‘Shame on you’: Karen Read’s defense attorney blasts Detective Proctor over vulgar texts

DEDHAM, Mass. — As he ended his near six-hour questioning of Detective Michael Proctor, the lead investigator into John O’Keefe’s death, defense attorney Alan Jackson chided the State Police trooper for his crude and vulgar language regarding Karen Read, the woman on trial for his death.

After recapping what Proctor wrote in texts, where he described Read as a “babe” and a “b**ch”, Jackson criticized Proctor for sharing details of the investigation with friends and family and for appearing to single out Karen Read as responsible for O’Keefe’s death less than 24 hours after his body was found.

“It was a figure of speech. My emotions got the best of me,” Proctor said.

“Shame on you,” Jackson hurled towards Proctor, drawing a rebuke from the judge.

Massachusetts State Trooper Michael Proctor also acknowledged that he was friends with several witnesses, including the brother of the man who hosted the house party where John O’Keefe’s body was found outside in January 2022. Prosecutors say Read dropped O’Keefe off at the home of a fellow officer after a night of drinking and struck him while making a three-point turn. They say she then drove away. Her defense team argues that she has been framed and has questioned law enforcement’s handling of the investigation.

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Officer Killed Girlfriend Trial Karen Read reacts to he attorney Alan Jackson as he cross examines state trooper Michael Proctor during her trial, Wednesday, June 12, 2024, in Norfolk Super Court in Dedham, Mass. Read is facing charges, including second degree murder, in the 2022 death of her boyfriend Boston Officer John O’Keefe. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool) (Greg Derr/AP)

“Before you ever went into the house, only having interviewed three folks, you had this case nice and wrapped up didn’t you?” Jackson asked Proctor.

Proctor responded that his text comments were based on what investigators had found that first day, including O’Keefe’s injuries, witness statements, an interview with Read, a shoe and pieces of clear and red plastic. Prosecutors argue that the pieces are from a broken taillight on Read’s SUV that they argue was damaged when she hit O’Keefe.

Jackson also questioned Proctor about texts that appear to show him criticizing the medical examiner who ruled that O’Keefe’s death could not be determined based on his injuries.

Jackson: “Have you ever in your experience seen a vehicle-pedestrian incident in which the pedestrian has no bruises?”

Lally: “Objection.”

Judge: “Have you seen that?”

Proctor: “I can’t recall.”

Proctor called his messages about Read juvenile and regretful but told the jury Read is responsible for O’Keefe’s death. Proctor told the jury his emotions got the best of him in part because the defense accused him of being conflicted and corrupt.

“Based on all the physical evidence and facts – Mr. O’Keefe got out of that vehicle holding that cocktail glasss. Ms. Read pulled ahead and struck him with her vehicle and left,” Proctor said.

“You have the lead investigator, who is so questioned now...The integrity, that character, the truthfulness of what he’s saying, unprofessionalism,” Elikann said. “The problem with that is it if the jury starts to think that the lead investigator may not be doing things properly and professionally, then they start looking at the whole investigation.”

Read’s lawyers have alleged that O’Keefe was beaten inside the home, bitten by a family dog and then left outside. They have portrayed the investigation as shoddy and undermined by the relationship investigators had with the law enforcement agents at the house party. They also have suggested pieces of glass found on the bumper of Read’s SUV and a hair found on the vehicle’s exterior may have been planted.

Proctor acknowledged in his testimony that he is friends with the brother of Brian Albert and his wife — though he insisted it had no influence on the investigation and had never been to their house before O’Keefe’s death. Brian Albert is a Boston police officer who hosted the house party in Canton where O’Keefe’s body was found in the front yard.

Jackson got Proctor to acknowledge that he was drinking buddies with Albert’s brother, Kevin Albert, who is a Canton police officer. He acknowledged they went out drinking several months after O’Keefe died, worked on a cold case together and communicated about coordinating aspects of the O’Keefe case even though the Canton Police Department recused itself from the investigation due to the Albert brothers’ connection to the case.

“You knew that he, above everybody else, should be completely removed from any contact with the investigation or the investigators,” Jackson asked Proctor. “Yet when you wanted to coordinate witnesses for interviews in this case, who did you turn to?”

Proctor acknowledged he texted Kevin Albert about coordinating those interviews, something experts also said could also hurt prosecutors.

Proctor was finally called to the stand on Monday where he had a lot of explaining to do when his personal text messages about O’Keefe’s girlfriend were revealed in court.

On Tuesday, Boston 25′s Mark Ockerbloom asked criminal defense attorney Peter Elikann about what Proctor’s testimony means in the eyes of jurors as the trial moves forward.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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