed whimper (as Karen compares herself to O.J. Simpson upon the sinking ship that is the S.S. FKR).

The mood is ominous. A red sky hues the morning dawn. The silence from the ducks and birds is deafening. At long last, dignified reverence for the judicial system has taken hold.

A quiet justice for John O'Keefe is coming, and that's exactly what has been called for all along.

Whether Karen Read will embrace atonement voluntarily, or as a result of compelled catharsis by way of a jury of her peers, is thus the only chapter left to be written in this sad tale.

The tale of a great man, John O'Keefe, taken too soon at the hands of Karen Read, a dangerous woman able to hide in plain sight.

The tale of a small section of America who became hyper-fixated on Karen Read and John O'Keefe; perhaps as a source of vicarious meaning in their lives, perhaps for clout, perhaps for other motives.

Is this country better off as a result of the last two years of Karen's confused PR chaos?

Maybe some of the healing that has occurred, in Canton, or in Dedham, or elsewhere, has had some positive benefit. Perhaps some of the friendships, bonds and love found amidst this scarred battlefield glisten as if a diamond in the sweltering TV spotlights.

But on the whole, the pain, and the agony, and the exploitation, and the unheard screams of the innocents will come to far outweigh any such solace found in redemptive rebuilding.

That, in so many ways, was Karen Read's true mortal sin.

Karen didn't just take John from his family, and from this earth.

Karen destroyed communities, tore apart families, played the role of a modern Whitey Bulger in a proxy war between the old Boston DOJ and the Norfolk DA, and turned John's memory into a morbid plaything. His name shaped, molded, ridiculed, invoked and paraded in the media for her own insidious purposes.

Compelled by benevolent compassion, or self interest, or otherwise, the undue attention and coverage of this case is our collective shame to bear.

Yes, Karen took John's life (allegedly), but we, every single one of us, helped her kill John's memory by turning this trial into a cottage industry (be it to help PR "clients," pump clicks and views, or, even noblely attempt to prevent manipulation of public discourse).

A lot of us will have some soul searching to do, even as this re-trial unfolds (before a far smaller audience).

May that self-reflection, and a guilty verdict for Karen Read on at least one count as to John O'Keefe's death, lead to a better world going forward, with God's blessing.

For now, it is towel bedtime and I wish you all a good night.