[ cheers and applause ] >> martin: that's all the time we've got. i want to thank jane lynch and jelly roll. "nightline" is next. thank you for watching. good night! >> i need to be held! ruff! arrgghh-yo! oh, oh, oh! that was groovy! ♪ this is "nightline." >> byron: tonight, the fate of karen read in the hands of a jury. >> i've never harmed a hair on

john o'keefe's head. >> byron: explosive murder trial dividing a community and captivating the nation. accused of hitting her police officer boyfriend with her lexus suv after a night of drinking. >> i hit him, i hit him. those are the words of the defendant. >> byron: and leaving him to die in the snow. >> you have been lied to in this courtroom. >> byron: she claims she's being framed in a police cover-up. >> that is the injury to the head that you saw consistent with having been struck by a vehicle at 24 miles an hour? >> it is not, no, sir. >> byron: will she be found guilty? plus, yes, chef. the bear is back serving up a third season. >> our clime has been really exciting, really gratifying. >> byron: millions hungry for everything on the menu. we're with the cast of the show racking up multiple emmys with the high-stress scenes viewers can't get enough of. >> it is so volatile.

there's real flames and real knives in the kitchen. >> byron: what keeps the staff and the cast feeling like family? >> i think the root of their relationship, it's passion, and it's respect, and it's seeing that same fire. >> byron: and who's been crowned the world's ugliest dog? ahh, yellow! didn't pass the tissue test? buckle up! whoa! there's toothpaste white, and there's crest 3dwhitestrips white. whitens like a 400 dollar professional treatment. pilot: prepare for non-stop smiles. crest. can neuriva support your brain health? mary, janet, hey!! (thinking: eddie, no frasier, frank... frank?) fred! how are you?! fred... fuel up to 7 brain health indicators, including your memory. join the neuriva brain health challenge.

♪ >> byron: good evening. thank you for joining us. it's a case that's gripping the nation and dividing the greater

boston community. the trial playing out in court over 31 dramatic days. karen read, the girlfriend of local police officer john o'keefe, accused of killing him after a night of drinking. she says other members of law enforcement are responsible not just for framing her but also for o'keefe's death. crowds of read supporters gathering outside the courthouse agreeing with her loudly. here's abc's erielle reshef. >> "i hit him, i hit him, i hit him, i hit him." those are the words of the defendant. >> karen read was framed. her car never struck john o'keefe. she did not cause his death. somebody else did. >> reporter: after 31 explosive days of trial, scores of witnesses and experts, and intense back-and-forth arguments, today, closing arguments in the murder trial of karen read. >> it is the jury's job --

>> reporter: her fate now rests in the hands of a boston-area jury. >> the jury must decide questions of credibility and reliability. >> karen read is facing charges of second-degree murder, vehicular manslaughter, which also includes involuntary manslaughter as a lesser included charge, and leaving the scene of the accident that involved death. >> reporter: the massachusetts woman charged with killing her boyfriend, boston police officer john o'keefe. if convicted, she faces life in prison. the case has divided a community, captivated true crime fans, and sent many on social media into a frenzy. >> is she being framed in an elaborate cover-up involving corrupt cops? or did she back over her boyfriend and leave him for dead? >> reporter: at times, karen read supporters swarming the courthouse. >> sometimes there have been hundreds of supporters, as there were today. they all wear pink shirts because that's karen read's favorite color. >> reporter: at trial, prosecutors arguing read struck o'keefe with her black lexus

before leaving him to die in the middle of a winter blizzard. >> finding karen read is guilty of murder in the second degree, striking the victim with her car, knocking him on the ground, striking his head on the ground, causing the bleeding in his brain, swelling, then leaving him there. >> the prosecution says that relationship was in trouble, that they had been fighting over several weeks that they fought that day. >> reporter: in court, her defense attorneys arguing that karen was being framed. >> look the other way. look the other way. four words were sum up the commonwealth's entire case. four words that sum up the hopes of those who have tried to deceive you. >> reporter: read all the while has strongly denied the allegations. she sat down with my colleague, matt gutman, last year before the trial. >> i did not kill john o'keefe. i've never harmed a hair on john o'keefe's head. >> is it possible that you might have hit him unwittingly in your

admittedly very large suv? >> no. not possible. >> reporter: the couple's story starts off like many. rekindling old flames. first dating in their 20s and reconnecting more than a decade later. o'keefe was an officer at the boston police department for 16 years. those closest to him say he was a consummate family man raising his niece and nephew as his own children after their parents tragically both died. read worked at finance and taught at a local college. >> how did you meet up again? >> he had reached out to me on facebook, "hey, blast on the past, how's things?" and when i saw his picture, his profile picture, it was with several young children. then it triggered my memory that his sister and his sister's husband had passed away. and he told me, "yeah, i have the kids now." i admired that. i thought that was amazing. >> reporter: the two began dating and were together at least a few years. one night, they were invited to meet up with some friends at the waterfall bar in cam ton where

they ran into brian albert, a fellow boston police officer who read says o'keefe looked up to. at the bar, read says there was an invitation to continue hanging out at albert's home. what happens next is disputed. >> so, i pull up the foot of the driveway. it's snowing. john has no coat on. it's windy. so i drop him off. he goes up the driveway and approaches the side door. as i see him approach the door, i look down at my phone. >> reporter: read says after about ten minutes of waiting in her car, she became irritated that o'keefe was still inside. so, she left. she says she continued calling him before she fell asleep around 1:30 in the morning. but brian albert's testimony in court contradicts her account. >> and at no point in time over the course of that evening or the early morning there did john o'keefe or karen read physically come into your house? >> john o'keefe and karen read never entered my house. >> reporter: the next morning, read says she woke up before 5:00 a.m. o'keefe still wasn't home.

she says she called john's friend kerry roberts and brian albert's sister-in-law, jennifer mccabe, who was also at his house the night before. she then says she started canvassing the neighborhood. >> just going to drive around in the two square miles that we spent the preceding night. >> reporter: she she meets up with jennifer and kerry, and they eventually make their way to albert's home. >> how soon was it when you pulled in there that you saw john's body? >> immediately. and what struck me when i saw him was, his mouth was open a little bit, and his eyes were shut, and he had spots of blood in different areas on his face. >> reporter: o'keefe was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead. he died from blunt force trauma to the head and hypothermia according to the chief medical examiner. the prosecution bringing in witnesses to support their argument that o'keefe was hit by the rear bumper of read's suv that night. >> as far as mr. o'keefe, what, if anything did you learn about his injuries? >> oh -- like what type of

injuries he had? >> yes. >> yeah, blunt force injuries. i mean, there was abrasions, lacerations. >> reporter: in addition, police say karen's rear taillight was already damaged the day they towed her vehicle. >> i saw that there was some damage to the right rear tail light. to my best ability and recollection, that taillight was not completely damaged. it was cracked and a piece was missing, but not completely damaged. >> reporter: he spieces of reads taillight were found days later. >> with reference to the box of other items, if you could remove wh what, if any, items you recovered on february 4th? what's contained in that bag on february 4th? >> a piece of red, hard plastic tail light cover. >> reporter: the defense meanwhile arguing blunt force trauma could be the result of a fight, arguing that someone else

was responsible for o'keefe's death and that the attempt to pin it on her was a cover-up. >> the defense makes the argument that the injuries sustained by john o'keefe are not consistent with that of being struck by a vehicle, especially a rear-end collision. they make the point that the injury is concentrated on his arm and that there are no bruisings or any kind of damage to that arm or even his body. >> reporter: in court, the medical examiner saying the manner of death is undetermined. >> your internal examination notes tongue laceration on the right front of the victim's tongue. do you recall that? >> yes. >> you'd agree a tongue laceration can be also caused by blunt force trauma? >> correct. >> and that could also include something like a punch to the victim's face or jaw? >> that's a possibility. >> reporter: jen mccabe testified for the prosecution that she woke up at 4:53 a.m. to a frantic call from o'keefe's niece with karen read screaming in the background before she

jumped on the phone. >> then she was saying, "dy hit him? could i have hit him?" and then she proceeded to say that she had a cracked taillight. >> and this is why you're still in your home and you're in your bed, correct? >> correct. >> and what was your response to that? >> i just -- i thought she was honestly just talking crazy. and then she said, "oh my god, i left him there." like, she was extremely irrational. >> reporter: in court, read's defense team calling five expert witnesses, including an accident reconstructionist. >> is the injury to the head that you saw consistent with having been struck by a vehicle at 24 miles per hour? >> it is not, no, sir. >> reporter: retired medical examiner dr. frank sheridan testified that o'keefe's injuries didn't match the prosecution's claim that read hit him with her lexus suv. >> if you're hit by a vehicle, whichever part of your body is hit, if it's a significant

impact at all, you're going to get bruising. and we don't have any bruising here. >> reporter: for the family and friends of john o'keefe, it's been a grueling couple of years as they await this decision. and karen read, her future now rests on the decision of the jury. >> i think that this story captivated such a large audience because it has every element you can think of. it is a love story potentially gone wrong. the murder of a police officer. but also an investigation that was so sloppy, it borders on incompetence -- or was it intentional? and i think that and so many other elements to this make it something that you just have to watch. >> byron: our thanks to erielle. when we return, pull up a chair. we're with the cast of "the bear." >> okay, ritchie, do you eneven know how to do fries? >> yes! good to go off the grid.

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♪ >> byron: welcome back. "the bear" has captured the hearts of its millions of viewers, dazzled critics, racked up multiple emmy awards, is responsible for what "the new york times" called a cultural phenomenon of bringing restaurateur "yes chef" into common use. now dishing on season three. here's abc's deborah roberts. >> fire everything right [ bleep ] now! >> reporter: "yes, chef." "the bear" is back and bringing more heat from the kitchen. if you could describe "the bear" in one word? >> pressure. >> hopeful. >> "the bear" is human. >> reporter: it's the smash hit about a restaurant in major need

of a revamp after a family tragedy. a love letter to restaurant culture with all its intensity, stress, and passion. what is it about this collection of characters that people just gravitate toward? >> i think that feeling of loneliness met by the need for belonging then feeling like you're a part of something bigger than yourself. that's such a human and universal thing. >> reporter: "the bear" is one of the hottest shows of the moment, cooking up new drama in its highly anticipated third season. in this show, there is chaos. there is intensity. and the way it's shot. your heart is truly pounding. watching you all. do you feel that as you're filming it? >> it's shot in a very visceral way. it's a real marriage between the actors and the crew. there's real flames, real knifes in the kitchens. >> reporter: real knifes? >> small, small spaces. >> reporter: have your cooking skills improved? >> yeah. >> mine got worse. >> i got to go to culinary

school. i started at absolute zero, so it's not difficult to get better when you're that terrible going in. >> reporter: jeremy allen white plays carney, a talented chef who's come back home to chicago to run a restaurant along with his sister and a slew of unique characters. >> why are you doing this? >> i can't waste that much time. >> reporter: is he going to be beyond driven now because of what he's been through in season two? >> i think it's carney's go-to. he's so avoidant. i think when he's going through an experience that's particularly traumatic, he's going to bury himself in the work. >> part of her wanting to work in the restaurant is be close to carmy, get the connection she's been desperately seeking from him. >> be the smoke, cherry, that sort of world. >> reporter: io ebeborie charming audiences as sydney, at carmy's side as he launches the bear.

>> i think the root of their relationship is it's passion and it's respect and seeing that same fire. they want to push themselves, they want to push each other. is it always the best? i don't know. but i think that that's maybe the root of it. >> i'm so very grateful for this. >> reporter: a standup comic and tv writer, adeborie is a breakout star, snagging a golden globe and an emmy for her role. white and backarack taking home emmys too, as well as the show winning for outstanding comedy. this show has been a cultural phenomenon. >> i don't know how you can anticipate anything like that. we were truly shocked. i'm still kind of shocked. >> it's real. i think it's real. there's like -- these characters resonate with a lot of people. >> what's up, man? >> reporter: one of the most talked-about episodes in the last season guest stars jamie lee curtis as carmy and sugar's troubled mother. >> i make things beautiful for them.

and no one makes it beautiful for me. >> reporter: jamie lee curtis. >> yeah. >> reporter: absolutely just grabs you and breaks your heart and just draws you in. >> yeah. >> reporter: what was that like to film that? >> it was exciting. it was a joy to watch jamie. >> reporter: at its core, "the bear" is built on a dynamic cast with plenty of characters in the kitchen. >> we have our family, the bearzados, then we have the chosen family. i think people really responded to that. >> reporter: the team now hustling to make it in the fine decline dining world, straining family ties along the way. talk about your character, ritchie. >> i think he's sort of found a way of being in this world that sort of changed a little bit that is inspiring to him and viable. >> he's trying to do the right thing, but it's not always easy. >> reporter: matty matheson, an actual life-long chef, is one of

the producers and a star of the show, bringing comic relief as one of the back brothers. >> why are you guys always so mad? >> i'm not this. >> what is this? >> noninevitable. >> reporter: how much fun do you have playing these two bumbleheads? -- it's the best. >> it's theest ever. >> get to play around a bunch. you know, we're just -- i think it's a blast. >> reporter: you've spent a lot of your life in the kitchen. is it a metaphor in a lot of ways for life? >> i think we're able to, like, be there for each other. allow people to have space to make mistakes and still be there for them after to pick themselves up and keep moving. >> reporter: rounding it all out are the unsung heroes in the kitchen, the glue holding things together. marcus is devoted to his ailing mother, but yet he's attracted to this crazy food world. >> i think it's just as simple as, he found his passion. i think marcus and tina both have found, like, this second wind in life where they found a passion later on. >> reporter: where is tina going

in season three with her ambition and her newfound confidence? >> i can tell you that she will continue to do her best to try to elevate. but she is also given some surreal challenges. >> reporter: as "the bear" moves into its newest season, its cast still marvels at the collective effort it takes to make the show roar. >> getting to make this work is the gift. also, like, getting to have people really feel impacted by it. >> when we made this show, like, there were very little expectations. and i feel like our climb has been, like, really exciting, really gratifying. >> it's a good thing, man. it's a good thing. >> uh-huh. >> byron: our thanks to deborah. the third season of "the bear" begins streaming on fx on hulu tomorrow. when we come back, how dogged persistence finally paid off for wild thing. or crohn's disease...

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♪ >> byron: finally tonight, the fifth time is a charm for the world's ugliest dog. pekinese pooch named wild thing has been crowned the world's ugliest dog after trying for five consecutive years to "paw" his way to the top. the contest called his victory a testament to his undeniable charm and resilience. having survived a puppyhood illness that causes his tongue to hang sideways, mug root beer sponsors the annual contest, so you can expect to see wild thing's happy face on cans sometime soon. got to love that face. that's "nightline" for this evening.