Thursday saw an awful big sigh of relief for fans of Aidan “Turtleboy” Kearney as he walked out of the Norfolk Superior Court without changes to his bond after picking up new witness intimidation charges on Wednesday.
Kearney was recorded standing in front of the pizza place owned by witness John O’Keefe murder trial witness Christopher Albert and making an extended statement aimed at Albert and his son Colin.
Kearney said, “Hi Chris. What have you done. Murdered…misses you. Wishes he was alive today, he would be. Why did you do that Chris? Chris, why did you tell the jury that you got home… Why did you say you went upstairs and then waited 15 minutes… then Colin came home. Colin didn’t make it home until at least 1245, Chris. It was Colin, Chris. I just want to know. I just want to know why Colin took so long to get to your house. Why Chris? Please tell me why. Colin did it, you can tell me, you can tell me Chris, I know you didn’t do it. I don’t want to scare you. Tell Jill to keep their hands to herself too.”
Upon seeing the video, Albert reported Kearney to police, which resulted in yet another felony witness intimidation charge against Kearney. Since they’re related to the Karen Read trial, where she is on trial for second degree murder, Kearney is facing 20 years in jail for maximum sentencing instead of 10 years.
Because the YouTuber looked directly into the establishment’s security camera and was not recorded by Kearney, the Judge determined that Kearney was not making the statement for journalistic purposes.
The Judge, however, did not make changes to the conditions of Kearney’s release as requested by the prosecutor. The prosecution had requested Kearney’s release conditions change from a ROR bond to a $1,000.00 cash bond and $1,000.00 Surety Bond. Kearney’s attorney successfully argued against such changes, as bond is not supposed to be used to punish a defendant, and Kearney technically did not violate conditions of his release.
Instead, the Judge ruled that Kearney must stay away from prosecution witnesses in both his own cases and the Karen Read murder case. At the request of his attorney, Tim Bradl, he was granted an exception when working as a journalist within a courtroom, where he can be near the witnesses as long as he “behaves himself.”
Bradl had expressed concern that without this exception, witnesses would be able to stop Kearney from performing his job as a member of the press.
Update: Prosecutors in the Karen Read murder trial announced late on Thursday that they were intending to use conversations between Kearney and Karen Read at her second murder trial, which is set to begin on April 1, 2025.
Kearney was the leader of the “Free Karen Read” movement in 2023 and arranged social media campaigns, protests at witnesses’ houses and the courthouses involved in the case and is alleged to have undertaken direct witness intimidation on behalf of the alleged murderer.
The prosecution in the Karen Read case is looking to use data obtained from when Kearney’s multiple cell phones were confiscated as part of the investigation into the witness intimidation charges he is facing.
Kearney’s next court appearance in this case is scheduled for April 30, 2025.
