While media and social chatter are focused on the recent indictment of juror Jessica M. Leslie, and her plea deal, the story’s real juju lies in the nearly eight-month “quiet phase” from August 2022 to April 2023. That was when the leak slow-burn began—and it’s worth unraveling.

Karen Read was charged in 2022 with murdering her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe, after prosecutors alleged she drunkenly backed her SUV into him and left him to die in a snowstorm. Read’s defense argued she was framed by a group of local cops and their community friends and allies in law enforcement, including first responders.

Amid mounting pressure by the defense team and others, the FBI launched a rare federal probe into how local police and prosecutors handled the case.

In early 2023, a controversial blogger known as “Turtleboy” (Aidan Kearney) became the loudest voice supporting Read, publishing leaked details about the federal investigation and sparking a firestorm of conspiracy theories and witness harassment.

Kearney now faces his own pending criminal charges for witness intimidation and conspiracy stemming from his coverage of the case.

DOJ’s Jessica Leslie charging window—Aug 11, 2022–Mar 4, 2024—reveals Leslie was handing off sealed info for months before Turtleboy’s April 2023 blogs about the case.

But Turtleboy didn’t publish until April 20, 2023, revealing specific federal subpoenas.

What happened in between?

Likely scenario: Leslie shared details with acquaintances and on social media—who then spread rumors among the pro-Read network.

That network included Karen herself, her father, close friends, and insiders. By early April 2023, a college friend was texting Turtleboy insider info—and simultaneously the defense began confirming that a federal grand jury was impaneled.

Insight: the leak was unilateral from Leslie—but the transmission network included Karen’s inner circle, which used it to prime Turtleboy.

In a July 15th post, Kearney acknowledged that a former friend of Leslie’s sent her a screenshot of a February 2024 social media post about the federal grand jury. He states in his Tweet: “But my source (a former friend of Jessica Leslie) sent this screenshot to Jessica Leslie, who confirmed in writing that Proctor did in fact say that.”

This revelation places Leslie much closer to the chaotic leak ecosystem that ultimately fed Kearney’s reporting. Even if Leslie never communicated directly with Kearney, her willingness to validate grand jury testimony outside of court suggests a porous boundary between “private gossip” and the pro-Read movement’s public messaging.

Kearney dismissed Leslie’s leak as a “nothing burger”, attributing her one-day sentence to minor gossip. But federal prosecutors may see it differently: even limited disclosures from a grand juror are a direct violation of federal secrecy laws and could undermine the integrity of an entire investigation.

Karen’s text exchanges with Turtleboy prove she was a recipient and amplifier of the leaked info.

Yet DOJ has only charged Leslie—not Karen.

Here’s why:

Legally, leaking grand jury material is a direct federal offense. Receiving it—even passing texts—doesn’t automatically rise to criminal liability unless it crosses into obstruction or intimidation.

But with Turtleboy facing multiple witness intimidation charges in connection with Karen’s leaks, Karen’s texts may become critical evidence.

Prosecutors could later argue that Karen’s facilitation helped Turtleboy build a case of intimidation—making her a potential co-conspirator if they choose to go there.

Insight: Charging Leslie now gives DOJ flexibility—they can evaluate Karen’s role later depending on Turtleboy’s case developments.

Turtleboy wasn’t the original recipient—but he became the public amplifier, well-positioned for a scandal moment .

His April 20, 2023, story dropped simultaneously with defense filings referencing grand jury subpoenas

—a telling coincidence.

Insight:

This suggests either:

📌The defense deliberately used Turtleboy to set the narrative without breaking courtroom embargoes.

📌Turtleboy got hot leads from Karen’s network and immediately ran—serving as the unfiltered vehicle.

Either way, Karen legally hedged by not speaking in court—but did so informally via Turtleboy.