Karen Read trial live updates: Investigator testified about ‘unprofessional’ texts

Testimony is underway in the Karen Read trial, a Mansfield woman charged in the death of her Boston police officer boyfriend, John O’Keefe.

MassLive reporters will provide updates below throughout the day.

• Read more: Everyone you need to know to understand the Karen Read trial

4:10 p.m. update: Cross-examination of Trooper Michael Proctor

Alan Jackson began the cross-examination of Trooper Michael Proctor.

He began asking about Aug. 17, 2022, when Proctor was texting about going through Read’s personal cellphone.

Two of the troopers on the texting thread were his supervisors, Proctor agreed. Jackson asked how he referred to Read in that text thread.

“I used the regrettable language of ‘going through his retarded client’s phone right now,’” Proctor said.

Jackson asked him to specify who was the “retarded client,” and Proctor said Read.

“As an unbiased, objective investigator, the person that you are investigating you referred to your bosses as ‘retarded,’ right?” Jackson asked.

“Again, poor language on my part,” Proctor said.

Jackson then asked about Proctor writing in a text that he “truly hated” David Yannetti, one of Read’s attorneys.

“How do you feel about him now?” Jackson asked.

“I still don’t care for him now,” Proctor said.

Jackson then drew attention to Proctor’s text message about looking for “nudes” in Read’s phone.

“It was an inappropriate joke,” Proctor said. “Poor jokes and unprofessional have no bearing on the integrity and the facts and physical evidence of this case.”

Proctor said none of his supervisors reprimanded him for texting about searching for the photographs.

His supervisor, Sgt. Yuri Bukhenik, liked the text about Proctor going through Read’s phone.

Jackson asked about training that Proctor received at the Massachusetts State Police Academy about being impartial during investigations.

“When you start an investigation, everybody in that investigation should be treated exactly the same, don’t you believe that’s true?” Jackson asked.

“Correct,” Proctor responded.

Judge Beverly Cannone ended questioning at about 4 p.m. The trial will resume on Wednesday.

3:30 p.m. update: ‘She’s a wack job,’ Trooper Proctor said of Read in text thread

After a break, Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor returned to testimony and reading from text messages.

Prosecutor Adam Lally handed him printed text message threads that Proctor read aloud to the jury throughout the afternoon.

“I’m sure the owner of the house will receive some shit,” one of Proctor’s friends texted him, referring to the homeowner of 34 Fairview Road where O’Keefe’s body was found.

Proctor replied, “Nope. Homeowner was a Boston cop, too.”

Lally asked him to explain the texts.

“I was letting him know that Mr. O’Keefe was a Boston cop and the homeowner was a Boston cop as well,” Proctor said.

When a friend asked Proctor what happened, he responded, “She hit him with her car,” speaking about Read.

A friend asked, “He was frozen in the driveway and she didn’t see him?”

“That’s another animal we won’t be able to prove,” Proctor texted back. “They arrived at the house together, got into an argument, she was driving and left.”

Proctor at one point said Read “biffed him” about her striking O’Keefe with her vehicle, he said.

“There’ll be some serious charges brought on the girl,” Proctor texted his friends.

“Is she hot at least?” one of the friends texted him.

“From all accounts he didn’t do anything wrong, she’s a wack job (expletive), yeah she’s a babe, weird Fall River accent though no ass,” Proctor texted his friends.

He was referring to Brian Albert about “from all accounts he didn’t do anything wrong.”

“The rest of the unprofessional and regrettable comments are something I’m not proud of,” Proctor said. “I shouldn’t have wrote them in a private or any type of setting.”

Next, Proctor read text messages from Feb. 1, 2022.

Proctor referred to Read as a “nutbag” and wrote that she “leaks poo,” a reference to a medical condition she has, he said.

“These juvenile unprofessional comments have zero impact on the facts and the evidence and the integrity of this investigation,” Proctor said.

Next, Lally showed Proctor a printout of text messages between the state trooper and his sister, Courtney, between December 2021 and August 2022.

Proctor texted his sister on the morning of Jan. 29, 2022, about finding O’Keefe’s body and investigating the case as a homicide. He mentioned interviewing Jennifer McCabe who said she knew Courtney Proctor.

He also told his sister he would need to interview Chris and Julie Albert as part of the investigation.

On Feb. 1, 2022, Proctor’s sister texted him saying that Julie McCabe wanted to give Proctor a gift “when this is all over.”

Proctor responded, “Give Elizabeth one,” a reference to his wife.

“I don’t know the thought process of my sister and Julie as far as bringing that idea of a gift into play,” Proctor said. “I didn’t ask for one and I never received one.”

“We’re going to lock this wack job up,” Proctor texted his wife on June 9, 2022, referring to Read’s arrest after she was indicted by a grand jury.

“Again, unprofessional messages I should not have sent,” Proctor said.

Proctor said there was “compelling evidence” that Read struck O’Keefe, and based on the day’s investigation, “It was clear that Ms. Read struck Mr. O’Keefe with her vehicle,” Proctor said.

Proctor texted about conversations he had with the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office.

“Always with a homicide, the doctor wants to know what transpired,” Proctor said.

In text messages with another state police trooper, Proctor wrote, “Of course it’s undetermined, she was a whack job,” a reference to Read.

The manner of death from the medical examiner’s office was undetermined, Proctor said.

Proctor read more text messages on August 17, 2022, when another state trooper sent a text of Read’s attorney, David Yannetti to Proctor.

“Funny. I’m going through his retarded client’s phone, no nudes so far. I hate that man, I truly hate him,” Proctor wrote.

In August of 2022, Proctor was granted a search warrant for Read’s phone. Proctor was only able to search partially through the phone since he encountered some communications between Read and her attorney.

It took until summer 2023 for the phone to be returned to Proctor, he said.

2:13 p.m. update: Proctor begins reading text messages from personal phone

Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor resumed testimony under direct examination by Norfolk prosecutor Adam Lally.

Lally resumed asking about his relationships with Chris and Julie Albert and their son, Colin.

“Loose acquaintances,” Proctor said about his relationship with the family.

Proctor said he told his supervisors about his past connections with the family, which were through his sister, Courtney.

“Absolutely zero impact on this investigation,” Procotor said about how those relationships impacted the investigation.

Lally then showed Proctor a thread of text messages printed out from Proctor’s personal cell phone.

The other people in the text thread are Proctor’s friends from as early as first grade and junior high school.

On Jan. 29, 2022, Proctor replied to a 10:53 p.m. text about John O’Keefe and he answered a question about O’Keefe’s niece and nephew.

Proctor was in the middle of reading from his text messages when defense attorney Alan Jackson asked for a sidebar conversation with attorneys and the judge.

Judge Beverly Cannone sent the jury out for a 10-minute break.

1 p.m. update: Norfolk prosecutor asks Trooper Proctor about relationships to witnesses

Massachusetts Trooper Michael Proctor opened an evidence box about an hour into his testimony on Monday.

Within the box, he showed the housing of the Read’s taillight to the court.

Norfolk County prosecutor Adam Lally next showed a photograph of Read’s SUV with its broken taillight which Proctor said is what it looked like on Jan. 29, 2022.

On Feb. 3, 2022, Proctor and other members of state police returned to 34 Fairview Road with snow shovels in an attempt to find more evidence.

On Feb. 8, 11, and 18, 2022, Proctor found more pieces of evidence, but he was never by himself, Proctor said. He could not recall who else was with him, however.

They recovered a black drinking straw on Feb. 3, 2022, O’Keefe’s hat with an American flag “deep underneath the snow” and more pieces of plastic.

Almost two feet of snow fell on Jan. 29, 2022, and over the following days of varying temperatures and rainfall, more evidence presented itself on the lawn, Proctor said.

State police also went to O’Keefe’s residence on Feb. 5, 2022, to inspect O’Keefe’s vehicle, Proctor said. They went to the residence after reviewing Ring surveillance video outside of O’Keefe’s home overlooking the garage.

In a video that police recovered from Ring, on Jan. 29, 2022, at about 5:07 a.m. Read pulled out of the garage and “came close if not slightly hitting” O’Keefe’s vehicle, Proctor said.

Proctor said he did not observe snow falling off of O’Keefe’s car nor pieces of taillight on the snow-covered ground after the vehicles got close. O’Keefe’s vehicle noticeably moved slightly when Read’s vehicle backed up.

Lally next showed photographs of O’Keefe’s vehicle showing its rear right bumper. Proctor said he did not see any damage to the vehicle. Lally also displayed a photograph of the garage doors and Proctor said he did not see any damage to the doors.

Lally did not say when the photographs were taken.

Lally next asked about where pieces of evidence were collected from 34 Fairview Road on Feb. 8, 11, and 18, 2022. All were collected near the fire hydrant and flag pole on the front lawn, Proctor said.

Proctor next began opening bags containing the evidence collected on those days.

The first bag from Feb. 8 contained two small pieces, one red and one black. Two bags were collected on Feb. 11, and the first contained seven small packets with broken glass.

The second bag from Feb. 11 contained a large piece of red taillight and a smaller piece of white plastic.

The bag from Feb. 18 contained two large pieces of red plastic, a small white piece, and a round red piece.

Lally then began asking Proctor about the Ring video footage obtained from the company. There was a gap from 11:45 p.m. on Jan. 28, 2022, to about 5:07 a.m. on Jan. 29, 2022, according to Lally.

Proctor asked the Ring company if there was a record about whether portions of the video were deleted but he was never able to obtain the missing video footage.

Lally next asked Proctor about some of his relationships with the witnesses in the case. Prior to the investigation, he knew Julie and Chris Albert and their son, Colin Albert.

Proctor said he got to know the Alberts through his sister Courtney. He said occasionally they would be at his sister’s house or his parent’s backyard. “Julie and Chris and their kid Colin and I would happen to be there,” Proctor said.

He said he never visited the homes of Chris or Julie Albert and they never went to his home.

“How would you classify your relationship with them prior to Jan. 29, 2022?” Lally asked.

“I’d classify it as acquaintances,” Proctor said.

Judge Beverly Cannone called for a lunch break at about 12:58 p.m.

11:58 a.m. update: Defense calls Trooper Michael Proctor to the stand

Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor took the stand Monday morning. He’s spent nearly five years as a homicide detective assigned to the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office, with 10 years total as a state police officer.

On Jan. 29, 2022, he received a call at about 6:48 a.m. and advised him that Canton police discovered a male in the snow outside of a residence. Trooper Yuri Bukhenik was not exactly sure what happened and said it was possibly a medical situation.

Proctor next contacted detective Sgt. Michael Lank from Canton police. He told Proctor that O’Keefe was transported to Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton with injuries, but Lank did not have a lot of information.

He knew Lank was on the scene, Proctor said, which is why he reached out to him first. Proctor next reached out to Canton firefighter Anthony Flematti who told him that O’Keefe had some injuries to his right arm, eyes and cut to the nose area.

“He put a 10% chance of survival for Mr. O’Keefe,” Proctor said.

Proctor contacted his supervisor, Bukhenik, and said it “sounded more than a medical situation.”

Proctor and Bukhenik arrived at the Canton police department at about 10 a.m. that morning.

The two state troopers spoke with Canton police Sgt. Sean Goode, who told them that he spoke with Jennifer McCabe, Kerry Roberts and Read.

Prosecutor Adam Lally asked if previously met with McCabe, Roberts, or Read. Proctor said, “No.”

Proctor and Bukhenik went to McCabe’s home in Canton to interview her, her wife Matthew, and Brian Albert, who arrived at the McCabe home.

Throughout the investigation, Proctor conducted interviews with other troopers present, he said, except for one couple with the last name Curran.

Proctor said he first met Brian Albert at McCabe’s household during that interview.

Proctor and Bukhenik next traveled to Good Samaritan Medical Center to see O’Keefe and Read, who was involuntarily hospitalized for making suicidal statements that morning. She was released before the two troopers arrived, according to Proctor.

Proctor described his observations of O’Keefe at the hospital.

“First thing I noticed is he had abrasions on his right arm,” he said. “Both eyes were swollen black and blue.”

He noticed blood at the back of O’Keefe’s head but could not see whether there was significant trauma, Proctor said.

One thing they noticed was that there was only one sneaker at the hospital, Proctor said.

Proctor said that in his time in the homicide unit, he’s seen three or four instances of a pedestrian struck by a vehicle. From his time as a patrol officer, he’s seen another three or four instances, he said.

In previous instances, Proctor said he’s seen footwear removed at the point of impact to victims.

Proctor said since only one sneaker was recovered from O’Keefe at the hospital, it “revealed the potential of vehicle strike.”

A special recovery unit from the state police recovered the second sneaker from the scene at 34 Fairview Road, according to Proctor.

“The clothing was wet, pretty well saturated. The right sleeve had some cuts to it, like tears to it, there was blood and vomit on it I recall,” Proctor said.

O’Keefe’s phone was handed over to Proctor at the Canton police department, he said.

After Good Samaritan Medical Center, Proctor and Bukhenik went to Dighton to visit Read at her parent’s house.

Proctor called Dighton police to let them know they were going to Read’s parent’s home, and they requested a plow truck due to a foot of snow on the ground.

When they walked down the driveway, the two state troopers noticed Read’s cracked taillight, Proctor said.

“The right rear taillight had large pieces missing from it,” Proctor said.

When invited into the home, Read was seated on a couch and her parents were standing to the side. They spoke for about 30 to 45 minutes, Proctor said.

Proctor and Bukhenik seized Read’s phone and told her they would seek a search warrant for its contents, he said

They left 4:16 p.m. and arrived at 5:31 at the Canton police department, Proctor said.

They brought Read’s vehicle to the Canton police department because it was a heated facility. Other options were the barracks in Milton but it was not large enough for the SUV and it was not heated.

The SUV was covered in ice and snow so they wanted a heated area, Proctor said.

“Sgt. Bukhanik and I never touched any part of the vehicle,” Proctor told Lally.

At the end of the day, state police troopers met at the Canton police department to debrief on what they learned that day, according to Proctor. Canton police informed them at that meeting that they would recuse themselves from interviews during the investigation.

Proctor explained that as a case officer, he was a “facilitator” and delegated tasks and coordinated interviews.

“Case officers are not the sole decision-makers,” Proctor said. “It’s a collaborative effort each investigation.”

He said the case officer is more of a “record-keeper” but that decisions are made within the homicide unit in a collaborative effort.

During the hour-long debrief, state police discussed the evidence collected at 34 Fairview Road and what police learned during their interviews, according to Proctor.

10:45 a.m. update: Dighton police officer noticed Read’s cracked taillight

Norfolk prosecutors next called Dighton police officer Nicholas Barros to the stand.

He was the officer in charge on Jan. 29, 2022. Read’s father called Dighton police that morning because he needed a ride to Good Samaritan Medical Center after O’Keefe was found, according to Barros. He needed a ride due to the driving conditions during the snowstorm.

Later that day at about 2:30 p.m., state police from the Norfolk County district attorney’s office called Dighton police and said they needed to retrieve Read’s vehicle which was parked at her father’s home in Dighton.

Barros said when they arrived at Read’s father’s house to retrieve the vehicle, he noticed the taillight cracked and a piece was missing.

“I saw that there was some damage to the right rear taillight. To my best ability and recollection that taillight was not completely damaged,” Barros said. “It was cracked and a piece was missing but not completely damaged.”

Barros said he also noticed a dent near the “rear quarter” of the vehicle, “in the same area” as the right rear taillight.

He made the observations from about five to 10 feet away, Barros said. He waited between 30 minutes to an hour while state police went inside Read’s father’s home and he said he did not see anybody manipulate the back of Read’s vehicle at any time.

The defense did not cross-examine Barros and jurors were excused for a morning recess at 10:43 a.m.

10:31 a.m. update: State police sergeant asked about missing video footage in Canton sally port

When testimony resumed, defense attorney Alan Jackson displayed a second video from the Canton police department’s sally port.

This second video was black and white and although only 15 seconds long, it jumped about 42 minutes in real time.

Jackson asked whether this video would’ve been the only camera that could’ve captured the right rear portion of Read’s SUV.

“That portion is missing, correct?” Jackson asked.

“It’s not missing, it’s just not recorded,” State Police detective Sgt. Yuri Bukhenik said.

“I’m not splitting words with you. It’s not there, it’s gone, right?” Jackson said.

“It’s not on the screen, no,” Bukhenik said.

Adam Lally, a Norfolk County prosecutor, began asking questions about how state police received the video.

Bukhenik said there was skipping in the video because the cameras are only triggered by motion to record.

Lally asked whether Bukhenik or Trooper Michael Proctor ever touched or manipulated the SUV’s taillight.

“We absolutely did not,” Bukhenik said.

Bukhenik said that he reported to the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office that O’Keefe’s death was deemed a potential domestic incident.

“We had learned that the defendant had stated she hit him,” Bukhenik. The Canton police department had collected a broken cocktail glass from the scene and Bukhenik relayed that to the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office.

Bukhenik agreed that he had not seen O’Keefe’s body before sharing that information with the medical examiner’s office.

Canton police Sgt. Sean Goode told him about the “I hit him” statements, Bukhenik said. He also spoke with Canton firefighter Anthony Flematti.

“I could tell the glass was most likely not the object, the weapon, used to cause the injury to the back of O’Keefe’s head,” Bukhenik told Lally.

Jackson returned to cross-examination and referred to a report by the medical examiner’s office in which Bukhenik reported that O’Keefe might have been struck in the face with a glass.

Goode told Bukhenik about the “I hit him” statements based on a conversation at Canton Police Department, Bukhenik said.

“That information at that time was provided by first responders at the scene,” Bukhenik said.

Jackson asked if there was a report made on Jan. 29, 2022, to memorialize Read’s “I hit him” statements.

“I don’t believe so,” Bukhenik said.

Jackson ended his questioning by highlighting that the Canton police department decided to recuse themselves from the investigation yet they were the ones who provided the sally port video in April 2024 when jury selection was underway.

9:40 a.m. update: ‘Inverted’ Canton police video scrutinized

Cross-examination of Massachusetts State Sgt. Yuriy Bukhenik continued with questioning from defense attorney Alan Jackson.

Jackson referred to a video of Read’s SUV inside the Canton police department’s sally port. It’s a video played previously during direct examination last week and Jackson had the video played once again for the court.

Jackson then drew the police investigator’s attention to the video, which was recorded as a mirror image.

On Wednesday, during direct examination, Bukhenik did not mention that the video was a mirrored image, he agreed under questioning from Jackson.

“Then it was my turn to ask questions,” Jackson said. “Then I asked questions about the accuracy of this video.”

Bukhenik said he agreed that it was not until cross-examination that he disclosed that the video was inverted.

“Everything in this video is reversed, correct?” Jackson asked.

“It’s just a mirror image,” Bukhenik said.

“Which means what’s left is right and what’s right is left?” Jackson asked, to which Bukhenik agreed.

Jackson consistently asked whether Bukhenik continued to believe the video was a “true and accurate” depiction of what the sally port looked like with Read’s SUV inside even though the video was inverted.

Bukhenik argued the video was true and accurate but mirrored.

Next, Jackson began asking about the length of the video.

The video recorded only about six minutes of a total of nearly 18 minutes, according to Jackson. The video started at about 5:30 p.m. and ended at 5:48 p.m., but the video is only about a total of six minutes long.

“It was never recorded,” Bukhenik said. “I can only speak to what was turned over and what was received. Based on the evidence that was produced this is what we got.”

Bukhenik said the video was not a smooth recording of events due to the triggering of the video recording.

Jackson asked whether he was the IT person or the person who maintains the video system, Bukhenik said, “No.”

Bukehink said he understood based on his experience and training, that some video systems recorded based on being triggered by motion.

Under questioning from Jackson, Bukehnik agreed that he did not know the inner workings of Canton police’s specific recording system in the sally port.

Jackson played a portion of the video where “someone just appeared out of nowhere.”

“That’s what the footage represents,” Bukhenik said.

The video showed a person appearing seemingly out of nowhere behind Read’s SUV due to the choppiness of the video.

Jackson began asking questions about how long the drive from the Canton police station to 34 Fairview Drive is when the judge dismissed the jury for a sidebar conversation between attorneys.

9:10 a.m. update: Contentious hearing about defense’s witnesses

The day got underway with a contentious hearing at 8:30 a.m. when a Norfolk County prosecutor said the defense team delayed in providing information about their witnesses and said, “It is intended to ambush the Commonwealth.”

Laura McLaughlin of the district attorney’s office said that the defense did not provide an obligatory synopsis of one of their witness’s opinions until May 30 — weeks into the start of the trial.

She said that prosecutors were surprised by the delayed disclosures and said the defense was attempting to “conduct a trial by surprise.”

The prosecution filed a motion attempting to exclude testimony from a defense witness, Dr. Marie Russell. The doctor is expected to testify regarding O’Keefe’s injuries.

David Yannetti, Read’s defense attorney, argued on the motion, and called prosecution’s statements “outrageous and false.”

Judge Beverly Cannone interrupted him several times and told him she did not need hyperbole and asked him to sum up his point since jurors would be arriving shortly.

Yannetti said he never told the court that the defense would not be pursuing their theory that O’Keefe was attacked by a dog prior to his death.

In the prosecution’s motion, they wrote that Yannetti previously said they would not pursue that theory and therefore should exclude one of their expert witnesses.

Cannone ordered that the defense provide what data their expert witnesses relied on to make their conclusions.

Yannetti said they did not have the opportunity to prepare with some of their expert witnesses since they were hired by the federal government.

He said they provided everything they knew to prosecutors, but Cannone said they were not detailed enough.

“We’ve spoken to them only for coordination for their testimony and background, that’s it,” Yannetti said. The defense was not allowed to interview them regarding their findings.

There will be a day this week when expert witnesses are called for voir dire hearing where both defense and prosecutors will be able to interview the witnesses in court.

Testimony resumed at 9:10 a.m.

8:30 a.m. update: Hearing gets underway

Read, 44, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of O’Keefe, who was found cold to the touch and unresponsive on Jan. 29, 2022, outside of a home in Canton.

Norfolk County prosecutors say Read struck O’Keefe with her SUV while driving intoxicated. Read’s attorney, David Yannetti, said during the trial’s opening statements that her car never struck O’Keefe and that others are to blame for his death.

On Thursday, the cross-examination of Massachusetts State Sgt. Yuriy Bukhenik began. The defense asked about who he interviewed the day O’Keefe died and video footage of Read’s vehicle from inside the Canton police department that appeared inverted.

A hearing took place at 8:30 a.m. before jurors arrived at 9 a.m.

The prosecution filed a motion attempting to exclude testimony from a defense witness, Dr. Marie Russell. The doctor is expected to testify regarding O’Keefe’s injuries.

The trial is taking place in Dedham’s Norfolk County Superior Court.