Dead whale in New Jersey had a fractured skull among numerous injuries, experts find

LONG BEACH TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) — A post-mortem examination of a whale that washed ashore on New Jersey's Long Beach Island found that the animal had sustained numerous blunt force injuries including a fractured skull and vertebrae.

The Marine Mammal Stranding Center on Friday released observations from a necropsy done Thursday evening on the nearly 25-foot (7.6-meter) juvenile male humpback whale that was found dead in Long Beach Township.

Sheila Dean, director of the center, said the whale was found to have bruising around the head; multiple fractures of the skull and cervical vertebrae; numerous dislocated ribs, and a dislocated shoulder bone.

“These injuries are consistent with blunt force trauma,” she wrote in a posting on the group's Facebook page.

Reached afterward, Dean would not attribute the injuries to any particular cause, noting that extensive testing as part of the necropsy remains to be done, with tissue samples sent to laboratories across the country.

“We only report what we see,” she said.

The animal's cause of death is of intense interest to many amid an ongoing controversy involving a belief by opponents of offshore wind power that site preparation work for the projects is harming or killing whales along the U.S. East Coast.

Numerous scientific agencies, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; the Marine Mammal Commission; the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, say there is no evidence linking offshore wind preparation to whale deaths.

NOAA said Friday there have been 16 large whale deaths on the East Coast in 2024: 7 humpbacks between Massachusetts and North Carolina; 4 North Atlantic right whales, which are critically endangered, in Massachusetts, Virginia, and Georgia; two sperm whales in South Carolina and Florida; two minke whales in North Carolina and Virginia, and one fin whale in Rhode Island.

In 2023, there were 82 large whale deaths along the East Coast, the agency said.

The stranding center’s website said this was New Jersey's first whale death of the year, following 14 in 2023.

Leading Light Wind is one of three wind farms proposed off the New Jersey coast. It said in a statement issued late Thursday that “our community should guard against misinformation campaigns in response to these incidents," noting that many of the previous whale deaths have been attributed by scientists to vessel strikes or entanglement with fishing gear.

Protect Our Coast NJ, one of the most staunchly anti-offshore wind groups, voiced renewed skepticism of official pronouncements on the whale deaths, referencing similar distrust from some quarters of official information regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Blaming all of the cetacean deaths on entanglements and ship strikes is reminiscent of the phenomenon four years ago in which seemingly every death was a COVID death, no matter how old or how sick the patient was prior to contracting the virus,” the group said in a statement Thursday.

Leading Light, whose project would be built about 40 miles (64 kilometers) off Long Beach Island, said it is committed to building the project in a way that minimizes risks to wildlife.

“Minimizing impacts to the marine environment is of the utmost importance to Leading Light Wind,” leaders of the project said. “Along with providing advance notices about our survey activity and facilitating active engagement with maritime stakeholders, Leading Light Wind is investing in monitoring and mitigation initiatives to ensure the offshore wind industry can thrive alongside a healthy marine environment."

The post-mortem examination of the whale also showed evidence of past entanglement with fishing gear, although none was present when the whale washed ashore. Scars from a previous entanglement unrelated to the stranding event were found around the peduncle, which is the muscular area where the tail connects to the body; on the tail itself, and on the right front pectoral flipper.

Follow Wayne Parry on the social platform X at www.twitter.com/WayneParryAC

A dead humpback whale rolls in the surf in Long Beach Township on New Jersey's Long Beach Island on Thursday, April 11, 2024. On Friday, a marine animal rescue group that examined the animal said it sustained numerous blunt force injuries including a fractured skull. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)

A wave crashes around a dead humpback whale in Long Beach Township on New Jersey's Long Beach Island on Thursday, April 11, 2024. On Friday, a marine animal rescue group that examined the animal said it sustained numerous blunt force injuries including a fractured skull. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)

A worker uses a front-end loader to approach a dead humpback whale in the surf in Long Beach Township on New Jersey's Long Beach Island on Thursday, April 11, 2024. On Friday, a marine animal rescue group that examined the animal said it sustained numerous blunt force injuries including a fractured skull. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)

A dead humpback whale rolls in the surf in Long Beach Township on New Jersey's Long Beach Island on Thursday, April 11, 2024. On Friday, a marine animal rescue group that examined the animal said it sustained numerous blunt force injuries including a fractured skull. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)

A dead humpback whale rolls in the surf in Long Beach Township on New Jersey's Long Beach Island on Thursday, April 11, 2024. On Friday, a marine animal rescue group that examined the animal said it sustained numerous blunt force injuries including a fractured skull. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)

DEDHAM, Mass. (AP) — The trial of a Massachusetts woman who allegedly killed her Boston police officer boyfriend by intentionally driving her SUV into him opened Monday with prosecutors saying a cracked taillight and her own words to firefighters that she "hit him" will prove she is guilty.

Karen Read, 44, of Mansfield, faces several charges including second degree murder in the death of John O’Keefe, 46, in 2022. The 16-year police veteran was found unresponsive outside a home of a fellow Boston police officer and later was pronounced dead at a hospital. Read has pleaded not guilty and is free on bond.

“The defendant, Karen Read, is guilty of murder in the second degree, striking the victim, Mr. O’Keefe with her car, knocking him back onto the ground, striking his head on the ground, causing the bleeding in his brain and swelling, and then leaving him there for several hours in a blizzard," Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally told the jury.

As the case unfolded, the defense's strategy has been to portray a vast conspiracy involving a police coverup. It has earned Read a loyal band of supporters — who often can be found camped out at the courthouse — and has garnered the case national attention.

“Karen Read was framed,” Read's defense attorney David Yannetti told the jury. “Her car never struck John O'Keefe. She did not cause his death and that means somebody else did.”

The couple had been to two bars on a night in January 2022, prosecutors alleged, and were then headed to a party in nearby Canton. Read said she did not feel well and decided not to attend. Once at the home, O’Keefe got out of Read's vehicle, and while she made a three-point turn, she allegedly struck him then drove away, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors haven't said where they think she went after that. However, they allege she later became frantic after she said she couldn't reach O'Keefe. She returned to the site of the party where she and two friends found O’Keefe covered in snow. While on the scene, firefighters said she told them “I hit him, I hit him, I hit him.”

He was pronounced dead at a hospital. An autopsy concluded he died from head trauma and hypothermia.

Investigators found a cracked right rear tail light near where O'Keefe was found and scratches on her SUV. Prosecutors are also expected to present evidence of injuries suffered by O'Keefe consistent with him being hit by the car and strains in the couples relationship including a “20 minute screaming match” witnessed by O'Keefe's two adopted children they had while on vacation in Aruba.

The defense have spent months arguing in court that the case was marred by conflicts of interest and accused prosecutors of presenting false and deceptive evidence to the grand jury. In a motion to dismiss the case, the defense called the prosecution's case “predicated entirely on flimsy speculation and presumption.” A Superior Court judge denied the request.

On Monday, Yannetti argued that close relationships between investigators and those in the house resulted in authorities focusing solely on Reid, whom the defense described as a “convenient outsider.”

Yannetti also claimed investigators failed to consider the possibility that O'Keefe got into a fight at the party and was left for dead outside. While not offering evidence of who was responsible, they laid out of a series of missteps in the investigation — failing to investigate a history of animosity between O'Keefe and the family who owned the home nor searching the home for evidence of a struggle.

They also are expected to provide evidence that Read's taillight was damaged when she hit O'Keefe's car hours later at their home — not at the party — and dispute that the couple had a strained relationship. They got along well that night and had made plans for several trips in the months ahead.

“You will question the Commonwealth's theory of the case,” Yannetti said. “You will question the quality of the Commonwealth's evidence. You will question the veracity of the Commonwealth's witnesses and you will question their shoddy and biased investigation.”

In August, Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey criticized suggestions that state and local enforcement were orchestrating a cover up, saying there is no evidence to support O'Keefe was in the Canton home where the party took place nor was in a fight.

The idea that multiple police departments and his office would be involved in a “vast conspiracy” in this case is “a desperate attempt to reassign guilt.”

Such comments have done little to silence Read's supporters, dozens of whom dressed in pink for the first day of the trial.

Most days, a few dozen supporters — some carrying signs or wearing shirts reading “Free Karen Read” — can be seen standing near the courthouse. Many had no connection to Read, who worked in the financial industry and taught finance at Bentley University before this case.

Among her most ardent supporters is a confrontational blogger Aidan Timothy Kearney, known as “Turtleboy." He has been charged with harassing, threatening and intimidating witnesses in the case. For months, he has raised doubts about Read's guilt on his blog that has become a popular page for those who believe Read is innocent.

Friends and family of O’Keefe fear the focus on Read and the conspiracy theories are taking away from the fact a good man was killed.

The first witness in the trial was O'Keefe's brother, Paul, who described in harrowing detail having to rush to the hospital that morning, walking past Read who was repeatedly screaming “Is he alive?" and into a room where his body was covered partially with a white sheet.

“He was pretty banged up,” Paul O'Keefe told the jury, detailing how his brother had blood running down his mouth and nose and markings on his right arm. “What really stood out to me was the eyes. It was as if there were ping pong balls under his eyelids.”

FILE - Karen Read sits in court during jury selection for her murder trial at Norfolk County Superior Court, Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Dedham, Mass. Read, 44, is accused of running into her Boston police officer boyfriend with her SUV in the middle of a nor'easter and leaving him for dead after a night of heavy drinking. Read's trial is scheduled to begin Monday, April 29. (David McGlynn//New York Post via AP, Pool,File)

FILE - Karen Read, of Mansfield, Mass., center, departs Norfolk Superior Court following a day of jury selection, April 17, 2024, in Dedham, Mass. Read is accused of running into her Boston police officer boyfriend with her SUV in the middle of a nor'easter and leaving him for dead after a night of heavy drinking. Read's trial is scheduled to begin Monday, April 29. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

FILE - This undated photograph provided by the Boston Police Department shows Officer John O'Keefe of Canton, Mass. O'Keefe was found dead outside the home of a fellow officer in January 2022, and his girlfriend, Karen Read, has been charged with his death. Read's trial is scheduled to begin Monday, April 29, 2024. (Boston Police Department via AP, File)

Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally gives his opening statement as the murder trial for Karen Read begins in Norfolk County Superior Court, Monday, April 29, 2024, in Dedham, Mass. Read is accused of backing her SUV into her Boston Police officer boyfriend, John O'Keefe, and leaving him to die in a blizzard in Canton, in 2022. (Pat Greenhouse/The Boston Globe via AP, Pool)

Judge Beverly J. Cannone addresses the jury before opening statements for the murder trial of Karen Read in Norfolk County Superior Court, Monday, Aapril 29, 2024, in Dedham, Mass. Read is accused of backing her SUV into her Boston Police officer boyfriend, John O'Keefe, and leaving him to die in a blizzard in Canton, in 2022. (Pat Greenhouse/The Boston Globe via AP, Pool)

The facts of the case against Karen Read are read as the murder trial for Read begins in Norfolk County Superior Court, in front of Judge Beverly J. Cannone., Monday, April 29, 2024, in Dedham, Mass. Read is accused of backing her SUV into her Boston Police officer boyfriend, John O'Keefe, and leaving him to die in a blizzard in Canton, in 2022. (Pat Greenhouse/The Boston Globe via AP, Pool)

Karen Read talks with lawyer David Yannetti in court during jury selection at Norfolk County Superior Court, Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Dedham, Mass. Read, 44, is accused of running into her Boston police officer boyfriend with her SUV in the middle of a nor'easter and leaving him for dead after a night of heavy drinking. (David McGlynn/New York Post via AP, Pool)

Karen Read departs Norfolk Superior Court following a day of jury selection, Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Dedham, Mass. Read is accused of running into her Boston police officer boyfriend with her SUV in the middle of a nor'easter and leaving him for dead after a night of heavy drinking. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Karen Read, center, departs Norfolk Superior Court following a day of jury selection, Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Dedham, Mass. Read is accused of running into her Boston police officer boyfriend with her SUV in the middle of a nor'easter and leaving him for dead after a night of heavy drinking. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Karen Read sits in court during jury selection at Norfolk County Superior Court, Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Dedham, Mass. Read, 44, is accused of running into her Boston police officer boyfriend with her SUV in the middle of a nor'easter and leaving him for dead after a night of heavy drinking. (David McGlynn/New York Post via AP, Pool)

Karen Read sits in court during jury selection at Norfolk County Superior Court, Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Dedham, Mass. Read, 44, is accused of running into her Boston police officer boyfriend with her SUV in the middle of a nor'easter and leaving him for dead after a night of heavy drinking. (David McGlynn/New York Post via AP, Pool)

Karen Read talks with lawyers in court during jury selection at Norfolk County Superior Court, Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Dedham, Mass. Read, 44, is accused of running into her Boston police officer boyfriend with her SUV in the middle of a nor'easter and leaving him for dead after a night of heavy drinking. (David McGlynn/New York Post via AP, Pool)

Karen Read departs Norfolk Superior Court following a day of jury selection, Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Dedham, Mass. Read is accused of running into her Boston police officer boyfriend with her SUV in the middle of a nor'easter and leaving him for dead after a night of heavy drinking. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)