Boston 25 News
Who he really is: Karen Read discusses Trooper Proctors damaging texts in one-on-one interview
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Chief Rafferty said in a statement Monday that she was driving home in her official SUV on February 16 when she “accidentally struck” a Wrentham resident. The chief said she was turning left from South Street onto Creek Street when she caught sight of the pedestrian’s reflective vest.
“I immediately applied my brakes, but unfortunately, the car made contact with him, knocking him to the ground. I immediately exited my vehicle to render first aid and called 911,” the chief said.
Rafferty said she remained on the scene throughout the emergency response to answer questions and in addition, she requested a breathalyzer test for herself.
“The result was 0.00,” according to an incident report released from Wrentham police, adding that Rafferty “was issued a civil citation” that night for failing to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk. Rafferty said Monday she has since paid the fine.
The pedestrian, identified as Michael Barry, was taken to Rhode Island Hospital for treatment after suffering a laceration to the right side of his head and complaining of left knee pain, one report said.
Barry’s attorney Seth Jacobs told Boston 25 News Monday he had suffered multiple fractures to his legs, ribs and shoulder. He endured major knee surgery, spending one week in the hospital and a second week in rehab, Jacobs said.
“He’s appreciative for all the help first responders gave at the scene, and he has a long road to recovery ahead,” Jacobs said.
Jacobs said his client has not decided whether or not he will file a lawsuit but said he has been in touch with the insurance company for the town of Canton.
On the night of the Feb. crash responding officers took photographs of the SUV at the crime scene which didn’t show significant damage.
“There was a white scuff mark on the passenger front bumper from either MICHAEL’s person or his cane (see photograph),” the report said. “No other damage was noted to [motor vehicle] #1, and it did not require a tow as it was operable. I observed the area of the crash to be poorly lit with only one fluorescent light.”
A witness of the crash also approached officers at the scene and told them Rafferty was “not operating erratically before the crash,” as indicated in the report.
While Rafferty said she notified Canton town officials about the incident, she expressed regret for not informing the public.
“Upon further reflection and considering the amount of attention that has been focused on Canton, I should have issued a statement sooner,” she wrote.
Canton Police have been under widespread scrutiny over the handling of the Karen Read murder case. Read is accused of running down her Boston Police officer boyfriend John O’Keefe with her SUV outside 34 Fairview Rd in Canton just after midnight on January 29, 2022.
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An assistant district attorney said the request was based on inaccurate conclusions “injected with hyperbole.”
Read is charged with 2nd-degree murder for the death of her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe, in Canton. She’s accused of running over him in reverse and leaving him to die in a January 2022 snowstorm.
Read the full story: boston25news.com/news/local/karen-reads-lawyers-argue-phone-records-further-conspiracy-claim/DZLWBGJWJRBCHHNBCQ45YM6JLM
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Brookline’s Coolidge Corner Theatre is set to unveil 14,000 square feet of new space next week, including two new theaters, an expanded lobby and an Education and Community Engagement Center after finally completing its $14 million expansion.
Originally constructed as a church in 1933, the Coolidge gradually transformed into a hub of classic, foreign and independent films in Boston. It’s not uncommon to see a line packed into the tucked-away side alley, hundreds shuffling in anticipation for their first chance of seeing a childhood favorite on the big screen or a midnight showing of the cult-classic “The Room.”
A far cry from the days when the Coolidge teetered on the brink of permanent closure in the 1980′s.
“It’s certainly had its ups and downs but it is certainly on a big up right now,” said Katherine Tallman, executive, director and CEO of the Coolidge Corner Theatre Foundation.
“This new expansion allows us to keep up with the demand that we’re seeing right now from our community,” explains Mark Anastasio.
The classic window ticket booth will be shuttered in exchange for the new foyer. Expansive enough that the days of waiting in the harsh New England winter before their showing will soon go the way of the Art-Deco style the theater was fashioned after.
The new upstairs education center will also allow the Coolidge to expand its series of classes and seminars.
The two new theaters, Moviehouse 5 and 6, will be able to seat 145 and 53 patrons respectively and will feature state-of-the-art picture and sound.
“We’ve got a gorgeous blue theater in Moviehouse 6. That’s kind of underselling it. And Moviehouse 5 is just this incredible red room that is immediately going to be one of the best spaces to see a film in the Boston area if not all of New England,” explained Mark Anastasio.
On Wednesday, those strolling through Brookline’s Coolidge Corner neighborhood could look up at the marquee and see that Denis Villeneauve’s 2024 Sci-Fi epic was screening in premium 70mm format. Next to it, an invite to return next week for screenings of Japan’s 1977 horror fairy tale “House” and Carol Reed’s 1949 noir classic “The Third Man.” A smattering of eras and filmmaking history cinephiles would be hard-pressed to find in most theaters.
“There really is a good reason why this theater has been here for so long. It really is the community, it’s been here to serve the community. The community has been with us all along the way,” said Tallman.
“It’s home. It’s comfortable. It’s nice people. The popcorn is real! It’s just a great place to get away too!” one moviegoer told Boston 25.
Two touchstones of movie history will help open the cinema’s newest era. “The Wizard of Oz” and “2001: A Space Odyssey” will screen in the newest theaters starting on Wednesday, March 27, 2024.
“People will always want the experience of going out to a cinema. There’s just something that creates a more heightened experience seeing a film as large as possible and among an audience. And human beings are going to always want that as a means of getting out of the house. Sometimes you just want to leave your living room and we’ll be here when they do,” Anastasio said.
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The trash, tarps, bikes, and collection of furniture are in plain view on McGrath Highway right next to a new luxury condo building and across the street from a busy Stop and Shop.
Neighbors told Boston 25 News that they’ve been dealing with quality-of-life issues related to the encampment underneath Interstate 93 for months.
A meeting was held just last week with residents to listen to the problems they’ve been dealing with.
Some aren’t convinced that enough is being done.
“It is sad to see that it’s not being handled appropriately by the city,” said neighbor Jason Myrnyj. “It’s something in the world you have to come across, but it is unfortunate that people around here have to look at it.”
Somerville Mayor Katjana Ballantyne said intensive outreach by the Somerville Homeless Coalition is being conducted.
The goal has been to connect people with support services before the area is closed off for MassDOT work on I-93 this spring.
“We’re trying to address a humanitarian crisis that’s happening now in our city,” said Mayor Ballantyne. “‘They many times feel safer in that community than in a congregate setting.”
Mayor Ballantyne said police patrols have been increased and that the city is working with its DPW team to coordinate regular removal of trash from the bustling area.
Her defense team, led by attorney Alan Jackson, presented a motion to dismiss the second-degree murder case against Read in Norfolk County Superior Court in Dedham.
She is accused of running down John O’Keefe in reverse with her Lexus SUV in Canton but an accident reconstructionist hired by the FBI found O’Keefe’s injuries did not appear to be from a car strike.
“The damage on the car was inconsistent with having made contact with John O’Keefe’s body. In other words, the car didn’t hit him, and he wasn’t hit by the car. Period. Full stop,” Read’s attorney Alan Jackson said.
Jackson revealed that and other findings from 3074 pages of documents The U.S. Attorney’s Office for Massachusetts turned over last month from the federal probe of her arrest and prosecution.
He told Judge Beverly Cannone that the federal investigation found inconsistencies and conflicts that should lead to the dismissal of her second-degree murder case.
The defense claims O’Keefe was beaten and attacked by a dog inside the former Canton home of another Boston police officer named Brian Albert in a wide-ranging cover up involving local and state law enforcement.
Jackson said State Police Detective Michael Proctor, the lead detective assigned to investigate O’Keefe’s death, had a personal relationship with members of the Albert family that was not disclosed to the state grand jury that indicted Read.
“It’s not lost on anybody in this courtroom that for two years the Commonwealth has been denying it,” Jackson said.
Jackson said text messages analyzed in the federal investigation reveal that one of the Albert’s offered to buy Proctor a gift when the case against Read was over.
Norfolk County Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally accused the defense of inflating the relationships of police and witnesses to distract from Read’s alleged guilt.
“It’s a three-card Monte trick. You know, card trick. On the corner, on the side. Look at all of this. Look at, this relationship. Look at that relationship. Conflating these relationships, sort of the distortion that I would say between what exists in social media realm and what exists in reality,” Lally said.
An FBI analysis of a phone belonging to Brian Albert’s sister-in-law, Jennifer McCabe, determined she searched “hos long to die in cold” at 2:27 am, hours before she called 911 to report that O’Keefe’s body had been found outside the Albert home, according to Jackson.
“The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation also specifically confirms that that search was made on Jennifer McCabe’s phone, and it was made on or before 2:27 (am)… That fact, Your Honor, is no longer open for debate. And none of that was presented before the (state) grand jury,” Jackson explained.
The defense first brought up McCabe’s Google search in April 2023 and this is the first time a law enforcement agency has corroborated the findings.
Prosecutor Lally said the federal investigation found no indication of a cover-up or evidence that O’Keefe entered the Albert home. He said grand jury minutes from the federal investigation are largely consistent with the state’s case.
“42 separate witnesses, 56 exhibits, over 1,400 pages of transcript which clearly demonstrate and indicate that the defendant, Karen Read, killed John O’Keefe,” Lally said.
Following the hearing, Alan Jackson told Boston 25 reporter Ted Daniel he is planning to introduce more evidence from the federal investigation in new filings.
Judge Cannone must rule on the defense’s motion to dismiss. If she denies the motion, a trial is expected next month.
As of right now, Read’s jury trial is slated to begin on April 16, with full days on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and half days on Tuesday and Thursday.
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Today that’s changing as a push to make magic mushrooms legal in Massachusetts gains steam.
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The Essex County District Attorney’s Office announced the names of the deceased couple on Monday as 24-year-old Loren Marino and 24-year-old Austin Amaral.
A spokesperson with the DA’s office told Boston 25 News on Tuesday that investigators believe Amaral murdered Marino before turning the gun on himself.
A neighbor who lives downstairs said she found the wounded bodies of the couple in Marino’s bedroom.
“I was flying back from Las Vegas, and I got these words, Loren got murdered,” said friend Katie Iandolo. “I was hysterical. People were bringing me water and praying over me.”
Iandolo told Boston 25 News that Marino had previously known Amaral but just seriously began dating him two months ago.
“There was a lot of obsession with him. He kind of came and never left,” she said. “He didn’t want anybody but him to have a relationship with her.”
Iandolo said that Amaral showed his two guns to her inside Marino’s apartment on Broadway about a month ago.
She recalls another glaring red flag several weeks ago that she could not ignore.
“He shoved her into a dresser hard. I kind of freaked out on him,” she explained. “He was so psychotic in his eyes when he was yelling at me.”
She describes feeling an immediate distance after that with the best friend she was used to seeing on a daily basis.
“While she was sleeping, he took her phone and blocked me from it,” said Iandolo. “He removed me from her Facebook, her Snapchat and her Instagram.”
Iandolo is now trying to channel her anger toward Amaral into constructive advice for others in abusive dating relationships.
“First red flag, please just go,” she said. “It’s only going to get worse. There’s no fixing somebody. There’s no light at the end of that kind of tunnel.”
She wants her friend to be remembered as an independent woman who worked two jobs, a bright light who uplifted others and an unwavering source of support.
“We had an instant connection. The day we met, we used to call each other soul sisters,” added Iandolo. “I loathe him. He took my best friend from me.”
Iandolo said Marino aspired to become a registered nurse.
Friends are organizing foster homes for Marino’s two dogs.
Her beloved pets were found inside the upstairs apartment where the bodies were discovered on Sunday.
Read the full story: boston25news.com/news/local/going-get-justice-mom-young-boston-student-restrained-chair-says-school-should-be-closed/3BMBN7UQ6BAAJFSXDX6EFIL6YI


