290: Karen Read VERDICT: NOT GUILTY on All Major Charges!
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Come visit one of our Bright Horizons centers in the greater Chicago area and see for yourself how we turn wonder into wisdom. Schedule your visit today at brighthorizons.com. Hey, true crime besties. Welcome back to an all new episode of Serialistly.

Hello, hello, hello. Welcome back to an all-new episode of Serialistly with me, Annie Elise, and we have got an announcement. There has been a verdict in the Karen Reid case. It just came out about an hour ago, and let me break it all down for you. So it was a little wild because earlier in the afternoon, the attorneys and the teams were called back to the courthouse saying that there was a verdict, that the jury had knocked on the door, that they said they reached a verdict, but

But then before everybody could even return to the courthouse, they apparently knocked again and said they did not have a verdict. So everybody was like on standby. I was live streaming on YouTube at the time. And I was like, what's going on? Do we have a verdict? Do we not? Was there like confusion? Did somebody change their mind? Then about 30 minutes went by and they came back with the verdict. So she was found not guilty of murder too. She was found not guilty of manslaughter either.

And she was found not guilty of leaving the scene.

However, she was found guilty of the surcharge underneath manslaughter of an OUI, which in Massachusetts, that it's operating under the influence. You might also know that as a DUI, but Massachusetts, they call it an OUI. So she was found guilty of that. When the judge asked about scheduling sentencing, both sides agreed they could do it right then and there. And I personally was expecting the Commonwealth to try and go for the max sentence, just, you

you know, to really like stick it to her to get the biggest sentence they possibly could since she was found not guilty on the other charges. But to my surprise, their recommendation was one year probation and classes, which is apparently the standard for an OUI charge for first time offenders. So,

So perhaps that's why it was recommended. Or maybe at that point, they were like, all right, she is found not guilty. We've got our tail between our legs. Let's just give her the standard or recommend the standard. So I'm not really sure. But in any event, she gets to go home. She's on probation for a year and she will have to take classes.

The crowd outside of the courtroom was wild. It was so loud. People were chanting, arrest Jen McCabe, arrest Higgins, get rid of Bev Canone. Everybody, there was so much energy and just like a sea of hot pink because that's been the color everybody has been wearing to show support of Karen Reid.

When Karen and her team finally came out of the courthouse and gave, I wouldn't even call it a press conference, but gave their public statement, she just thanked everybody for their support, thanked everybody for if they have contributed to the defense fund financially, if they have contributed to the emotional support, just gave a thank you, and then

She made a statement saying, nobody has fought harder for justice for John than me and, you know, her team as well, which I think is true in the sense that she has been advocating with her team from day one. Like, I didn't do this. We need to find out who is responsible. Here's the third party culprit. We need to dig deeper.

But my personal opinion, although I'm happy that she's been found not guilty because I don't believe there was nearly enough evidence to convict her, I do – my personal opinion is that that statement may not have been timed exactly right. And while some people are saying, you know, the reason she made that statement is because, of course, everybody in –

lieu of her being found not guilty is going to ask, you know, well, where is the justice for John? He's not getting justice in all of this. And that's something we've been saying for a long time, too, on this podcast, right? It's like if she's found not guilty, which I believe is the correct ruling and verdict, then

There's nobody else that has been looked into nobody else that has been arrested nobody else that has been charged So at the end of the day the victim in this John O'Keefe does not get justice and that is terrible And so I a lot of people say that's why she made that statement because of course that piece of information is going to come to the surface right now asking where's the justice for John but I don't know personally it just didn't quite land with me, but I get the sentiment there and

Now, I don't think that any sort of investigation is going to continue into anybody else. While I wish that it would, I wish they would dig up that basement at the Albert home, I do think that this is where it ends.

But who knows? Maybe we'll be back here in a year and there will be an arrest made. But for now, she has been found not guilty. Her father also spoke and said that he was just thankful for everybody who has been supportive, for all of the content creators that have spread the news of this case far and wide. And everybody's just extremely emotional and, of course, very grateful right now on Cloud9.

So with that, there will of course not be a read recap this week on the podcast. You can go watch us on the live stream on my YouTube if you want to watch the reactions and what that verdict was and how the whole crowd was uproaring and happy, but we will not do a read recap here. But we do have a...

We do have headline highlights coming out tomorrow where we're talking about other cases happening in the true crime world. And there was a hearing today in Idaho for the Brian Koberger case determining whether or not that trial will happen as scheduled in August. So stay tuned for that update. We do have a correspondent, Boots on the Ground, in Idaho who will be covering that case as well as me. I will be going to Idaho as well, assuming it does still happen in August.

So that is where we are now wrapping up the Karen Reid saga. Not guilty on all of the main charges aside from the surcharge of OUI.

And that's what we got. So thank you to all of you who have been listening to the recaps every week. Thank you to Elena, who has been our boots on the ground correspondent there. And keep up because we are going to be covering a lot more trials in the future, a lot more cases. And I'll be talking with you guys tomorrow on Headline Highlights. And then Monday, I have a very, very interesting

important episode. A guest who is joining me that I am interviewing, you probably are familiar with the case. It went nuclear and nationwide, and this person is now speaking out, and I am interviewing them in studio. So set your reminders for Monday. If you're not following the podcast already, make sure you take a quick second follow so that you don't miss it the moment that that episode drops.

All right. Thank you guys so much for tuning in. And until the next one, be nice. Don't kill people. Do not drink and drive. And maybe just take a break from Canton. All right, guys. Oh, and actually, as a quick reminder, we our first leg of the tour is happening next month. It's one month away. We will be in Boston, New York, Philly, D.C., also Toronto, Canada. There are a little there's a few tickets left and not many. So grab them now. It is a month away.

Go to AnnieElise.com and you can get the tickets directly there. I'm looking forward to it. I'm excited to see you guys in person, to meet you. We're covering an all-new exclusive case with a fully different approach with also some experts weighing in. Not going to tell you who. And yeah, it'll be great. So that's it. And I'll talk with you soon. Bye.

At Bright Horizons, infants discover first steps, toddlers discover independence, and preschoolers discover bold ideas. Our dedicated teachers and discovery-driven curriculum nurture curiosity, inspire creativity, and build lasting confidence so your child is ready to take on the world.

Come visit one of our Bright Horizons centers in the greater Chicago area and see for yourself how we turn wonder into wisdom. Schedule your visit today at brighthorizons.com. We all know that owning a small business means you wear many hats, but sometimes you really need an extra pair of hands. Upwork is how good companies find great and trusted freelance talent with more than two decades of experience with a simple and ambitious goal of pioneering a better way of working.

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At Bright Horizons, infants discover first steps, toddlers discover independence, and preschoolers discover bold ideas. Our dedicated teachers and discovery-driven curriculum nurture curiosity, inspire creativity, and build lasting confidence so your child is ready to take on the world.

Come visit one of our Bright Horizons centers in the greater Chicago area and see for yourself how we turn wonder into wisdom. Schedule your visit today at brighthorizons.com.