Judge Beverly Cannone will preside over Karen Read’s retrial in January. Read, who was tried for the murder of her police officer boyfriend John O’Keefe, was a former professor from Bentley College and was living in Mansfield at the time of O’Keefe’s death.

The Norfolk County judge who declared a mistrial in the first Karen Read trial will return to the bench for the highly anticipated second trial, according to the state’s Trial Court. Superior Court Justice Beverly Cannone has become a household name throughout the region amid the constantly talked-about murder trial.

Judge Beverly Cannone will return to the bench for Karen Read's second trial early next year, the court confirmed on Monday.