Day 12 - May 8, 2025

Judge Beverly J. Cannone · Trial 2 · 4 proceedings · 2,039 utterances

Day 12 of 36

Appearing:

Sergeant Yuri Bukhenik testifies on direct about the January 29 investigation and physical evidence chain, then faces a methodical cross-examination attacking Proctor's unchecked control and a six-day gap in custody of O'Keefe's clothing.

Full day summary

Day 12 centers entirely on Sergeant Yuri Bukhenik of the Massachusetts State Police. ADA Hank Brennan's direct examination walked through the investigation chronologically — from the initial call through the Dighton interview of Karen Read, the February excavation at 34 Fairview Road, and bar surveillance tracking Read's alcohol consumption. Prosecution preemptively addressed the Michael Proctor text chain, eliciting Bukhenik's disciplinary findings and his characterization of his thumbs-up acknowledgment as reflexive. On cross, Alan Jackson dismantled the investigation's integrity methodically: Proctor authored or controlled virtually every major investigative action while Bukhenik — his nominal supervisor — conceded he could not know everything Proctor was doing. Jackson established a six-day chain-of-custody gap for O'Keefe's clothing and the complete failure to secure 34 Fairview as a crime scene on January 29th. The cross closed with Canton Police Chief Berkowitz appearing at the scene on February 4th to point out taillight evidence, despite Canton PD having recused itself from the investigation.

Key Moments

Bukhenik testifies that Read told investigators 'I don't know how I did it last night' when asked about taillight damage on her Lexus.
Prosecution proactively elicits Bukhenik's disciplinary findings tied to the Proctor text chain, framing his thumbs-up emoji as a reflexive Apple Watch acknowledgment.
Jackson establishes no chain-of-custody documentation exists for O'Keefe's clothing for the six days it sat on butcher paper in an accessible room before being bagged.
Bukhenik concedes he could not know everything Proctor was doing, confirming supervision of the case officer was incomplete.
Jackson reveals that reports documenting three searches at 34 Fairview were not written until November 2023 — nearly two years after the searches occurred — and that Canton Police Chief Berkowitz appeared at the scene on February 4th despite his department's recusal.

Notable Quotes

Alan Jackson

“The fact is we don't have a single document establishing the chain of custody for those items between January 29th and February 4th. That's correct, isn't it?”

Jackson's direct confrontation of the evidentiary gap crystallizes the day's central theme: that physical evidence the prosecution relies upon lacks documented custody for its most critical early period.

Alan Jackson

“You just made my point. Even as the supervisor, you don't know everything that Michael Proctor was doing, do you?”

The exchange captures the defense's core argument — that Bukhenik's supervisory role was nominal and Proctor operated with effectively unchecked control over the investigation.

Yuri Bukhenik

“She was asked about the damage to her rear tail light, to which she stated quote, 'I don't know how I did it last night.' End quote.”

Read's own statement about the taillight damage, delivered through Bukhenik, is the prosecution's most direct evidence of consciousness of guilt introduced on this day.

Direct

Yuri Bukhenik Hank Brennan

568 utt.

ADA Hank Brennan conducted direct examination of Sergeant Yuri Bukhenik, establishing his credentials as a Marine veteran and 10-year homicide investigator with the Massachusetts State Police Norfolk DA unit. Bukhenik walked through the January 29, 2022 investigation chronologically: receiving the initial call at 6:44 a.m., meeting Proctor at Canton PD where they received evidence from Sergeant Goode, learning Canton PD recused itself due to familial connections, viewing O'Keefe's body at Good Samaritan Hospital where he observed facial swelling, bilateral eye injuries, arm abrasions, and a missing sneaker. Bukhenik then described driving to Dighton in blizzard conditions, observing the damaged right rear taillight on Read's Lexus from 10-12 feet, and interviewing Read at her parents' home where she stated she dropped O'Keefe at 34 Fairview but did not see him enter, said 'I don't know how I did it last night' about the taillight damage, and could not explain O'Keefe's injuries. The examination covered seizure of Read's phone and vehicle, transport to Canton PD's heated sallyport, evidence handling procedures for O'Keefe's wet clothing, and introduction of physical evidence including clothing and a sneaker recovered from 34 Fairview Road.

Procedural

Procedural - Motions

6 utt.

Prosecutor Hank Brennan asks the court for permission to speak with Trooper Bukhenik during the break about an unspecified issue, in the company of a defense representative. Judge Cannone agrees and confirms with defense attorney Alan Jackson, who has no objection and offers to facilitate. The proceeding concludes with brief off-the-record discussion about text message exhibits as the jury returns.

Direct

Yuri Bukhenik Hank Brennan

774 utt.

ADA Hank Brennan resumed direct examination of Sergeant Bukhenik beginning with the introduction of John O'Keefe's clothing recovered from Good Samaritan Hospital — a right sneaker, t-shirt, and sweatshirt. Bukhenik then walked through the planned excavation of 34 Fairview Road on February 3, 2022, where investigators found taillight plastic fragments, glass shards, a cocktail straw near the road, and O'Keefe's baseball hat frozen flat under approximately 18 inches of snow. Additional evidence was recovered on February 4 and February 10. Brennan addressed the Michael Proctor text chain directly, eliciting that Bukhenik received the texts on his Apple Watch while working a traffic detail at Logan Airport, acknowledged with a thumbs-up emoji, and received two sustained disciplinary findings — failure to supervise and inaccurate quarterly performance evaluation — resulting in loss of five vacation days. The examination then moved through Ring doorbell video from O'Keefe's home establishing a timeline from January 28-29, showing the damaged taillight on Read's Lexus at multiple points. Brennan concluded with a detailed bar surveillance presentation tracking Read's drink consumption at C.F. McCarthy's and the Waterfall, and briefly introduced Aperture, a private crash reconstruction company that received 2024 Ring video.

Cross

Yuri Bukhenik Alan Jackson

691 utt.

Attorney Alan Jackson methodically established that former Trooper Michael Proctor authored or controlled nearly every major investigative action — search warrants, evidence collection, physical evidence custody, witness interviews, and video analysis — while Bukhenik resisted characterizing Proctor's role as 'lead investigator,' insisting on the term 'case officer.' Jackson then challenged the chain of custody for O'Keefe's clothing, which sat on butcher paper for six days in an accessible room before being bagged, with no log documenting who handled the items. Jackson pressed Bukhenik on the failure to secure 34 Fairview Road as a crime scene on January 29th — no search, no photographs, no forensic processing, no crime scene log. The examination concluded with questions about Canton Police Chief Berkowitz appearing at 34 Fairview on February 4th to point out a piece of taillight plastic he claimed to have spotted from a moving car, despite his department having recused itself from the investigation days earlier.

◀ Day 11 Trial 2 Day 13 ▶

Day 12 - May 8, 2025

Yuri Bukhenik - Direct

Yuri Bukhenik - Cross (Part 1)