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Hidden Killers With Tony Brueski | True Crime News & Commentary

Plastic Found on Deep In O’Keefe's Clothing Matches Karen Read’s Taillight - Forensic Bombshell

Hidden Killers With Tony Brueski | True Crime News & Commentary

True Crime Today

True Crime, News, News Commentary

3791 Ratings

🗓️ 27 May 2025

⏱️ 95 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Plastic Found on Deep In O’Keefe's Clothing Matches Karen Read’s Taillight - Forensic Bombshell
In this critical segment of the Karen Read trial, Massachusetts State Police Crime Lab forensic scientist Christina Hanley delivered testimony that bolsters the prosecution’s narrative: that John O’Keefe was struck and left to die—while key trace evidence ties back to Read’s SUV.
Hanley’s testimony focused on three main forensic categories: glass fragments, plastic from the taillight, and debris found in John O’Keefe’s clothing. Her analysis confirmed that six out of nine pieces of broken glass recovered from the road (Item 7-12) physically matched a drinking glass (Item 3-2) found shattered at the scene. These were “jigsaw-style” physical matches—clear, visible break lines that could not be coincidental.

Crucially, no glass from the bumper of Karen Read’s vehicle (Item 3-3) matched the cup. That undercuts any attempt to suggest the bumper glass proves an alternate chain of events. But the prosecution’s win didn’t end there.

Hanley’s testimony also tied red and clear plastic found on John O’Keefe’s shirt directly back to the passenger-side taillight of Karen Read’s SUV. The plastic wasn’t just “similar” in color—it was microscopically and instrumentally consistent, meaning it shared the same optical, structural, and chemical characteristics under forensic analysis (including FTIR and microspectrophotometry).

Although forensic scientists stop short of declaring a definitive source, “consistency” across multiple scientific instruments is the gold standard in trace evidence—and the jury heard that loud and clear.

This detailed forensic testimony is a massive problem for the defense. The physical match confirms O’Keefe was in proximity to the cup and the scene. The trace plastic suggests direct contact with Read’s vehicle. And no glass evidence ties back to any other suspect.

#KarenRead #JohnOKeefe #ForensicMatch #CrimeLabEvidence #ProsecutionEvidence #TaillightMatch #MassStatePolice #TrueCrime #GlassAnalysis #JusticeForOKeefe
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Transcript

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0:00.0

This is the Hidden Killers podcast with Tony Bruske and continuing coverage of the case against Karen Reed.

0:07.9

Hi, Mr. Malay, never you, rather than you, thank you, Erin.

0:11.3

Good afternoon, ma'am.

0:12.8

Good afternoon.

0:13.6

Could you please introduce yourself to the jury spelling your last name for the court?

0:17.5

Sure. I'm Christina Hanley. Hanley is H-A-N-L-E-Y. And Ms. Hanley, what do you do for?

0:25.6

I am a forensic scientist free at the Massachusetts State Police Crime Laboratory in the Trace

0:32.7

Arsonan Explosives Unit. And where did you go to school? I went to, I had received a Bachelor of

0:41.5

Science in chemistry, but the concentration in forensics from Maramette College.

0:49.4

And do you have any other degrees? I do not. Now, following your education, where did your first go to where?

0:58.8

I began working at the State Police Crime Lab in 2008 in the Drug Identification Unit.

1:08.8

And in 2009, I transferred into the trace unit. And in 2017, I was promoted from

1:19.4

a forensic scientist two to a forensic scientist three in the trace arsenic explosives unit.

1:25.4

Can I ask me please to speak up, please.

1:30.5

Ms. Hanley, if it helps, that microphone is adjustable,

1:32.9

so if you could get it as close to you as possible, that would be great.

1:36.0

Thank you.

1:37.4

The Massachusetts State Police Crime Laboratory where you work,

1:41.0

is that accredited?

1:42.3

Yes, it is.

1:43.4

And by whom? We are accredited? Yes, it is. And by whom?

1:45.0

We are accredited by ANAB.

...

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