After Vulgar Testimony, Lead Investigator in Ka...

The lead investigator in the Karen Read case whose degrading and inflammatory text messages about her came to light during the high-profile trial has been relieved of his duties, state officials announced

Published Time: 02.07.2024 - 20:31:18 Modified Time: 02.07.2024 - 20:31:18

The lead investigator in the Karen Read case whose degrading and inflammatory text messages about her came to light during the high-profile trial has been relieved of his duties, state officials announced.

On Monday, July 1, after the shocking news that the sensational, months-long case had ended in a mistrial, Colonel John E. Mawn, Jr., interim superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police, announced that Trooper Michael Proctor had been relieved of duty “effective immediately.”

“Upon learning today’s result, the Department took immediate action to relieve Trooper Michael Proctor of duty and formally transfer him out of the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office State Police Detective’s Unit,” Mawn said in a statement.

“This follows our previous decision to open an internal affairs investigation after information about serious misconduct emerged in testimony at the trial. This investigation is ongoing.”

Proctor will be transferred from the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office detective unit on Sunday, July 7. He did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.

On Monday, an NBC Boston reporter in the street outside Proctor's home asked him if he thought his actions impacted the outcome of the trial. He did not reply and went inside his house.

His wife told the reporter, who was standing in the street, to "get off our lawn," before walking toward the house saying, "I fully support my husband. Karen Read is a murderer,” per the outlet.

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The announcement about Proctor came hours after Norfolk County Superior Court Judge Beverly Cannone declared a mistrial because jurors said they we -

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re unable to reach a unanimous verdict.

Prosecutors said in a statement immediately afterward that they intend to retry Read.

Read, 44, was charged with second-degree murder after prosecutors claimed she backed her SUV into her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, 46, and left him to die in the early morning hours of Jan. 29, 2022, in Canton.

She told authorities she dropped him off at a house party at the home of retired Boston police officer Brian Albert after a night of bar hopping and left.

Read and her lawyers allege that O'Keefe got into a physical fight with someone at the party and was carried into the yard and left there.

They also allege that Albert and others know what happened inside the house that night and that Read is the victim of a massive coverup among local and state law enforcement officials and others who are framing her to protect their own.

Read’s lawyers accused Proctor of helping to frame Read, claiming che planted evidence of a broken taillight at the scene to protect the Alberts and others, with whom he has personal ties.

During the trial, Read’s lawyers had Proctor read aloud the derogatory messages he sent fellow troopers about her, CBS News reports.

“She's a whack-job," he texted. He then texted a vulgar word he called her, which he spelled out on the stand.

The judge stopped him and said, "These are your words, Trooper Proctor" and made him say the word, "c---," out loud, NBC Boston reports.

Proctor called the texts “unprofessional” and "regrettable,” Boston 25 News reports.

Proctor is the subject of an internal investigation by the Massachusetts State Police “into a potential violation of Department policy,” which jurors were not told about, NBC Boston reports.