'Turtleboy' blogger in frequent contact with Karen Read, document shows. What we know

DEDHAM − Investigators have evidence appearing to show that Karen Read, who is accused of killing Braintree native John O'Keefe, had frequent contact with a controversial blogger known as "Turtleboy," who now faces charges in related cases, according to a court document obtained Wednesday by WCVB NewsCenter 5.

Their communications allegedly included Read feeding the blogger, Aidan Kearney, of Holden, information about the case that was not public. The two allegedly spoke for dozens of hours by phone and communicated through intermediaries while publicly denying they were in contact, the TV station reported.

Read, of Mansfield, is accused of hitting O'Keefe, a Boston police officer who was her boyfriend, with her vehicle outside a home in Canton on Jan. 29, 2022. Prosecutors say Read and O’Keefe had both been drinking that night.

Read and her defense team say she is the victim of a cover-up. They say O'Keefe was beaten inside the home and bitten by a dog.

Kearney has posted blogs about the Read case frequently, pushing the defense's cover-up theory. He was indicted on 16 counts, including intimidation of a witness, in connection to that work and, in another case, charged with assault and battery and intimidation of a witness.

Read, Kearney allegedly communicated through intermediary

The new 31-page document is an application from Jan. 22 to search two iPhones associated with Read. It was filed by a State Police detective lieutenant and reveals new details about the alleged communications between Read and Kearney, including extensive detail about how an intermediary was often used to facilitate the communication.

After Read's arrest in February 2022, a former university classmate rekindled a friendship with her, the document said. It also reveals the friend made contact through social media with Jennifer Altman, a volunteer paralegal who had access to Kearney in the Norfolk County jail until recently.

Altman's access recently landed Kearney's lawyer, Timothy Bradl, in hot water and prompted the special prosecutor to request that a judge take the "unprecedented" step of assigning a third party to audit Kearney's communications with his attorney.

According to the search warrant application, Altman put Read's friend into contact with Kearney. Read also told the friend to download an encrypted messaging app called Signal to her phone, according to a WCVB report.

The friend, who later had a falling out with Read, told investigators that she would copy messages sent by Read through Signal and relay them to Kearney. Sometimes, the document states, she would take a screenshot of the message and pass that along.

"Messages would start with, 'Tell TB,' 'From Karen," or "Not for public but you and Aidan can see,'" the document states.

Months of messages are described through several pages of the documents, including times Kearney asked whether he could use certain material and at least one instance where he requested more material.

Read's friend also identified a second intermediary and the search warrant application said the information is corroborated by messages the investigation has already reviewed.

Over 40 hours of direct communication between Read and Kearney alleged

According to the document, several text message exchanges already reviewed by the investigation suggest that Kearney and Read were communicating directly. Phone records also indicate 189 calls between their numbers, with a total duration of more than 40 hours.

Phone records also revealed dozens of calls between Kearney and phones associated with Read's attorneys, David Yannetti and Alan Jackson, the document states.

Additionally, the warrant application refers to information from the accuser in Kearney's alleged assault and battery case. She told investigators that Kearney stated he spoke with Read every day and described at least one instance "where Read controlled what Kearney would publish."

In addition to the assault, Kearney told the woman to tell a grand jury "she did not remember anything," the document states.

"Based on all the above, there is probable cause to believe the data held within cellphone(s) used by Karen Read will contain evidence of witness intimidation and conspiracy," the document states.

The warrant was granted and investigators seized the two phones from Read. Papers released Wednesday did not reveal what, if anything, was found.

Read is scheduled to go on trial in March.

Yannetti said he was "reserving comment at this time."

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Court document details link between 'Turtleboy,' Karen Read