Commonwealth v. Read — Trial Archive
Person Michael Proctor Trial 1Michael Proctor was the Massachusetts State Police case officer in the O’Keefe death investigation; the defense cited his personal text messages in arguing that he was biased against Karen Read. ← All People
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Michael Proctor

Trial 1
1,629 lines 5 proceedings
Courtroom still of Michael Proctor.

About

Trooper Michael Proctor, a twelve-year veteran of the Norfolk State Police Detective Unit, served as lead investigator into the death of John O'Keefe beginning January 29, 2022. He had personal relationships with members of the Albert family — the household where O'Keefe died — and sent dozens of text messages during the investigation expressing contempt for Karen Read and her defense team. His testimony across Days 22 and 23 of Trial 1 covered both the investigative steps he took and, under cross-examination, the extensive record of his personal communications that the defense used to argue the investigation was compromised from the start.

Key Points

  • On direct, Proctor was walked through his own text messages — including calling Read a 'whack job cunt,' texting 'Waiting to lock this whack job up' to his wife on the day of Read's arrest, and writing 'No nudes so far' to supervisors while reviewing Read's phone — and responded that these 'juvenile, unprofessional comments have zero impact on the facts and the evidence and the integrity of this investigation.'
  • Jackson's cross-examination established that Proctor had prior personal relationships with multiple Albert family members he never disclosed, including using Canton PD officer Kevin Albert — Brian Albert's brother, who had been formally recused from the case — to coordinate witness contacts during the investigation.
  • Proctor was confronted with his February 2024 grand jury testimony in which he stated he did not know or have relationships with the Alberts, a direct contradiction of text message records and contact logs introduced at trial.
  • Jackson elicited that Proctor excluded Colin Albert's name from his formal report of an interview with Ryan Nagel, despite Colin appearing as a subject of that conversation — a gap the defense characterized as deliberate omission of information implicating an alternative suspect.
  • On recross, Jackson pressed Proctor on a foundational tension: Proctor claimed his personal belief in Read's guilt justified his conduct, yet as lead detective he was simultaneously the person responsible for gathering the very evidence he said pointed away from alternative suspects.

Trial Record (5)

Trial 1 First Criminal Trial Apr 29, 2024 – Jul 1, 2024 5 proceedings

Day 22

Direct Michael Proctor Adam Lally 4 highlights 506 lines spoken
Summary

Proctor described the evidence collection and vehicle processing, then acknowledged derogatory personal texts about Read while denying they affected his investigation.

Highlights (4)
Quote

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

Proctor acknowledged the impropriety of comments in his personal messages about Read.

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Quote

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

Proctor maintained that his personal messages did not affect his investigative work.

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Key Moment

The judge sustained objections and struck a partial answer concerning whether missing Ring video would leave a digital footprint; the jury was later instructed not to consider stricken material.

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Key Moment

Proctor read derogatory personal texts about Read, called them unprofessional and regrettable, and testified that they did not affect the facts, evidence, or integrity of his investigation.

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Cross Michael Proctor Alan Jackson 2 highlights 78 lines spoken
Summary

Proctor acknowledged unprofessional texts about Read and Mr. Yanetti, while denying that the messages affected his investigation or reflected a predetermined suspect.

Highlights (2)
Quote

“I used regrettable language. I said going through his retarded -- retarded client's phone right now.”

Proctor expressly acknowledged the wording he used while discussing his review of Read's phone.

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Quote

“I believe poor jokes have -- and unprofessional language have no bearing on the integrity and the facts and physical evidence of this case.”

Proctor maintained that his messages did not affect the investigation's integrity or evidence.

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Day 23

Cross Michael Proctor Alan Jackson 4 highlights 896 lines spoken
Summary

Proctor acknowledged offensive texts about Read and faced detailed questioning about his relationships, investigative steps, and handling of video and evidence, while denying bias affected the case.

Highlights (4)
Quote

“In the investigation part, absolutely. Through these text messages, absolutely not. They were juvenile and regrettable.”

Proctor distinguished his investigative conduct from the text messages and expressly characterized the messages as juvenile and regrettable.

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Redirect Michael Proctor Adam Lally 2 highlights 136 lines spoken
Summary

The court struck Proctor's initial answer, then the Commonwealth used redirect to address claims of bias and restate Proctor's account of the investigation and evidence.

Highlights (2)
Quote

“All the information gathered after that date indicated no one else was responsible for Mr. O'Keefe death.”

Proctor gave his account of what the later investigation showed.

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Quote

“I believed based on all the physical evidence and facts, Mr. O'Keefe got out of that vehicle holding that cocktail glass he walked out of the Waterfall bar with, Ms. Read pulled ahead and then backed into him and struck him with her vehicle and then left.”

Proctor stated the investigative conclusion he said he held when sending the criticized texts.

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Recross Michael Proctor Alan Jackson 2 highlights 13 lines spoken
Summary

Proctor again acknowledged inappropriate messages about Read as defense counsel questioned his contacts and role as lead detective.

Highlights (2)
Quote

“Based on the evidence, sir, my emotions got the best of me. So it was in poor taste. Yes. It was inappropriate, juvenile, but it was my emotions had gotten the best of me.”

Proctor characterized his derogatory comment about Read as an emotional and inappropriate lapse.

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Locations Touched By This Testimony

34 Fairview Road 3 procs Canton PD Sally Port 3 procs Canton Police Department 3 procs Good Samaritan Medical Center 3 procs Waterfall Bar & Grille 3 procs C.F. McCarthy's 2 procs