among the strangest cases of the past century. The outcome was fair and just.
Ms. Read was accused of backing into her S.O., which resulted in his death. At first, that seemed to make sense. Intoxicated people are not known for making good choices when emotions hold the reins. But then other factors were reported by a guy with a pod cast. He was known as "Turtleboy" to the public, though local police were fully aware of him.
It began to look like Mr. O'Keefe was lured to this after-hours party by a very drunk ATF agent. This fellow had the hots for Ms. Read, who had kind of led him on previously, and is seen in the physical aggression with others that one can accurately connect with drunk male teens. He seemed focused on Mr. O'Keefe, after Ms. Read was "ghosting" (I hope I have the younger generation's word right) him in the bar, and he expressed a bit of frustration.
An alternative theory began to come to light. The wounds found on Mr. O'Keefe's body did not match what one would expect for being hit by an SUV. They were more like what one might expect to find resulting from a fight ...... it does not take a hard punch to knock a drunk out. I know this from boxing and other fights. It looked like his head hit something hard. And that at some point, a large dog had attacked him, wounding his arm. The house owners of the party had a German Shepard with a history, that they got rid of the night of the incident.
The lead investigator believed his three friends from the party. He was convinced Ms. Read was guilty before even visiting the scene. He was furious that she killed a cop -- or so he believed. A series of e-mails with co-workers including his supervisor show that he was severely burned-out. There is significant evidence showing he planted evidence -- often the short-cut that is associated with various other police scandals.
If that happened, it would not be a large conspiracy of dozens of people. It only requires two people in the house, and two cops running the investigation. Others believed them, and took them at their word. They believed them too long. Some of them sincerely believe Ms. Read killed him. They are caught up in emotion, of course. It could not be otherwise. But the level of weakness and police corruption made it impossible for a very talented prosecutor to prove his case beyond a reasonable doubt.
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