6 days ago
Fired Karen Read investigator Michael Proctor heckled outside Dedham courthouse
Michael Proctor, the former lead investigator in the Karen Read case, was heckled outside the courthouse in Dedham, Massachusetts Tuesday.
Proctor, a former Massachusetts State Trooper, was heckled by a crowd as he entered Norfolk Superior Court to testify in the Miles King murder case. King is accused of shooting and killing Marquis Simmons in 2021. Proctor was the lead investigator in that case as well. The lead prosecutor in Read's first trial, Adam Lally, was also in court to testify in the King case.
Proctor was fired from the state police last March, due mostly to his inappropriate text messages about Read that were revealed in her first trial. He is appealing his firing.
Neither Lally nor Proctor testified Tuesday after King's attorney Rosemary Scapicchio accused the district attorney's office and state police of taking too much time to hand over important discovery in the case.
"What happened here is a complete failure of the Norfolk County District Attorney's office and or the state police and the Milton police to turn over documents," Scapicchio told reporters.
Scapicchio wants the case against King to be dismissed. She said the investigation was "beyond sloppy."
"This isn't just negligence at this point. We believe it's intentional," Scapicchio said.
WBZ-TV reached out to the district attorney's office about Scapicchio's remarks, but a spokesperson had no comment
Proctor did not speak to reporters outside court. The next hearing in the King case is set for August 12. It's not clear yet if Proctor or Lally will be brought back to testify.
Proctor is a former state trooper who led the investigation into Karen Read, who was accused of hitting and killing her Boston police officer boyfriend, John O'Keefe in January 2022. He worked with the state police for more than 10 years.
He took the stand in Read's first trial and was forced to read text messages he exchanged with peers about Read. He said that "hopefully she kills herself," and remarked that there were "no nudes yet" while going through her phone. He called the messages "regrettable" while on the stand.
Hours after a mistrial was declared in the first trial, Proctor was "relieved of duty." He was later suspended without pay after a duty hearing.
A trial board hearing reviewed Proctor's case earlier this year. He was found guilty of unsatisfactory performance and violating policy on alcoholic beverages by the board and was fired.
Col. Geoffrey Noble, who was a part of the trial board, said that Proctor "sent derogatory, defamatory, disparaging, and/or otherwise inappropriate text messages about a suspect in that investigation to other individuals."
For a full timeline of the Karen Read trial and Proctor's involvement in it, click here.
