The blizzard that hit Canton, Massachusetts, on January 29, 2022, didn't just dump a historic amount of snow on the ground. It buried the truth under a mountain of conflicting testimonies, digital data, and neighborhood secrets. At the heart of this storm is the death of Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe and the subsequent murder trials of his girlfriend, Karen Read. While the headlines usually scream about broken taillights and "hos long to die in cold" Google searches, the testimony of witnesses like Sarah Levinson provides a critical, albeit quieter, piece of the puzzle.
Honestly, if you’ve followed the case, you know the defense theory is basically that O’Keefe was beaten inside the Albert family home at 34 Fairview Road and then dragged onto the front lawn. The prosecution, meanwhile, spent years trying to prove Read backed into him with her Lexus SUV.
Where does Sarah Levinson fit in? She was one of the partygoers inside the house that night. She wasn't a family member, but she was a close friend of the Alberts. Her perspective is one of the few "insider" views that hasn't been as picked apart by the media as Jennifer McCabe’s, yet her testimony—and the timing of it—raises some of the most frustrating questions in the entire investigation.
The Night at 34 Fairview
Sarah Levinson arrived at 34 Fairview Road early in the evening on January 28. It was Brian Albert Jr.’s 23rd birthday. It started as a typical celebration: music, singing, dancing. For most of the night, it was just a group of young people hanging out.
Things shifted around midnight.
According to testimony, the "older" crowd—Brian Albert Sr., Nicole Albert, Brian Higgins, and the McCabes—arrived after leaving the Waterfall Bar & Grille. This is the moment when the prosecution and defense timelines diverge into two completely different realities. Sarah testified that she was in the house during this period. She saw the adults come in. She saw the birthday party wind down.
She also testified that she never saw John O'Keefe or Karen Read inside the house.
For the prosecution, this is a "gotcha" moment. If Sarah was there and didn't see O'Keefe, then he couldn't have been murdered in the basement, right? But the defense, led by Alan Jackson and David Yannetti, has a different take. They point to what she didn't see outside.
The "Black Blob" and the View from the Car
When Sarah Levinson finally left the house around 1:30 a.m., she wasn't alone. She got into the back seat of Jennifer McCabe’s SUV along with Julie Nagel. As they pulled out of the driveway, they passed the very spot where John O’Keefe’s body would be discovered just hours later.
Here is where it gets weird.
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Julie Nagel famously testified that she saw a "black blob" or an object on the lawn that didn't belong there. Sarah Levinson, sitting right there in the same car, testified that she saw... nothing. She wasn't looking. She didn't notice any tire tracks. She didn't see a body.
Wait. How does one person see a "blob" and the other see nothing?
It’s the kind of inconsistency that has fueled the "Free Karen Read" movement for years. If a body was already on the lawn at 1:30 a.m., how did Sarah miss it? Or, if the body wasn't there yet, does that support the defense’s claim that O'Keefe was still inside the house, or perhaps that he hadn't been hit yet?
The Nine-Month Silence
Perhaps the most jarring part of the Sarah Levinson Karen Read connection isn't what happened on the night of the storm, but what happened afterward.
Or rather, what didn't happen.
During the trial, it was revealed that Sarah Levinson was not interviewed by law enforcement until October 2022. That is nine months after John O'Keefe died.
Nine. Months.
Think about that for a second. A Boston Police Officer is found dead on the lawn of another officer’s home. There are a dozen people inside that house. You’d think the police would be knocking on doors before the snow even melted. Instead, state trooper Michael Proctor—the lead investigator who was later suspended for his "unprofessional" and biased texts about Read—didn't get around to Sarah for nearly a year.
When she finally did speak to Proctor, the interview wasn't exactly a masterclass in forensic interrogation. During cross-examination, the defense highlighted that Levinson had discussed the case with Julie Nagel before being interviewed. They had "somewhat" talked about it.
In the world of high-stakes murder trials, "somewhat" is a massive red flag.
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The Dog That Didn't Bark (or Bite)
There’s also the matter of Chloe, the Alberts' German Shepherd. The defense has long argued that marks on John O'Keefe's arm were consistent with dog bites, suggesting he was attacked by Chloe inside the house.
When Sarah Levinson was on the stand, the defense grilled her about the dog. She had known the Alberts for years. She had been to the house many times. Yet, she testified she had never met the dog.
The defense’s implication was clear: the dog was aggressive and kept away from guests. Or, perhaps, the dog was being hidden. The prosecution objected to these lines of questioning, and many were sustained, but the seed was planted for the jury.
Why the Sarah Levinson Testimony Matters Now
In June 2025, the saga took its most dramatic turn yet. After a grueling retrial, the jury delivered a split verdict.
Karen Read was found not guilty of second-degree murder, manslaughter while OUI, and leaving the scene of a collision. She was, however, convicted of a lesser charge of operating a vehicle under the influence.
The acquittal on the murder charges suggests that the jury simply didn't buy the prosecution's story. Witnesses like Sarah Levinson played a role in that "reasonable doubt." When the people who were actually in the house can't agree on what they saw, and when the lead investigator waits nine months to ask questions, a conviction for murder becomes nearly impossible.
Key Takeaways from the Testimony
If you're trying to make sense of the mess that is the Canton case, here are the grounded facts regarding Levinson's involvement:
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- Proximity: She was physically inside 34 Fairview during the window of time the prosecution says the "accident" happened.
- The Exit: She left the house at 1:30 a.m. with Jennifer McCabe and Julie Nagel.
- The Observation: Unlike Nagel, she did not report seeing any "blobs" or objects on the lawn as they drove away.
- The Delay: The massive gap between the incident and her first police interview (nine months) became a focal point for claims of a shoddy investigation.
- The Relationships: Her long-standing friendship with the Albert family was used by the defense to suggest a bias or a "circling of the wagons."
What to Do With This Information
The Karen Read case isn't just a true-crime obsession; it's a look at the flaws in the American justice system. If you want to dive deeper into the nuances of the testimony, don't just rely on social media clips.
- Read the Full Transcripts: The testimony of Sarah Levinson from May 2025 (and the 2024 trial) is available via court records. Looking at the "Direct" vs. "Cross" examination shows how differently her words can be framed.
- Examine the Timeline: Compare Levinson’s 1:30 a.m. departure with the "Techstream" data from Read's Lexus. The defense argues the car data doesn't support a 12:30 a.m. strike, which makes the 1:30 a.m. observations by the girls in the car even more vital.
- Follow the Civil Suit: Even though the criminal trial for murder is over, the civil litigation and internal investigations into the Massachusetts State Police are ongoing. These proceedings often reveal documents that were barred from the criminal trial.
Ultimately, Sarah Levinson represents the "gray area" of the Karen Read case. She wasn't an antagonist, but her presence at the party—and the police's failure to talk to her promptly—underscores why this case remains one of the most controversial in Massachusetts history. It wasn't just about what happened in the snow; it was about the nine months of silence that followed.