On a January night in 2022, a powerful nor'easter was blowing into the town of Canton, Massachusetts. But come morning, the fierce blizzard paled in comparison to the headline that would soon take the world by storm.

She struck him with her motor vehicle. She had been under the influence, and then she left him there.

Local woman Karen Reid had been implicated in the mysterious death of her boyfriend, Boston police officer John Okeefe. The apparent murder weapon, her suv. But this isn't your typical hit and run.

The motive basically appears to be jealousy combined with drinking. Theory is that she had nine drinks that night and that she was heavily intoxicated. There's some evidence to support it, but there's also a whole bunch of evidence to counter it.

It was alleged that after an innocent night out for drinks with friends, Karen and John got into a lovers quarrel en route to the next location, a house party hosted by another Boston police officer, Brian Albert. What happens next depends on who you ask.

If you believe the prosecution, it's because the evidence was so compelling. This was clearly an intentional act, and his cause of death was blunt force trauma with hypothermia.

Did you hear her say, could I hit him?

I heard I hit him. I hit him.

That's what you believe at this point.

That'S what I heard.

If you believe the defense theory, however, this is all a coverup to prevent one of their own from going down.

Was it a cold blooded crime of passion or a corrupt cover up?

The suggestion here is basically that the Alberts have really strong connections to police. They're sort of presented as this connected, powerful family that really didn't like outsiders. They didn't like the people who were not part of that world, which included Karen Reidden.

The theory is that they dumped him outside in the snow, and they were simply gonna say, we never saw him, he never came into the house, and let that be that.

And the handling of evidence left more questions than answers in this not so classic case of whodunit from the scene of the murder.

The processing of the crime scene was a textbook example of how not to do it.

They should have gone in, secured this scene, and they didn't do that to the forensics.

What exactly happened that night? I haven't seen enough evidence to really be able to affirmatively hang my hat.

On any single theory to the digital footprints.

Miss McCabe, every single one of those calls was deleted off your phone, correct?

According to the reports?

According to that report, yes.

What was actually contained on that Sim card, I'd like to know. But people get rid of things for a reason, and that's important.

But it was the lead investigator's testimony that arguably catapulted the case of Karen Reid into the national spotlight.

So the way that you were gonna make it cut and dry, pretty simple. Just pin it on the girl. Who did you mean by the girl, by the way? The defendant, Karen Reid.

Yes, sir.

Only fanning the fires for those claiming conspiracy.

To say that it's troubling is to sugarcoat it.

When police ethics were brought into question, it struck a national nerve on both ends.

There's a distrust of authority, there's a distrust of police. And this case threads that needle.

Local outcry grew louder, too.

Honestly, I've never seen anything like it.

Outside the courthouse, droves of supporters gathered daily in support of Karen Reid.

What in the world is going on in Massachusetts, the birthplace of America? A woman's being railroaded and framed for a murder she didn't commit.

Then suddenly, the whole world couldn't get enough role playing as armchair detectives.

Did she murder him or is she being framed? And the more I dug into it, the more I felt like I was Alice going down the rabbit hole.

Social media became captivated by the sensation, yet true justice for a remarkable man. And the fate of a woman's life hung delicately in the balance. Would John O'Keefe's death remain a mystery? Could Karen Reid be convicted for a crime she potentially didn't commit? Or is it possible that a guilty woman could walk free? After the ten week trial, everyone had an opinion.

There's just reasonable doubt dripping off the vine.

The longer this trial has gone on, the more passionate people have gotten. There's a lot going on in social media. A lot of theories sort of floating around about the prosecution, about the judge. They're all in cahoots with each other.

Everybody should be upset by this, really. If you're sitting here thinking Karen Reid is guilty, then you should be also thinking that John O'Keefe was owed a proper investigation, using proper investigative techniques by officers who are above reproach.

And just when you think the end is near, the twelve men and women tasked with deciding the fate of Karen Reid could not come to a unanimous.

Decision to end in a mistrial. It's just a confirmation of just how complicated this case is.

Law and crime presents the most in depth analysis to date of the sensational case, exploring the divisive theories and more by taking you behind the scenes of both the trial of Karen Reid and the investigation into John O'Keefe's mysterious death. In Karen. You can listen to Karen exclusively with wondery. Join wondery in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.