State trooper who sent derogatory text messages about Karen Read is suspended without pay

The police officer who led the investigation into Karen Read, a Massachusetts woman whose murder trial in the death of her police officer boyfriend ended last week without a jury verdict, was suspended without pay Monday, a department spokesman said.

The suspension of Officer Michael Proctor took effect immediately and came nearly a month after the investigator testified that he made derogatory remarks about Read in text messages to friends, relatives and superiors.

A three-member panel recommended the suspension after a status hearing, the spokesman said, adding that acting police chief Col. John Mawn accepted the recommendation.

The spokesman declined further comment.

Defense attorneys for Read, who was charged with first-degree murder, intoxicated manslaughter and leaving the scene of an accident causing death, had accused Proctor of tampering with evidence and conducting a biased investigation in connection with the Jan. 29, 2022, death of Boston police officer John O’Keefe.

During Read’s trial, which lasted nine weeks and featured dozens of witnesses, Proctor denied these allegations, calling his comments unprofessional and regrettable but saying they did not interfere with the investigation.

Hours after a judge declared a mistrial, Proctor was removed from his post with a state police unit within the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office.

Massachusetts State Police Interim Colonel John Mawn said the agency had launched an internal investigation into allegations of “serious misconduct” raised in the trial.

This investigation is still ongoing, the agency spokesman said on Monday.

The state police union did not respond to a request for comment.

O’Keefe was found unconscious in the front yard of another Boston police officer on the morning of January 29. He was pronounced dead shortly thereafter. A medical examiner ruled his death to blunt force trauma and hypothermia.

The indictment described a deteriorating relationship between Read and O’Keefe and accused Read of driving her Lexus SUV into her boyfriend outside the home of another Boston police officer, Brian Albert.

Their defense attorneys argued that O’Keefe was likely attacked and killed during a party at Albert’s home the night before he was discovered in his front yard. Attorneys accused Albert and other police officers of covering up the murder and framing Read for O’Keefe’s death.

The assistant district attorney who tried the case called that theory “wild speculation.” Albert said O’Keefe never entered his house that night.

Judge Beverly Cannone declared the trial void on July 1, the fifth day of jury deliberations. Prosecutors have announced that they want to reopen the case.