The murder trial of Karen Read, the Massachusetts woman accused of hitting her boyfriend with an SUV and leaving him to die in a snowstorm, has gripped audiences since his 2022 death. What makes this particular case so gripping? Read, 44, of Mansfield, is accused of hitting John O’Keefe with her black SUV outside of a home in Canton on Jan. 29, 2022, following a night of drinking. Her defense contends O’Keefe was dragged outside after he was beaten up in the basement and bitten by a dog at Boston officer Brian Albert’s home in Canton.David Gerzof Richard, a professor of communications at Emerson College, said this case has had all the ingredients that make it a compelling story for a society deeply invested in true crime. “I believe if the Karen Read trial was occurring 30 to 40 years ago, it would just be a blip,” he said. Richard …