The lead investigator in the case woman accused of leaving her Boston police officer boyfriend for death in a snowbank has been criticized for a series of offensive and inappropriate texts he wrote about the accused during the investigation.
Massachusetts State Agent Michael Proctor, who took the stand Monday and will continue to be cross-examined Wednesday, admitted to the jury that he called Karen Read a series of names, including ” crazy job”, in texts addressed to his friends, family and comrades. He also joked about her health issue during some of these text exchanges and said he thought she was responsible for John O’Keefe’s murder.
The testimony arrived in the seventh week of trial for Read, who pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in O’Keefe’s death in January 2022. Prosecutors say Read dropped O’Keefe off at a co-worker’s home after a night of drinking and punched him while he was making a three-point turn. They say she then left. Her defense team claims she was framed.
Proctor repeatedly apologized Monday for the language used in the text exchanges and acknowledged that they were “unprofessional and regrettable comments that I am not proud of and should not have written in private or in any other type of setting.
But he insisted the comments had no influence on the investigation.
“These juvenile and unprofessional comments had no impact on the facts, evidence and integrity of the investigation,” Proctor told the court.
The defense team pounced on the exchanges, including one in which Proctor also wrote that he hated one of Read’s attorneys. They also noted a text in which Proctor joked with his supervisors that he hadn’t found any nude photos when he was going through Read’s phone.
Proctor denied that he was seeking nude photos of Read, although his lawyer, Alan Jackson, suggested that his response demonstrated bias in the investigation.
“You weren’t so much objectively investigating her as objectifying her in those moments,” Jackson said.
The exchanges of texts could raise doubts among the jury about Proctor’s credibility and play into the hands of the defense, which has questioned the management of the investigation by the police.
Read’s attorneys claimed O’Keefe was beaten inside the home, bitten by a family dog and then abandoned outside.
They described the investigation as shoddy and undermined by the relationships investigators had with law enforcement officers at the house party. They also suggested that pieces of glass found on the bumper of Read’s SUV and a hair found outside the vehicle could have been planted.
Proctor admitted Monday that he was friends with Brian’s brother Albert and his wife – although he insisted he had no influence on the investigation and never came to the house them before O’Keefe’s death. Brian Albert is a Boston police officer who threw the house party at which O’Keefe’s body was found in the front yard.
His text exchanges could also distract attention Evidence he and other state agents found at the crime scene, including pieces of clear and red plastic found at the scene in the days and weeks after O’Keefe’s body was found dead. Proctor held up several evidence bags Monday that prosecutors said contained pieces of plastic collected from the crime scene.
Prosecutors say the pieces came from the broken taillight of Read’s SUV, which she damaged when she hit O’Keefe. They also produced video evidence Monday refuting defense claims that Read backed into O’Keefe’s car and damaged the tail light. Proctor also checked to see if he found any damage to O’Keefe’s car or the garage door.