Karen Reading Trial Forensic Expert Reveals Evidence in Red Solo Cup Never Tested

A forensic scientist at the Massachusetts Police Crime Laboratory revealed during Karen Read’s murder trial that evidence collected in the Red Solo Cup had never been tested when her Boston police boyfriend, John O'Keefe.

Wednesday's testimony came from O'Keefe's niece, who was taking care of him after his parents died within months, as well as forensic experts involved in finding tests for Read's Lexus SUV and crime labs.

Maureen Hartnett of the Massachusetts Police Crime Laboratory testified that she found broken glass, scratches and at least one dent on the back of Read’s vehicle, as well as blood and debris recovered from O’Keefe’s clothing.

She also wiped the evidence collected by state police in the red solo cup, although she testified that she had never been tested. As a result, she couldn't even identify it as blood.

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She collected samples for other tests, but testified that she did not. That is someone else's responsibility.

She also testified that she could not rule out any damage that occurred before January 29, 2022, and that O'Keefe was dead.

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During the trial of Karen Read in Dedham, Massachusetts on May 6, 2025, an evidence image of a red solo cup used by Guangzhou police to collect blood evidence was shown. (Matt Stone/Boston Herald via AP, swimming pool)

When she saw it, the red-brown substance, known as “Red-brown”, was collected from the front lawn at 34 Canton Road, and was sprinkled down on the snow at 34 Snow Slope, where investigators believed O'Keeffe was found.

“I think anyway, even if there is no custody chain, even if there is no custody chain, it's just to make the case relevant,” said Paul Mauro, a retired investigator at the New York Police Department. “If there's a fight in the house, probably O'Keeffe will fight back. If the blood in the snow is back to one of the Alberts or Higgins, if you're defensive, it's doing the air missile.”

He said the defense could ask for a test today if the swab was still present.

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Officer John O'Keefe (Boston Police Department)

However, police can also make better collection and document evidence, especially in a range of situations when police have to defend the level of making unusual decisions, including having someone fill in evidence bags, using grocery bags instead of evidence bags, instead of sending someone home without having to send anyone to the police station to get the police station for the right container of evidence.

Other awkward moments include a bag of evidence, with the wrong number of broken taillight fragments and a state police sergeant was asked to open a bag of evidence with the wrong one inside of one of the victims' sneakers.

“You don't have to do a homicide investigation every day to know, if you collect a bunch of things from the crime scene, keep it and make sure it's recorded in the evidence so that it can be retrieved later because you don't know where this is.”

“If they know enough and care enough to sample from the site, then they do it, whatever they do it…and then they put each cup in a separate dock and shopping bag, put it under the first start, sealing it in a blizzard.

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Defendant Karen Read met with attorneys during her murder case in Norfolk Superior Court in Didem, Massachusetts on Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (Mark Chavous/Enterprise News via AP, Pool)

Defense attorney Robert Alessi also asked Hartnett about two photos, allegedly showing the same unique hair sample recovered from the back of the SUV.

“You might say snow seals it there,” Mauro said.

Read allegations of second-degree murder, drunk driving homicide and fatal accidents fleeing O'Keefe's death.

Prosecutors claimed she poured the Lexus SUV into O'Keefe and left him dead on the ground in a snowstorm.

She pleaded not guilty to all charges, and her lawyer said she never hit O'Keeffe.

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William Read, the father of Karen Read, William Read, greets defense attorney Robert Alessi before the Karen Read murder trial in the Norfolk Superior Court in Massachusetts on May 9, 2025. (Mark Stockwell/The Sun Chronicle via AP, swimming pool)

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Although prosecutors have shown photos of her broken taillights and investigators testified that it played a role in the allegations against Red, her lawyer played a close-up video showing that she appeared to be back in the car parked by O'Keefe, and then she and two other women found O'Keefe outside Fairview Road House.

The night before, a group of people had a party there after going out to drink in the evening.

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Reading, talking to reporters outside the court, claiming she left the party before seeing O'Keeffe leave.

Other witnesses who testified under oath told the juror that he did not go in.