Crime
Fallout from Read’s high-profile case spread far beyond Dedham’s Norfolk Superior courthouse.
Karen Read’s murder trial has been over for months now, her criminal charges settled, but several investigators who worked on her case are still feeling the sting.
A Canton police sergeant who handled some of the initial investigation was put on leave this week over unspecified allegations of misconduct, adding to the list of officials suspended, disciplined, reassigned, or scrutinized following their involvement in Read’s case.
Once accused of killing her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe, Read floated an alternate theory that she’d been framed as part of a law enforcement coverup. While prosecutors alleged Read drove drunk and backed her SUV into O’Keefe outside a home in Canton on Jan. 29, 2022, defense attorneys painted her as the victim of biased investigators and sloppy police work.
Following a 2024 mistrial and subsequent retrial, jurors acquitted Read of murder and manslaughter charges in June. In the end, she was convicted only of driving under the influence — a misdemeanor for which she received a year of probation.
Still, the fallout from Read’s high-profile case spread far beyond Dedham’s Norfolk Superior courthouse, particularly for a handful of law enforcement officials.
Former Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor
Ex-Trooper Michael Proctor led the investigation into O’Keefe’s death and was one of several officials implicated in Read’s coverup claims. Defense attorneys accused Proctor of lying and fabricating evidence, and the former trooper also came under fire for his previously undisclosed ties to the Alberts, the family who owned the home where O’Keefe was found unresponsive in the snow.
Proctor’s vulgar texts about Read similarly cast a pall. In messages to family, friends, and coworkers, he made lewd comments about Read’s health and appearance, called her a “wack job c**t” and “retarded,” and joked about searching for nude photos on her cellphone. In one message to his sister, Proctor even said he hoped Read would kill herself.
State Police relieved Proctor of duty soon after Read’s 2024 mistrial, suspended him without pay pending an internal affairs investigation, and ultimately fired him in March.
Proctor initially fought his termination, denying claims of planted evidence and arguing that he was “caught up in the moment” when he sent his texts about Read.
However, the ex-trooper dropped his appeal last month amid newly available but unspecified “disclosures.” Days later, Norfolk County prosecutors said via a court filing that Proctor’s personal cellphone data contained “images of intimate body parts” and other “highly sensitive” information.
State Police Sgt. Yuriy Bukhenik
Proctor wasn’t the only State Police investigator who faced blowback over the texts. Sgt. Yuriy Bukhenik, who investigated O’Keefe’s death with Proctor, forfeited five vacation days after State Police determined he failed to reprimand Proctor for the inappropriate messages.
Bukhenik’s personnel order specifically cites messages sent on Aug. 17, 2022, the same day a trooper sent a picture of one of Read’s lawyers to a group chat with Proctor and other State Police colleagues.
“Funny, I’m going through his retarded client’s phone. No nudes so far,” Proctor wrote in the chat.
Taking the stand during Read’s retrial, however, Bukhenik defended Proctor’s investigation as one of “integrity.”
“This investigation was conducted professionally, with integrity, and all the evidence collected, all the statements collected, pointed in one direction,” he testified. “There was no bias influence on the evidence, on the information that was collected, or which direction the investigation pointed naturally.”
Following Read’s acquittal, Bukhenik was transferred out of the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office and reassigned to another role with State Police.
State Police Detective Lt. Brian Tully
Another State Police superior, Detective Lt. Brian Tully, was also transferred out of the Norfolk DA’s office, where he commanded the detective unit responsible for investigating O’Keefe’s death. Like Bukhenik, Tully forfeited six vacation days after an internal probe found he failed to supervise troopers involved in sending inappropriate texts.
During Read’s first trial, Tully told jurors he spoke with Proctor after becoming aware of the texts.
“I had a long discussion with him about the content and nature of them,” Tully testified. “I expressed my displeasure at his unprofessionalism and the content of them, and I reported it up my chain of command.”
Canton Police Detective Kevin Albert
A Canton police detective whose family was central to the murder case against Read, Kevin Albert faced scrutiny after Proctor testified he and Albert “had a few beers” on duty while working a cold case together in 2022.
Proctor also told jurors he texted Albert after finding the Canton detective’s badge in his cruiser the next day. Albert allegedly replied, “Did I take my gun?,” followed by a wincing face emoji.
An independent Canton police investigation ultimately found Albert was joking about misplacing his gun and had only left his badge in Proctor’s cruiser. However, the report concluded that Albert violated department policy by ordering and drinking alcohol while on duty.
Albert was temporarily placed on paid leave and later disciplined with three unpaid eight-hour shifts.
Canton Police Sgt. Sean Goode
Sgt. Sean Goode was one of the Canton police officers who responded to 34 Fairview Road after O’Keefe was found unresponsive in the snow, and he spoke with the homeowners and helped process the crime scene.
More than three years later, Canton officials placed Goode on paid administrative leave after learning of alleged misconduct Friday. In a statement, the town said those allegations sprang from “an investigation into a former member of a different law enforcement agency,” though officials did not offer specifics.
It remains unclear whether Goode’s alleged misconduct is linked to Read’s case. The town said it has hired an independent investigator to conduct an administrative probe.
“Members of the Town’s Police Department are expected to perform their duties in a professional manner,” Canton officials said. “The Town is committed to providing the quality and level of service that the citizens of Canton deserve from their Police Department. To that end, we will take the necessary steps to ensure that actions by individual officers do not jeopardize that quality and level of service.”
Former Boston Police Officer Kelly Dever
Taking the stand during Read’s second murder trial, former Boston Police Officer Kelly Dever locked horns with defense attorney Alan Jackson during a combative exchange about her time as a patrol officer in Canton. Dever testified about filling in for the department’s dispatch operations the morning O’Keefe died, but she grew testy when asked whether she saw “anything unusual” in the police station garage where Read’s SUV was kept.
She confirmed she initially told federal investigators she’d seen witness Brian Higgins and then-Chief Kenneth Berkowitz enter the garage together “for a wildly long time” while Read’s SUV was there. However, Dever said she was later reminded she had left the station before the vehicle arrived, chalking the erroneous statement up to a “false memory.”
Jackson demanded Dever be added to the Boston Police Department’s Brady list, alleging her credibility was “irreparably compromised” in light of her testimony. Dever took family medical leave over the summer and ultimately resigned from the Boston Police Department, effective Sept. 1.
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