Man accused of using rubber ducks to intimidate witnesses in Karen Read murder trial – Boston News, Weather, Sports

The inspiration for the rubber ducks was a statement made in court, police said

Canton police say they used traffic cameras, surveillance footage, witnesses and other evidence to link the ducks and counterfeit $100 bills to Schiffer, who is 65 and lives in neighboring Stoughton.

The rubber ducks appear to be a reference to testimony at a preliminary 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 began – when counterfeit bills were found near D&E Pizza & Subs in Canton, police said.

The restaurant is owned by the brother of the owner of the Fairview Road property where O'Keefe's body was found.

Over the next five months, additional counterfeit $100 bills and rubber ducks were found outside a handful of other homes and businesses nearby – including O'Keefe's home, the two bars he frequented shortly before his death, and a restaurant, that belonged to the sister of a witness.

Some of the rubber ducks bore stickers with a message implicating a nephew of the owner of the Fairview Road home, while the counterfeit bills bore “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 said he did not see O'Keefe and testified at Read's trial that there was no animosity between them.

According to police, investigators also found yellow rubber ducks and stickers in Schiffer's Toyota Tundra in May after executing a search warrant.

Rubber ducks were also 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 that he sent a series of sexist and abusive texts about Read in a private group chat, in which he called her a “moron,” made fun of her medical problems and told colleagues that that he had “no nudes” while she searched her phone for evidence.

Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey sharply criticized Proctor's behavior. After the trial, Proctor was suspended from the police force without pay.

Schiffer says he has a legal right to freedom of expression

Read's trial lasted more than two months and attracted national attention. Her supporters followed the trial online and analyzed it daily on social media, including Reddit and private Facebook pages created to discuss the evidence and theories surrounding the case.

Police said the rubber ducks and counterfeit $100 bills helped spur a social movement that harassed witnesses by suggesting “they cannot escape the truth about John O'Keefe's death.”

In an online fundraiser asking for help with his legal fees, Schiffer admitted to putting up rubber ducks in Canton and the surrounding area.

“Through the First Amendment and my right to free speech, I have expressed my opinion and belief that Karen Read is innocent. The fundamental right of free speech is granted to us by the Constitution of the United States,” he wrote.

In support of a second online fundraiser, Schiffer wrote: “Charging innocent citizens with made-up crimes is weaponizing our justice system to silence law-abiding citizens.”

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