Investigator and jurors speak out about Karen Read murder trial in aftermath of not guilty verdict
Two jurors and the lead investigator in murder trial of Karen Read have come forward to comment about the case since a jury returned a not guilty verdict earlier this week.
Read, 45, was charged with second-degree murder by authorities who said she intentionally hit Boston police officer John O'Keefe with her car after a night of drinking in the suburbs. The high-profile case culminated in a not guilty verdict on murder, manslaughter and leaving the scene charges Wednesday. The jury found Read guilty of operating a vehicle while under the influence.
The trial has centered in part on lead investigator Michael Proctor, who defense attorneys described as biased against Read from the beginning. The State Police Trial Board found Proctor guilty of sending crude and defamatory text messages about Read while leading the investigation into her. He was fired and has drawn ire from Read supporters who believe he played a key role in a cover-up to frame her.
Proctor told NBC's 'Dateline' that the idea he is corrupt and framed Read is a 'ridiculous' accusation. He specifically said an accusation that he cracked Read's taillight to make it look like she backed into O'Keefe is 'absolutely not" true.
'I laugh because it's such a ridiculous accusation,' Proctor told the program. 'There's not one piece of evidence or fact to support that because it did not happen.'
The judge in the case announced via court papers Wednesday that the jurors' names would be sealed from public view due to safety concerns. But one of the jurors, who identified himself only as 'Jason' in an interview with TMZ, said he did not believe Read collided with O'Keefe. He also said he did not think investigators planted taillight pieces at the scene to frame Read.
'I don't really know if there was a cover-up or not. I know that's the big conspiracy about it but I don't really know. All I know is there was a lot of holes in their investigation,' the juror said.
Another juror, Paula Prado, told local news stations her mind changed about the case over the course of the last three weeks. At first, she thought Read was guilty of manslaughter, but her opinion changed as the case progressed.
'As the weeks passed by, I just realized there was too many holes that we couldn't fill. And there's nothing that put her at the scene in our opinion, despite just dropping John O'Keefe off,' Prado told media.
Massachusetts State Police said in a statement that it extends its 'sincerest condolences to the loved ones of Boston Police Officer John O'Keefe.' The statement said the the events of the last three years have 'challenged' the department to reviews it actions and improve accountability and oversight.
'Under my direction as colonel, the state police has, and will continue to, improve in these regards. Our focus remains on delivering excellent police services that reflect the value of professionalism and maintain public trust,' Colonel Geoffrey Noble said in the statement.
The jurors, state police and Proctor are not the first to speak out about the verdict. Some of the key witnesses in the trial released a joint statement Wednesday in which they called the not guilty ruling a 'devastating miscarriage of justice.'
The joint statement was issued by several people including Brian Albert, who owned the home where the party took place, and Jennifer McCabe, Albert's sister-in-law, who was with Read and O'Keefe on the night of O'Keefe's death.
Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey said only: 'The jury has spoken.'
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USA Today
43 minutes ago
- USA Today
Brian Albert, Jennifer McCabe, more witnesses speak out after Karen Read verdict
In the hours since Karen Read was found not guilty of killing her Boston police officer boyfriend, John O'Keefe, several key witnesses from both trials have broken their silence on the verdict. Michael Proctor, the former Massachusetts State Police lead investigator on the case, who testified in the first trial and was later fired for misconduct stemming from the case, spoke out in interviews on ABC's "20/20" and NBC's "Dateline" that aired on June 18 and 19, respectively. A group of O'Keefe's friends, including Brian and Nicole Albert and Jennifer and Matt McCabe, also shared their thoughts in an interview with ABC News that aired on June 20. The group earlier called the verdict "a devastating miscarriage of justice" in a statement released to USA TODAY. Both Proctor and the Albert and McCabe families were at the center of the theory presented by Read's defense team about a possible police cover-up in O'Keefe's death. They have consistently denied the allegations. A Massachusetts jury on June 18 found Read not guilty of second-degree murder and leaving the scene of a collision resulting in death. She was found guilty of operating a vehicle under the influence and sentenced to one year of probation. Karen Read timeline Key dates in John O' Keefe murder case Brian Albert says he 'would have taken a bullet' for John O'Keefe In an interview with ABC News that aired on June 20, Brian Albert, a retired Boston police officer who owned the home where O'Keefe's body was found on the morning of Jan. 29, 2022, said he and his family "did the civic duty" in this case. "The criminal justice system has let us down at every turn, and yesterday was the final letdown," he said. Brian Albert also said the theories that he was involved in O'Keefe's death are "preposterous and silly." He responded to lingering questions about why he did not go outside on the morning O'Keefe's body was found, calling it "ridiculous." "I would have taken a bullet for John O'Keefe because he was a fellow cop," Brian Albert said. During the interview, Jennifer McCabe, who was with Read when O'Keefe's body was found, also spoke about the "hos (sic) long to die in cold" Google search she made that became a contentious piece of evidence in both trials. She has maintained that she made the search because Read asked her to after they found O'Keefe's body, while the defense alleged she made the search hours before he was found. "Doesn't matter how much I say about it, people will not believe it," she said. Michael Proctor says crude texts 'don't define me as a person' Proctor's personal text messages, many of which expressed crude comments about Read, came under scrutiny during the first trial. He was later fired for misconduct stemming from the case and broke his silence in a series of interviews after Read's verdict was announced, after he was not invited to take the stand in her second trial. He said in an interview with ABC News that he developed negative feelings toward Read "as the case went on." "When you have a fellow police officer around my age, two kids of his own, it generates emotion," he said. "And I expressed those emotions in a negative way, which I shouldn't've." Proctor added, "They are what they are, they don't define me as a person." In an interview on NBC's "Dateline," Proctor laughed at the theory that he was involved in a possible cover-up. "I laugh because it's such a ridiculous accusation," he said. "There's not one piece of evidence or fact to support that." Melina Khan is a national trending reporter for USA TODAY. She can be reached at
Boston Globe
an hour ago
- Boston Globe
Bill Burr, comedian and Canton native, says he ‘thought everyone was lyin'' in Karen Read case
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Boston Globe
2 hours ago
- Boston Globe
Judge impounds jury list in Karen Read retrial following her acquittal on major charges
In her order, Cannone wrote that the case 'has garnered significant and divisive attention in Massachusetts and across the nation' and noted that one person tied to the case has been indicted on charges of intimidating witnesses. Advertisement She did not name the person, but Aidan Kearney, a Massachusetts blogger known as Turtleboy who championed Read's innocence and covered her case extensively, The jury list was also impounded following the Read's first trial, which ended with a hung jury last year, but at least one juror was identified on social media with their picture and LinkedIn profile published on Twitter, Cannone wrote. (Twitter is now known as X.) 'Based on the circumstances of the first trial where a juror avowed that they were in fear for their safety and the safety of their family if the list of jurors were made public, and the fact that the case continues to receive daily, divisive attention in Massachusetts and beyond, the Court concludes that there is a real and present 'risk of [personal] harm to jurors [and] to the integrity of their service,'' Cannone wrote. Advertisement The impoundment order does not prohibit jurors from choosing to identify themselves and speak publicly about the case, she wrote. Cannone set the order, which was dated Wednesday, to expire after 10 days, but it could be extended. Read was accused of hitting O'Keefe with her SUV after dropping him off at the Canton home of a now-retired Boston police officer for an after-party following a night of drinking at two Canton bars on Jan. 29, 2022, as a snowstorm moved into the region. O'Keefe's body was discovered in the snow on the home's front lawn several hours later. Following weeks of witness testimony, the jury on Wednesday acquitted Read on charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter, and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death. During both trials, Read's attorneys argued that O'Keefe entered the home and was fatally beaten and possibly mauled by a German Shepherd before his body was placed on the lawn. Two of the 12 jurors have already spoken publicly since reaching the verdict. One juror, Paula Prado, told reporters Thursday that there were 'holes' in the prosecution's case that led her to decide Read was not responsible for O'Keefe's death. 'We couldn't prove there was a collision and she was responsible for John's death,' Prado said, Advertisement Legal specialists have said the case against Read was undercut by While her criminal trial is over, Nick Stoico can be reached at
