A man accused of peppering homes and business with rubber ducks and fake $100 bills bearing messages supporting Karen Read now faces criminal charges — the latest twist in a high-profile case that has deeply divided a Boston suburb.
Richard Schiffer Jr. is charged with witness intimidation, criminal harassment and littering for his alleged role in the incidents, the Stoughton District Court told CNN. He was set to appear in court today in the criminal matter, which some area residents are calling “Duckgate.”
Read is accused of killing her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe, by striking him with her Lexus SUV and leaving him outside to die in a blizzard in January 2022. His battered body was found in the snow outside the Canton home of a fellow Boston police officer.
Read’s attorneys argue she was framed as part of a conspiracy to protect people at the Fairview Road house that night. They allege someone inside the home fatally beat O’Keefe, dumped his body on the lawn and then conspired through fabricated evidence and false testimony to frame Read.
Read has pleaded not guilty and her trial ended in a mistrial in July. A retrial is set to begin in January.
The case has spawned a rabid group of supporters who believe Read is innocent. Some have held protests outside the courthouse, carrying signs saying “Free Karen Read,” while others have taken more extreme measures.
Aidan Kearney, a Massachusetts blogger nicknamed Turtleboy, pleaded not guilty in October 2023 to charges of witness intimidation and conspiracy after he allegedly called and sent messages to witnesses and investigators in Read’s case.
And in a recent statement of facts, Canton police accused Schiffer of leaving rubber ducks and fake currency with messages outside homes and businesses belonging to key witnesses in the case.
Under Massachusetts law, witness intimidation is a felony and carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
CNN has reached out to Schiffer for comment. Court records do not show an attorney on record for him.
The rubber ducks were inspired by a statement in court, police say
Canton police say they used traffic cams, surveillance footage, witnesses and other evidence to connect the ducks and fake $100 bills to Schiffer, who is 65 and lives in neighboring Stoughton.
The rubber ducks appear to be a reference to a statement at a pre-trial hearing in January, when defense attorney Alan Jackson told the court, “If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, it’s a duck,” police said.
The first documented incident occurred in early March — more than a month before Read’s trial started — when counterfeit bills were found scattered near D&E Pizza & Subs in Canton, police said.
The eatery belongs to the brother of the owner of the Fairview Road property where O’Keefe’s body was found.
Over the next five months more fake $100 bills and rubber ducks were found outside a handful of other nearby homes and businesses — including O’Keefe’s home, the two bars he went to shortly before he died and a restaurant owned by a witness’s sister.
Some of the rubber ducks had stickers with a message implicating a nephew of the man who owns the Fairview Road house, while the counterfeit bills were stamped with “Justice for BPO John O’Keefe,” police said.
The nephew, who was a minor at the time of O’Keefe’s death, was at the Canton home that night but has said he did not see O’Keefe and testified at Read’s trial that there was no animosity between them.
Investigators also found yellow rubber ducks and stickers in Schiffer’s Toyota Tundra in May after executing a search warrant, police said.
Rubber ducks also were found outside the home of Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor, the lead investigator on the case.
Proctor has been accused of missteps in the investigation, and has admitted he sent a series of sexist and offensive texts about Read in a private group chat, calling her a “whack job,” mocking her medical issues and telling co-workers he found “no nudes” while searching her phone for evidence.
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey has sharply criticized Proctor’s behavior. After the trial, Proctor was suspended from the force without pay.
Schiffer says he has a legal right to free speech
Read’s trial lasted more than two months and drew national attention. Her supporters watched the proceedings online and dissected them daily on social media, including Reddit and private Facebook pages formed to discuss the evidence and theories about the case.
Police said the rubber ducks and fake $100 bills have helped spur a social movement that has harassed witnesses by implying “they cannot ‘duck the truth’ about John O’Keefe’s death.”
In an online fundraiser seeking help with his legal fees, Schiffer admitted to putting rubber ducks around Canton and surrounding areas.
“Through the First Amendment and my right to free speech, I expressed my opinion and belief that Karen Read is innocent. The fundamental right of free speech is afforded to us by the Constitution of the United States,” he wrote.
In supporting language for a second online fundraiser, Schiffer wrote: “Charging innocent citizens with manufactured crimes is weaponizing our justice system to silence law-abiding citizens.”
