Lead investigator in Read case defends ‘integrity’ of work
Proctor was the subject of internal investigation
Michael Proctor, the lead State Police investigator in the Karen Read murder case, stands by his work in the homicide probe, his lawyer said Friday.
On Wednesday, State Police said Proctor was the subject of an internal probe “for a potential violation of department policy.” The agency declined to say whether the violation was related to a specific case.
Lawyers for Read, who is accused of running over her boyfriend, John O’Keefe, in 2022, have maintained she is the victim of a law enforcement coverup and this week disclosed text messages that raised questions about Proctor’s objectivity in the investigation.
Michael DiStefano, a lawyer for Proctor, said his client has been “fully cooperative in responding to the investigations” conducted by the US Attorney’s Office and the Massachusetts State Police Internal Affairs Unit.
“To be clear, Trooper Proctor remains steadfast in the integrity of the work he performed,” DiStefano said in a statement. “To the extent that Trooper Proctor’s personal text messages are alluded to in court proceedings regarding Ms. Read, he respectfully submits that the objective investigative steps he and members of his unit took are in no way undermined by the content of the personal messages.”
Proctor remains on active duty. In a highly unusual move, federal prosecutors have been reviewing law enforcement’s handling of the case, which has drawn widespread media coverage.
Read is charged with killing O’Keefe, a Boston police officer, by running him over with her SUV outside a Canton home and leaving him for dead during a blizzard. Read’s lawyers claim that O’Keefe was fatally attacked during an afterparty inside the home, which was owned by Brian Albert, also a Boston police officer.
Read’s lawyers have claimed that Proctor is part of a law enforcement conspiracy to frame Read and protect the true killers of O’Keefe. They contend that he has personal ties to the Albert family and should have disclosed them.
During a court hearing on Tuesday, Read’s lawyer Alan Jackson said Proctor had recently testified before a federal grand jury about his connection to Julie Albert, Brian Albert’s sister-in-law.
Jackson said that text messages discovered by federal investigators reveal that 10 days before O’Keefe’s death, “Michael Proctor texted his own family members discussing the specifics of having Julie Albert babysit for his toddler child.”
“We should all let that sink in for a second. There’s a level of closeness that cannot be overstated,” Jackson said. “Michael Proctor is so connected to the Alberts that he was entrusting, and willing to entrust, the Alberts to be caregivers for his toddler child.”
Jackson said text messages between Proctor and his sister also show the connection between the two families and support the defense’s assertion that Proctor and Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey’s office deliberately steered the investigation away from the Alberts.
Jackson said details of the relationship between Proctor and the Alberts was not presented to the grand jury that indicted Read and called for the charges to be dismissed.
The grand jury was left with the “false impression that these people literally do not know each other, they’ve never been in contact, they’re strangers. That was a lie. That was a concerted effort to hide that relationship and hide the conflict of interest and the grand jurors were fooled.”
Jackson also alleged that Proctor lied to the federal grand jury about his relationship with the Alberts.
When questioning Proctor about his relationship with the Alberts, an Assistant US Attorney asked, “you’re saying that you’re ... minimizing your relationship to the grand jury, correct?” according to Jackson.
Proctor answered, “Yes,” Jackson said.
“He finally under the scrutiny of a federal grand jury admitted that he had been lying about his relationship to the Alberts, which means he lied to the grand jury, which means that evidence was distorted in front of the grand jury,” Jackson said.
Read has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating under the influence, and leaving the scene of an accident causing personal injury and death. The trial is scheduled to begin April 16.