Michael Proctor is suspended without pay effective immediately on the recommendation of a police panel, who convened after learning about vulgar and misogynistic text messages Proctor sent about Karen Read during the police investigation
A panel of "three commissioned police officers" recommended that the lead investigator in the Karen Read case be suspended without pay "effective immediately."
Michael Proctor appeared before the panel at a closed-door hearing on Monday after a series of vulgar and misogynistic text messages he sent to friends and family about Read became public during her trial.
The recommendation was then accepted by Colonel John Mawn Jr., who currently serves as the interim superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police (MSP).
This decision comes exactly one week after Mawn announced that Proctor would be relieved of some duties in the wake of Judge Beverly Cannone declaring a mistrial in the Read case.
"Upon learning today’s result, the Department immediately relieved Trooper Michael Proctor of duty and formally transferred him out of the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office State Police Detective’s Unit. This follows our previous decision to open an internal affairs investigation after information about serious misconduct emerged in testimony at the trial," Mawn said just hours after the judge declared a mistrial.
Proctor spent two long days on the stand during Read's trial, at which time jurors learned about the aforementioned vulgar, misogynistic and sexually inappropriate texts Proctor sent to family and fellow officers about Read while investigating the case.
During his first day on the stand, Proctor was questioned about texts in which he referred to Read as a "whacko," a "whack job," and one where he referred to the defendant as a c-word. He tried to avoid saying that slur, but after the defense objected, the judge ordered him to say the word.
Proctor also shared texts he exchanged with a fellow trooper after seizing and searching Read's phone, one of which read: "no nudes so far." He also referred to her as "a babe" with "no ass" and disparaged her "Fall River" accent in a text to friends on the day of O'Keefe's murder.
On cross-examination, Proctor was asked about a text message in which he told his sister that he hoped Read "kills herself."
Forced to answer for his remark, Proctor said: "My emotions got the best of me with that figure of speech."
Proctor repeatedly apologized to the jury during his testimony, saying at one point: ”Comments I shouldn’t have made, that I’m not proud of,” Proctor said. “These juvenile, unprofessional comments had zero impact on the facts, the evidence, and the integrity of the investigation."
The defense had argued at trial that Proctor planted evidence at the crime scene to frame their client, an allegation that Proctor denied multiple times on Monday.
Proctor has not been charged with any crime, and the MSP will not say if the internal investigation into the trooper is related to the Read case. This new development does now make it unclear however if Proctor will be called back to testify when the Read case is tried for a second time.
"Trooper Proctor has been fully cooperative in responding to the investigations conducted by the US Attorney’s Office and the Massachusetts State Police Internal Affairs Unit," Proctor's lawyer Michael R. DiStefano previously told Inside Edition Digital. "To be clear, Trooper Proctor remains steadfast in the integrity of the work he performed investigating the death of Mr. John O’Keefe."
DiStefano did not respond to a request for comment about his client's suspension on Monday.
Proctor made no secret of his feelings about the mistrial last Monday, when a reporter from NBC Boston asked him his thoughts about the outcome while standing on the street outside his home.
"Get the f*** off my lawn," Proctor said. His wife then chimed in as she followed her husband into their house, saying she supported him and then declaring, "Karen Read is a murderer."
