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0:57

Want Want

0:59

to teach your kids financial literacy, but

1:01

not sure where to start? Greenlight

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can help. With Greenlight, parents can

1:05

keep an eye on kids spending and saving,

1:08

while kids and teens use a card of their

1:10

own to build money confidence. word

1:28

of warning. This podcast explores graphic

1:30

and disturbing stories and includes some

1:32

strong language. It therefore may not

1:34

be suitable for our young listeners

1:36

or other folks who may find

1:38

it disturbing. Hello and welcome

1:40

to the sidebar presented by True Crime

1:43

News taking you inside the courtrooms of

1:45

high profile and notorious cases from across

1:47

the country. I'm your host Joshua

1:49

Ritter. I'm a criminal defense lawyer based in

1:51

Los Angeles and previously an LA County prosecutor

1:53

for nearly a decade. You can find me

1:56

on all social media at Joshua Ritter esq

1:58

or at the website at www.joshua.com. at

2:00

joshuaridder.com. We are recording this on

2:02

Friday, June 21st, 2024. In

2:06

this week's episode, an alleged killer appears in

2:09

court for the murder of a toddler in

2:11

the parking lot of a supermarket. Plus,

2:13

a plastic surgeon charged in the death

2:16

of a patient after operating on

2:18

his own wife. But first,

2:20

conspiracy theories potentially gain traction in

2:22

the murder trial of a woman

2:24

accused of her police officer boyfriend's

2:27

death as jurors hear shocking texts

2:29

from a lead investigator in the

2:31

case. Today, we are very

2:33

happy to be joined by Skye Lazaro,

2:35

a criminal defense attorney and legal analyst

2:37

you can find on multiple media outlets.

2:40

Skye, welcome. Hi, how are

2:42

you? Thanks for having me. Thank

2:44

you for coming on. Skye, before we

2:46

get into this, and I talked to

2:48

you a little bit about this before,

2:50

but listeners are likely going to recognize

2:52

you from the time that you represented

2:54

Corey Richens. She's the Utah woman accused

2:56

of poisoning her husband, and

2:58

then notoriously writing a children's grief book

3:00

about it, which I think why most

3:03

people know about the case. I'm

3:05

not going to put you on the spot. I don't want to

3:07

make you uncomfortable with any kind of attorney client issues.

3:10

But one thing I was hoping you could

3:12

clear up for our audiences is that you

3:14

recently withdrew from the case. And there has

3:18

been a lot of speculation as to why that is

3:20

in the media. But I know that you have a

3:22

really straightforward and simple answer to that.

3:25

Do you mind sharing that with us? Not

3:27

at all. I do. Our firm

3:29

represented Ms. Richens in the estate cases

3:31

on the civil side of things. Following

3:35

her husband's passing away, there

3:37

was a conflict that arose

3:39

within the firm in that

3:42

case that was

3:44

irreconcilable and ultimately conflicted the

3:46

entire firm so really

3:49

had nothing to do with me.

3:52

Good. And thank you

3:54

for clearing that up. It,

3:56

you know, people hear that and they think there must

3:59

be some sort of a turmoil between

4:01

the attorney and the client, but this

4:03

is something that happens sometimes, folks. It's

4:05

just something you can't control. It's a

4:07

conflict. You have to protect the interests

4:09

of everybody involved. So thank

4:11

you for sharing that with us. Yeah,

4:14

happy to keep the record clear. Good,

4:16

good, good. And I'm

4:18

very, I've been looking forward to this too,

4:21

because I know that you follow these cases

4:23

closely. I've seen a

4:25

lot of your commentary on some of them

4:27

on the news. So let's jump right into

4:29

this first really awful case out of Denham,

4:32

Massachusetts, where the trial of a

4:34

woman charged with the murder of

4:37

her police officer boyfriend carries on

4:40

as jurors hear disturbing texts from a lead

4:42

investigator in the case. Karen

4:44

Reed is facing a charge of second

4:46

degree murder in the death of her

4:48

boyfriend, Boston police officer, John O'Keefe, with

4:50

prosecutors alleging Reed hit the man with

4:53

her car before leaving him to die

4:55

in the snow. Reed supporters

4:57

and defense have a very different perspective,

4:59

claiming that the woman is the victim

5:01

of a broad police coverup alleging that

5:03

O'Keefe was killed in the home of

5:06

another officer before Reed was scapegoated for

5:08

the murder. For Reed supporters

5:10

and conspiracy theorists, Reed's defense scored

5:12

a major win last week when

5:14

texts from a state trooper, the

5:16

lead investigator in the case, were

5:19

read to the jury containing demeaning

5:21

messages about Reed. Trooper

5:23

John Proctor admitted to speaking with

5:25

friends, fellow officers, and even supervisors

5:27

in various exchanges referencing Reed's body

5:29

and calling her a quote, babe,

5:32

at one point even telling a superior that

5:34

he searched her phone for nudes during the

5:37

course of the investigation. In

5:39

additional messages, Proctor referred to Reed as

5:41

a quote, whack job, and even told

5:43

his sister that he hoped the woman

5:45

would kill herself. Despite

5:47

admitting to the appalling behavior, Proctor testified

5:50

that his actions had no bearing on

5:52

the criminal investigation. This

5:54

week, the tables were turned when voicemails

5:56

left by Reed for O'Keefe were played

5:58

for the jury.