Alcohol kills, says Brockton writer on Karen Read case
Brockton true-crime writer Dave Wedge says the lesson of the Karen Read case is simple: alcohol kills. In an Enterprise interview, he argued that if Read and Boston police officer John O'Keefe had not been drinking that night, O'Keefe would still be alive—and that the jury correctly found prosecutors failed to prove murder. His take, captured under the line alcohol kills says Brockton author Dave Wedge, arrives as his book Blizzard of Lies hits No. 1 among new true-crime releases on Amazon.
Key Takeaways
- Dave Wedge's Blizzard of Lies jumped to No. 1 on Amazon's new true-crime list.
- Wedge says the jury got it right: second-degree murder was not proved beyond a reasonable doubt.
- He calls alcohol the story's real lesson, saying O'Keefe would be alive if neither had been drinking.
- Wedge argues Massachusetts law enforcement has a credibility problem after witness issues at trial.
- He insists the true victim is O'Keefe and calls attacks on the grieving family "pretty disgusting."
What does the Brockton writer say about the verdict?
Speaking with Enterprise News before the book's release, the 1988 Brockton High graduate said the criminal verdict was appropriate.
"I think the jury got it right that the prosecutors did not prove second-degree murder beyond a reasonable doubt," Wedge said. He declined to claim he knows what happened that night in Canton, where O'Keefe was found dead in the snow outside another officer's home.
A jury found Read not guilty of murdering O'Keefe. Wedge said car and phone data were compelling, but medical evidence left reasonable doubt, and prosecutors never closed several unexplained loops.
Why does Wedge say alcohol kills in this case?
Asked about a missing piece that still sits with him, Wedge pointed to suspicious behavior that night—then pivoted hard to drinking. "The real lesson of this story is alcohol kills," he said.
"If Karen Read and John O'Keefe were not drinking that night, John O'Keefe would be alive," Wedge added. He attributed much of the night's chaos to drunkenness, a theme he says many people avoid discussing.
That framing is the clearest answer-first takeaway from his verdict: not a final crime-scene theory, but a blunt warning about alcohol's role.
Does he think Massachusetts police have a credibility problem?
Yes. Wedge said Massachusetts has a "credibility problem in law enforcement right now," citing officers who lied, changed stories, or posted inexcusable group-chat remarks. He stressed that does not automatically prove a frame-up—or that someone else killed O'Keefe.
His book, he said, is journalism, not a detective's closing argument. Readers should weigh the facts and decide. More coverage of similar cases lives in our true crime and unsolved mysteries section.
Wedge also spent time with the O'Keefe family. The victim, he said, is John O'Keefe—not Read—and accusing that family of covering up a murder is "pretty disgusting."