Another bombshell admission in Karen Read trial comes out. What did she say? Editor's note: This page summarizes testimony in the Karen Read trial for Monday, May 5.

For the latest updates on the Karen Read retrial, visit USA TODAY's coverage for Tuesday, May 6. A firefighter testified on May 5 in Karen Read's murder trial that she heard the defendant say "I hit him" multiple times after a Boston police officer was found unresponsive in the snow outside a Massachusetts home in 2022. Katie McLaughlin, a first responder who brought Karen Read to the hospital the day her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, 46, was found unconscious in the snow in January 2022, testified that the former financial professor said "I hit him" at least four times.

The testimony comes after star witness Jennifer McCabe, a friend of the couple, said on the stand that Read, 45, repeated the phrase three times. McCabe faced fierce questions from Read's lawyers about differences in her testimony between what she said to a grand jury, at an earlier trial in 2024, and in the ongoing trial. Read is back in court after the trial in 2024 ended in a hung jury.

ADVERTISEMENT Prosecutors say Read hit O’Keefe with her Lexus in a drunken rage and then fled the scene, leaving him for dead in the snow outside the Canton, Massachusetts, home of a fellow Boston police officer. Defense attorneys have long maintained that Read was framed. Read’s lawyers continued their argument, pressing McLaughlin over why she didn’t write down what Read said then.

They also grilled investigating officers over unconventional methods used to collect evidence. McLaughlin and Gallgaher’s testimony comes as the case enters its third full week of testimony. Thus far, jurors have heard testimony about cryptic text messages McCabe sent other witnesses; McCabe also shared vivid details about discovering the body of one of her "closest friends" and they heard recordings of Read admitting to drinking heavily.

The case has turned into a years-long whodunnit legal saga that has garnered massive intrigue from true-crime fans across the country, spurring an array of podcasts, movies, and television shows. Here’s what happened during the ninth day of the trial in Dedham, Massachusetts, on May 5: ADVERTISEMENT The dog did it? What to know about the German Shepherd tied to the Karen Read trial Police used leaf blower, red Solo cups and grocery bags to collect evidence Paul Gallagher, the highest-ranking officer who responded to the scene, was grilled about unconventional methods used to collect evidence after O’Keefe was found unconscious.

Gallagher arrived early Jan. 29, 2022, in his personal vehicle just after O’Keefe had been transported to the hospital. Gallagher said the frozen ground was rapidly being covered with snow, and crime scene tape was blowing wildly in the wind. After spotting what appeared to be blood in the snow, Gallagher used a leaf blower to clear the area.

As the snow cleared, revealing bright red blood, Gallagher collected the evidence in red Solo cups obtained from an officer who lived nearby. The cups were then taken to the police department in a paper grocery bag. ADVERTISEMENT "I expected it to be John’s DNA, and I wasn’t going to get a second chance at it," Gallagher said.

"It was either collect it or never have it." The leaf blower also exposed a broken cocktail glass hidden in the snow. Gallagher unsealed a box containing the glass on the stand and showed it to the jury.

Alan Jackson, Read’s attorney, pressed Gallagher on the possibility that the evidence in the open Solo cups could have been contaminated. Gallagher said he didn’t wait to get proper equipment to collect evidence because of the weather. Jackson also said that while Gallagher was the "centerpiece of the recovery of evidence," he did not write a report and wasn’t interviewed by other investigators until prosecutors questioned him more than two years later.

Gallagher said that as a supervisor, his responsibility was to ensure his subordinates write reports, not write them himself. Gallagher said the state police later took over the investigation. The Canton Police Department rescued itself because its "best detective," Kevin Albert, was the homeowner's brother.

Another witness heard Karen Read say: 'I hit him, I hit him' McLaughlin, the Canton firefighter who drove O’Keefe to the hospital in an ambulance, said she heard Read say "I hit him" at least four times at the scene. McLaughlin said Read made the remark as she tried gathering information about O’Keefe's medical history. ADVERTISEMENT McLaughlin told prosecutors she didn’t feel comfortable asking Read any more questions, given the "disturbing scene" and Read's demeanor.

"She was upset, I would say hysterical," McLaughlin said. Defense attorney Alan Jackson pressed McLaughlin about why she didn't write Read's statement down or follow up with her before reporting it to her fellow first responders. Jackson also questioned her relationship with members of the Albert family in a tense exchange, showing photographs of McLaughlin and Caitlin Albert, Brian Albert Sr.'s daughter.

McLaughlin said that she’s known Caitlin Albert since high school and they have spent time together, though she doesn’t consider her a friend. Jackson asked McLaughlin if Albert's brother, a Canton police officer, was the one who set up her interview with the Massachusetts State Police. McLaughlin said the interview was arranged by a state trooper.

"I've never spoken to Kevin Albert, ever," she said. What happened at the house where O’Keefe was found? Sarah Levinson testified that she and a friend went to 34 Fairview Road to celebrate Brian Albert Jr.’s birthday.

Levinson said the atmosphere was “celebratory, light, joyful” as friends and family came and went throughout the night. Around midnight, Albert’s father, mother, sister, aunt, uncle, and a friend, Brian Higgins, arrived at the house. Albert’s aunt, Jennifer McCabe, is one of the prosecution's key witnesses.

She is the sister of Nicole Albert, who is married to Brian Albert Sr., one of the men Read's defense team has alleged killed O'Keefe. McCabe testified that Read and O'Keefe were supposed to join the party at the Alberts' house but never arrived. Levinson said her friend left the house briefly to speak with her brother, but no one else entered the house after that.

Levinson said she left 34 Fairview between 1:30-2 a.m. with the McCabes as a light dusting of snow covered the ground. A defense attorney for Read began questioning Levinson by asking why she had never met the Albert’s German Shepherd, Chloe. "Is that because the dog was not really good with strangers?"

Alan Jackson asked. Chief among the evidence in Read’s defense was a series of marks on O’Keefe’s arm that appeared to come from an animal attack. David Yanetti, Read’s lawyer, argued at a trial in 2024 that the dog did it.

Witnesses spotted black SUV outside the Albert home Two witnesses told jurors they spotted a black SUV while on their way to pick up a friend from the home where O’Keefe was later found unconscious in the snow. Heather Maxon said she saw a woman driving and a man in the front passenger seat of the SUV as both cars turned onto Fairview Road. Maxon said she did not recognize either person.

Ryan Nagel, Maxon’s then-boyfriend, estimated they arrived at 34 Fairview Road and saw the SUV parked nearby. Nagel said he saw a woman in the driver’s seat of the SUV, illuminated by the interior dome light, but his glimpse was too brief to identify her. Nagel and Maxon both said they never saw anyone exiting the SUV, lying on the lawn, or entering the home while they were parked outside, other than Nagel's sister.

After a brief conversation, Nagel’s sister ultimately decided to stay at the house, and the group left the scene. What was Karen Read's blood alcohol level? Knowles returned to the stand on May 5 to briefly wrap up her testimony.

Knowles previously told jurors Read’s blood alcohol level was between 0.078% and 0.092% when she was tested at the hospital after 9 a.m. on January 29, 2022. Based on a retrograde analysis, she found Read's blood alcohol level at 12:45 a.m. that morning could have been between 0.14% and 0.28%, far beyond the legal limit for driving in Massachusetts. The findings were based on a blood sample taken from Read at Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton, Massachusetts.

Read's attorney attempted to sow doubt about the accuracy of the calculations, questioning Knowles about the many factors that affect a person's blood alcohol level and calling her results "imprecise." Knowles explained to prosecutors that the blood alcohol level range that she produced was "intentionally wide" to account for many of the factors the defense raised. How Karen Read is paying her hefty defense bill Before her second trial began, Read told Vanity Fair she owed her attorneys more than $5 million in deferred fees.

Read told the magazine she's living off of what’s left of her 401(k) retirement fund after losing her job as a Fidelity Investments equities analyst and Bentley University finance professor after being arrested and charged with O'Keefe's murder. "If I can get the entire truth of this case out in the public forum, that, to me, is priceless," she told Vanity Fair. A Justice for Karen Read legal defense fund, organized by Werksman Jackson & Quinn LLP, has raised over $900,000 from more than 11,000 donors.

Donations have continued to flow during her second trial. Read supporters from Massachusetts and beyond have sold T-shirts and held events, including a recent cocktail-style party, to raise funds for her defense. Read also sold her four-bedroom, three-bathroom home in Mansfield for $810,000.

The sale closed on November 13, 2024. How to watch the Karen Read trial CourtTV has been covering the case against Read and the criminal investigation since early 2022, when O'Keefe's body was found outside a Canton home. You can watch CourtTV’s live feed of the Read trial proceedings from Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Massachusetts.

Proceedings begin at 9 a.m. ET. Contributing: Karissa Waddick and Jeanine Santucci, USA TODAY; Jessica Trufant, Patriot Ledger (This story was updated to add new information.)

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What did Karen Read tell this new witness?