The Norfolk County District Attorney’s office has paid special prosecutor Hank Brennan more than $230,000 in taxpayer funds for Karen Read’s retrial. And the bills for his last few months of work are still coming.
Public records show the state has paid Brennan about $235,000 to date, with the last payment made in April. That means the state will owe Brennan for his last few months of work, including the trial itself.
Norfolk District Attorney Michael W. Morrissey announced last fall that he was appointing Brennan to serve as special assistant district attorney to prosecute the case. Brennan took over from Adam Lally, who served as lead prosecutor in Read’s first trial.
Read, 45, on June 18 was acquitted by a jury of killing her boyfriend, Braintree native and Boston police officer John O’Keefe, by backing into him with her SUV outside a Canton home in January 2022 and leaving him to die in a snowstorm following a night of drinking. The jury found her guilty of operating under the influence. She was sentenced to a year of probation and a class.
Read’s first trial in Norfolk Superior Court ended in a mistrial July 12024.
More: Who is the new prosecutor Hank Brennan
Special prosecutor Hank Brennan questions Ian Wiffin, a digital intelligence expert with Celebrite. The murder retrial of Karen Read continues, in Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Massachusetts, on Monday, April 28, 2025.
Karen Read special prosecutor Hank Brennan speaks out after trial
Brennan spoke out Monday, June 23 for the first time since Read was acquitted on most charges.
“I am disappointed in the verdict and the fact that we could not achieve justice for John O’Keefe and his family,” Brennan said in a statement. “District Attorney Michael Morrissey appointed me giving me full discretion to independently assess the case and follow the evidence no matter where it led. After an independent and thorough review of all the evidence I concluded that the evidence led to one person, and only one person.”
Brennan said neither the closed federal investigation nor his independent review “led me to identify any other possible suspect or person responsible for the death of John O’Keefe.”
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Karen Read retrial: How much did Hank Brennan make?
