May 03, 2024

EP 63 | The John O'Keefe Murder Trial, Canton, Massachusetts with Dubs the True Crime Bloodhound

1 hour 16 minutes

Episode 63 is a walk through the frenzy that is called "The Canton Cover-up" by some, others see it as a national spectacle.

Canton, the small town 20 miles outside Boston, is no stranger to tragedy. Over three decades ago, sweet, trusting 14-year-old Shawn Ouillette was lured into the woods, beaten, and left for dead. His 14-year-old schoolmate and eventual killer said no one would miss him. He wanted to know what it felt like to kill. That was 1986. Shawn is still missed by all who love him. His killer, Rod Matthews, remains in prison.

The present day events surrounding John O'Keefe's death have split that same small town in two. The case of a 46-year-old surrogate father to his sister's orphaned kids and 16-year veteran of the Boston Police Department is an absolute shit show to no fault of his own. Lost, as is always the case, is the victim themselves.

John O'Keefe was so beloved that a GoFundMe fundraising page set up for his niece and nephew after he died, had raised more than $245,000 within its first 24 hours.

Karen Read, 44, John O'Keefe's longtime girlfriend, was arrested within days of his death and charged with drunkenly backing into him in her SUV in a snowstorm and leaving him to bleed out and freeze to death. Read has amassed a group of supporters for what some locals refer to as a "frame job" by a bunch of dirty town cops, staties, FBI agents, and DAs.

The cases I refer to in this episode include: Jeffrey Curley (Cambridge, Mass, 1997) was 10 when he was taken by a neighbor with the promise of a bike, abused and killed. His murderers were put away by then-prosecutor, David Yannetti, who is now defending Read.

Beth Brodie (Groveland, Mass, 1992) was 15 when a boy who demanded her affection planned an attack with a bat and killed her in a neighbor's bedroom. Visit JusticeforBethBrodie.com - her killer is up for parole, the hearing is Thurs, May 16 in Natick. Write the parole board and tell them No Parole for Richard Baldwin, W56202

Molly Bish (Warren, Mass, 2000) was 16 when she disappeared from her lifeguard job at Comins Pond. Her remains were found 3 years later in nearby Palmer. Missing Children's Day was meant to honor Molly and other missing kids. We meet on Fri, May 17 at Massachusetts State House in Boston from 11am-1pm. Julie Murray is key note speaker.

Thanks to Dubs of True Crime Bloodhound | Substack |

Support the show

Follow Instagram | Facebook | BlueSky | TikTok | Threads | YouTube
For show notes & source information at CrimeoftheTruestKind.com

Give the dogs a bone tip jar: buymeacoffee.com/truestkind
Become a patron: Patreon.com/crimeofthetruestkind

This podcast has minimal profanity but from time to time you get one or some curse words. This isn't for kids.

Music included in episodes from Joe "onlyone" Kowalski, Dug McCormack's Math Ghosts and Shredding by Andrew King