Trooper Proctor suspended without pay after hearing

Michael Proctor, the disgraced Massachusetts State Police investigator whose obscene text messages were at the center of Karen Read’s murder trial, was suspended without pay following a hearing Monday.

Proctor was relieved of his duties last week, just hours after Read’s case ended in a mistrial. The officer was previously questioned about his text messages to family, friends and colleagues in which he called Read a “crazy cunt,” mocked her Crohn’s disease, joked about looking for nude photos on her phone and said he hoped Read would kill himself.

On the witness stand, Proctor acknowledged that his choice of words had “dehumanized” Read.

State police officially removed Proctor from the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office Criminal Unit, which was prosecuting Read’s case, and transferred him to the Field Division of Troop H. However, a spokesman for the agency previously clarified that Proctor had turned in his equipment and was “unable to perform his job as a police officer” for the time being.

An internal investigation into Proctor’s conduct is underway, and the officer was scheduled to face a duty status hearing on Monday to determine whether he should remain on the force or face suspension.

According to state police, a three-officer committee recommended that Proctor be suspended without pay. Col. John Mawn Jr. followed the committee’s recommendation, making Proctor’s suspension effective immediately.

A lawyer for Proctor did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.

Read, 44, of Mansfield, is accused of intentionally driving her SUV into her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, after a night of drinking in January 2022. Her lawyers claim she was drawn into a major cover-up involving witnesses and police, and they have tried to draw Proctor into their theory.

Proctor admitted on the witness stand that his comments about Read were “unprofessional” and said he was not proud of his language. However, he argued, “These childish, unprofessional comments have no bearing on the facts and evidence and the integrity of this investigation.”

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