The lead investigator in the case of a woman accused of leaving her Boston police officer boyfriend for dead in a snowbank was criticized for a series of offensive and inappropriate texts he wrote about the defendant during the investigation.
Massachusetts State Trooper Michael Proctor, who took the stand on Monday and will continue to be questioned on Wednesday, acknowledged to the jury that he called Karen Read a number of names, including “crazy job” in text messages to friends , family members and fellow soldiers. He also joked about a medical condition she had in some of these exchanges and said he believed she was responsible for John O’Keefe’s murder.
The testimony came in seventh week of testing for Read, who has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in O’Keefe’s death in January 2022. Prosecutors say Read dropped O’Keefe off at a fellow officer’s house after a night of drinking and hit him while making a three-turn points. They say she left. Her defense team argues that she was framed.
Proctor apologized repeatedly on Monday for the language used in the text exchanges and acknowledged that they were “unprofessional and regrettable comments are something I am not proud of and should not have written in private or in any type of setting.”
But he insisted the comments had no bearing on the investigation.
“These juvenile and unprofessional comments had no impact on the facts, the evidence and the integrity of the investigation,” Proctor told the court.
The defense team enjoyed the arguments, including one in which Proctor also wrote that he hated one of Read’s lawyers. They also noticed a text in which Proctor joked with his supervisors about not finding nude photos while going through Read’s phone.
Proctor denied that he was looking for nude photos of Read, although his defense lawyer, Alan Jackson, suggested that his response demonstrated bias in the investigation.
“You weren’t so objectively investigating her as much as you were objectifying her in those moments,” Jackson said.
The text exchanges could raise doubts in the jury about Proctor’s credibility and play into the hands of the defense, which questioned the way the authorities handled the investigation.
Read’s lawyers alleged that O’Keefe was beaten inside the home, bitten by the family dog and then left outside.
They portrayed the investigation as shoddy and undermined by the relationship investigators had with law enforcement at the house party. They also suggested that pieces of glass found in the bumper of Read’s SUV and a strand of hair found on the vehicle’s exterior may have been planted.
Proctor acknowledged Monday that he is friends with Brian Albert’s brother and his wife — although he insisted he had no influence on the investigation and was never at their home before O’Keefe’s death. Brian Albert is a Boston police officer who organized the house party where O’Keefe’s body was found in the front yard.
Your text exchanges could also divert attention evidence he and other state police officers found at the crime scene, including pieces of clear and red plastic found at the scene days and weeks after O’Keefe’s body died. Proctor lifted several evidence bags Monday that prosecutors said contained pieces of plastic collected at the crime scene.
Prosecutors argue the pieces are from the broken taillight of Read’s SUV, which she damaged when she struck O’Keefe. They also produced video evidence on Monday refuting defense claims that Read reversed O’Keefe’s car and damaged the tail light. Proctor also testified that he found no damage to O’Keefe’s car or garage door.
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