A former Massachusetts State Police trooper is back in front of the state’s Civil Service Commission this week, trying again to get his job back after he was fired over inapproprate text messages he sent while serving as lead investigator in the John O’Keefe murder case.
Michael Proctor lost his job after text messages to friends and colleagues revealed he called Karen Read, O’Keefe’s girlfriend who was charged with his murder, a “whack job” and other derogatory names during the investigation. He also talked openly about her medical issues and even her speaking accent and wrote “No nudes so far” while going through her phone, Boston25 reported.
Read was charged with hitting O’Keefe, her Boston cop boyfriend, with her Lexus SUV during a snowstorm on January 29, 2022, at a house party in Canton, Massachusetts, hosted by now-retired police officer Brian Albert, CrimeOnline reported. Prosecutors alleged that Read had dropped O’Keefe off at the home after a night of drinking before she struck him with her vehicle and fled the scene.
The defense challenged the prosecution’s circumstantial evidence, focusing mainly on expert testimony. An accident reconstructor said that damage to Read’s SUV and injuries to O’Keefe’s arm did not match a vehicle striking him. A pathologist testified that O’Keefe’s arm wounds appeared consistent with dog bites.
Ultimately, prosecutors failed to convince two separate juries that Read was guilty of murder. Her first trial last year ended in a hung jury. In June of this year, the jury acquitted Read of second-degree murder, motor vehicle manslaughter while driving under the influence and leaving the scene of a collision, completely rejecting the state’s arguments that Read killed O’Keefe. They did find her guilty of operating a motor vehicle under the influence of liquor.
Proctor was fired after the first trial for unsatisfactory job performance over the text messages and drinking on the job during the investigation. His attorneys argue that Proctor’s unprofessional text messages are fine as long as they don’t damage the integrity of the investigation.
Lawyers for the state disagree.
“Michael Proctor himself has admitted, as evidently he must, that his conduct was unprofessional, inappropriate, juvenile, sexist, disgusting, and dehumanizing, and that he has admitted that he in fact committed the acts exactly as described in the charges brought against him,” state police lawyer Stephen Carley said.
The commission has already ruled against Proctor once. He returns for the second day of the hearing Wednesday morning.
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[Featured image: Karen Read/AP Photo/Steven Senne and Michael Proctor/Kayla Bartkowski/The Boston Globe via AP, Pool]
