Aidan Carney, a blogger behind the Turtleboy website and social media accounts, appeared in court Wednesday on multiple charges amid a special counsel investigation.
This is just the latest development in a case that has garnered national attention. Karen Reed, 42, of Mansfield, was charged with second-degree murder in the death of her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe. She is accused of backing O’Keefe into her SUV and leaving him dead in the snow outside her Canton home in January.
The case is scheduled to go to trial in March, but Dateline is already working on an episode about the story.
Protesters believe a cover-up is hiding who really killed O’Keefe and have spoken out in public protests, rallies, Canton Task Force meetings and online. ing.
Mr. Carney is one of the people who has taken on that responsibility. A longtime presence in Massachusetts news circles, she has covered the Reed case and rallied supporters who believe she was wrongly accused. Special Prosecutor Kenneth Mello said in court Thursday that Carney has written at least 164 articles about the case.
On Wednesday, Carney was charged with six counts of witness intimidation and one count of conspiracy. He maintains his innocence and has contacted victims in the case, including Julianna Nagle, Christopher and Colin Albert, Michael and Elizabeth Proctor, Jennifer McCabe and Matthew McCabe. He was released on personal recognizance bail with the condition that he not do so. If he violates these conditions, he could be jailed for up to 90 days without bail.
In court Thursday, Mello, the special prosecutor tasked with investigating the witness intimidation charges, outlined the sequence of events that led to Carney’s indictment.
- Melo said Carney wrote multiple blog posts starting in early April about Elizabeth Proctor, the wife of Massachusetts State Police Officer Michael Proctor, the lead investigator in O’Keefe’s death. The blog post tells followers that she works as a human resources manager for a local company, provides the company’s main phone number, and asks them to post a “review” of her on the company’s Facebook and Twitter accounts. Ta.
- On May 10, prosecutors said in a YouTube video that Carney talked about Elizabeth Proctor, gave her cell phone number on air and called her on speakerphone. He left the following message: “Hello, Elizabeth. This is Aidan Kearney from Turtleboy. We spoke for a little bit yesterday. After introducing myself, I hung up. I wanted to know how your day at work went. If it went well. “I agree. You notice that your employer has deleted your social media pages. Was it awkward? Were you scared to go in? Tell me about your day. You seem to have no problem calling other people’s workplaces and interfering with their ability to earn a living. “It’s about yourself. If it happens to you, it probably won’t be as fun. Do you like it? That’s what I want to know. Do you like it?”
- Mello said in a June 13 YouTube video that Carney showed Jennifer McCabe phone records from the day O’Keefe was killed. During the broadcast, Carney made anonymous cold calls to several phone numbers, one of which was Michael Proctor’s work phone. He said, “Hello, Inspector Proctor. I’m calling from Aidan Kearney, an award-winning journalist. I’m calling to talk to you. I have a few questions about you. In fact, I have a lot of questions.” For starters, why didn’t you tell anyone before you investigated that you were friends with the Albert family? Why didn’t you tell anyone before you investigated that you were friends with the Albert family? Why did you know Chris Alert for ten years before that? Did you write in your report that you were introduced to Chris Alert on February 10th? You lied about the time they towed Karen Reed’s car. Why did you write in your report that you were introduced to Chris Alert on February 10? Did I misspell the name on purpose? And, you know, I’m just wondering about all those things. And maybe you and I can meet for coffee. Hmm. Hey, I have a lot of questions…Call me, you and I have a lot of work to do.” Carney then broadcast Michael Proctor’s work cell phone number to his followers. Proctor eventually received more than a dozen calls claiming to be involved in the conspiracy, leading him to change his number.
- In a June 27 video posted to his YouTube channel, prosecutors said Carney had just returned from visiting the homes of several witnesses in the case, saying, “This won’t be my last trip to Canton. Come back. “I’ll be back. Get used to it. I think these people think I am.” [expletive] around it. You haven’t seen the last of me yet. Get used to it. Get used to it. “
- In another YouTube video posted on July 16, Carney said Chris Albert, one of the witnesses in the incident, was “heading out looking for Turtle Rider (a term Carney uses for his supporters)”. It was bothering me,” he said. “I have bad news, Chris, I have really bad news,” he continued. “They are literally everywhere. You guys should stop going out in public. It’s only going to get worse from here. I know where you guys were today. You guys should stop going out in public. You guys were in some kind of place.” Little League in Agawam — Alberts, McCabes, you guys were all there. I want you to know that normal life is over. Normal life, normal for a while there, from January 29th to around April 2023. You guys should literally stop murdering. ” While discussing the video of Chris Albert confronting him outside a restaurant in Guangzhou, Carney mentioned Albert and other witnesses and said, “We have the footage.” Ta. “When you act like this, it’s like a green light. I have your photo. You can’t leave the country, you can’t hide anymore. Your private life is officially closed. It’s over, you’re leaving the house, you’re going to be photographed, and you need to get used to the new normal, your routine.”
- According to Melo, on July 22, Carney streamed a live video on YouTube of a “rolling rally” involving 100 to 200 vehicles, in which the goal was to “cover up the murder of an innocent woman and film her ”, he said. During the rally, he stopped in front of the Canton home of Nagle, a witness in the case, and said: “Nothing will stop me from telling the truth. You know what happened that night. There’s no escaping this, and neither can you.” Many people know. you become depressed. ”
- In an Aug. 13 YouTube video, Carney said in reference to the Karen Reed case, “I said from the beginning that I didn’t want this to go to trial.”
- In another YouTube video a week later, prosecutors said Carney made comments about the jury. “I want the world to know what happened here. They want to find jurors who have never heard of anything like this, and I won’t allow that.”
- Prosecutors said on Sept. 13, Carney posted a blog post about a “Read Karen for Free” sign posted on Route 1 in Foxboro, just outside Gillette Stadium. Carney reportedly praised those who donated to the sign, saying, “It’s time for the people of Norfolk County to know this story, because that’s where the jury will be chosen.” “It’s essentially just a confession,” Melo said. I wonder if he’s trying to taint the jury in this case. ”
- On September 25, Carney used his Facebook account to ask people in Canton to take a few pictures and to message him directly if they could help. That’s what it means. A short time later, he posted an update saying, “I’m ready, thank you.” Later that night, a Twitter account associated with Carney allegedly posted a photo of Jennifer McCabe’s car in front of it outside the Proctors’ home. In a YouTube video the next day, he said he looked at the license plate of a car parked in front of him, showed him the vehicle, and gave the names of the owners, Michael Proctor, Elizabeth Proctor and Jennifer McCabe. A subsequent state police investigation revealed that an Avon police dispatcher who followed Kearney’s website illegally accessed a motor vehicle registration database to look up Kearney’s license plates. The dispatcher has since been placed on paid leave pending an internal investigation.