New details emerged Monday during opening statements in Karen Read’s murder trial regarding texts the case’s lead investigator allegedly sent to friends.
In his opening statement, defense attorney David Yannetti spoke for the first time about text messages Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor allegedly sent to his high school friends following the death of Boston police officer John O’Keefe in Canton in January. 29, 2022.
Prosecutors say Read hit O’Keefe with his SUV and left him to die, while Read’s defense attorneys have long argued she is the victim of an extensive cover-up.
Watch Karen Read’s trial live on nbcboston.com, NECN, NBC Boston streaming platforms (including Roku, Peacock and Samsung TV) and the NBC10 Boston YouTube page. Every night of the trial at 7 p.m., check back for analysis and more.
Yannetti said Proctor was a longtime family friend of Brian Albert, on whose lawn O’Keefe’s body was found, and that he never set foot inside the house, asked for permission to enter, or requested a search warrant for the house.
“Instead, he focused immediately and exclusively on Karen Read, the underdog,” Yannetti said. “Karen Read was a convenient outsider. She certainly wasn’t from Canton. What did Michael Proctor think of her? How did he treat someone he was investigating at a time when he should have kept his wits about him? open and focus on getting all the evidence possible so he didn’t miss anything?
“You will learn on the same day that John O’Keefe was found dead on Brian Albert’s lawn, Michael Proctor was texting with his high school friends about this supposedly secret investigation, using his personal cell phone,” Yannetti said. “He was revealing information about this investigation to his friends, assuming that no one would ever find out what he was doing and what he was saying. He was revealing his true thoughts about Karen Read to his friends. That’s not what he was saying. “He put in his sanitized police reports – his true feelings, to his trusted friends and in text messages that he never thought would fall into the hands of the defense in this case.”
“Lead investigator Michael Proctor called Karen Read names you would only reserve for your worst enemies. He told his friends he hoped she would kill herself. He told his friends he grabbed her cellphone.”
Opening statements are underway in the Karen Read trial. She is accused of killing her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, two years ago after a night out at two different Canton bars.
Yannetti said Proctor knew he should not have accessed the contents of Read’s phone without a search warrant because there might be attorney-client communications on it.
“He told his friends he was looking for nude photos on his phone and was disappointed he hadn’t found any yet,” the lawyer said. “He is the professional and impartial investigator who was chosen to lead the investigation into the death of John O’Keefe.”
Yannetti said in a text that one of Proctor’s friends pointed out to him that with a dead body found on his lawn, Brian Albert was sure to catch a lot of flak.
“Do you know what his response was? » asked Yannetti. “One word: ‘No.’ And he explained why, Michael Proctor assured his friends that the owner wouldn’t get much grief because “the owner is also a Boston cop.”
State Police confirmed in March that Proctor was under internal investigation for a potential violation of department policy, but would not comment on what led it to investigate one of the their. However, sources told NBC10 Boston that the investigation is related to the Read case.
Proctor remains on duty while the internal investigation unfolds, and the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office previously said the investigation does not impact the cases assigned to Proctor.
News Source : www.nbcboston.com
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