Free Republic

The verdict is in....

CANTON, Mass. — The police chief of the Canton Police Department, Helena Rafferty, announced that she would retire when her contract expires on June 30. Rafferty's tenure partially aligned with the murder trials of Karen Read, who is accused of hitting her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O'Keefe, with her vehicle outside of a Canton home during a snowstorm in January 2022, following a night of drinking.

CANTON – Ken Berkowitz, who served as Canton police chief until his retirement in 2022, has died. The Canton Town Administrator confirmed that Berkowitz died on December 28. They did not release a cause of death. Berkowitz was in charge of the Canton Police Department at the time of John O'Keefe's death in 2022. Karen Read, O'Keefe's girlfriend at the time, was accused of hitting him with her SUV and leaving him to die in the snow after a night of heavy drinking. Read denies the allegations and has claimed she is being framed by several people, including members of...

The aspect of the Commonwealth vs. Karen Read murder trial that can't be overstated is that the problems with the case never seemed like the result of incompetence. It felt like complicity. Which is infinitely worse. Fair or unfair, that was the general public perception from the beginning of the trial. Which is only reasonable when all the "mistakes" all seemed to break in one direction. Against the defendant and towards her guilt. When an umpire's strike zone keeps shrinking to the size of an UNO card every time one team is at bat, it becomes hard to believe the...

Paul Revere used to summer every year in Canton, but he wouldn’t recognize the place today. One thing, though, hasn’t changed since the 18th of April in ’75 — the locals still love their midnight rides, but with one big difference. Paul Revere wasn’t hammered out of his mind when he was on horseback, spreading the alarm to every Middlesex village and farm. Through the first 14 days of the Karen Read murder trial in Dedham, we have learned much about life in the Town of Canton, post-Paul Revere. As you know, Read is accused of murdering her boyfriend, BPD...