While I don’t have any personal murder experience, I wouldn’t expect an SUV to rat me out. But information stored on a Lexus SUV could make a difference in the Karen Read murder case. It might tell cops where she was at the time of the accident. 

Information on a Lexus SUV is needed for a murder trial 

Karen Read is accused of striking Boston police officer John O’Keefe during a snowstorm and leaving him to die. John was Karen’s boyfriend for two years and a member of the police force for 16 years. 

Allegedly, the incident occurred after a drunken argument. While damage to Karen’s Lexus SUV involved in the case is consistent with John’s injuries and a pedestrian strike, the court needs more evidence. 

Defense attorneys claim that outside actors killed John and conspired with the state to kill him. According to the Boston Herald, Karen pleaded not guilty. The first trial was considered to be a mistrial after the jury became deadlocked. 

Now the second trial is coming up and the SUV could provide crucial evidence thanks to the Lexus telematic system. 

The system stores significant data such as precise location during the time of John O’Keefe’s death. Prosecutors want the track logs which provide an ordered sequence of GPS coordinate measurements stored by the satellite navigation system.

Plus, it could potentially identify any Wi-Fi connections that were identified by the SUV during its route. Shannon Burgers, a digital forensic expert shared that significant data was likely not acquired during the chip-off procedure. 

The chip-off procedure or digital data extraction that removes memory chips from vehicle information and telematics systems may have been incomplete. 

However, updated programming and current software versions may maximize the chance of a complete data acquisition. 

What they find on the seized Lexus vehicle could lead to Karen being convicted of second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating a vehicle under the influence, and leaving the scene of a fatal accident.