Latest news with #YuriBukhenik
Fox News
12-05-2025
- Fox News
Karen Read defense grills Michael Proctor's police partner in third day of testimony
incoming update… Karen Read's trial is set to enter its fourth week on Monday with Massachusetts State Police Sgt. Yuri Bukhenik taking the stand for his third day of cross-examination. On Friday, jurors heard Bukhenik read text messages from Read and Brian Higgins, with defense attorney Alan Jackson grilling the police sergeant on the flirtatious nature of the conversations leading up to John O'Keefe's death. Read is facing murder charges for the alleged killing of John O'Keefe on Jan. 29, 2022 and if convicted, Read could spend the rest of her life behind bars. Prosecutors allege Read struck O'Keefe with her Lexus SUV in a drunken rage, leaving him to freeze to death in the front yard of 34 Fairview. Read's defense is arguing she is being framed by the local police department in an elaborate cover-up with former investigator Michael Proctor previously at the helm. During hours of cross-examination from defense attorney Alan Jackson on Friday, Massachusetts State Police Sgt. Yuri Bukhenik was asked to read a long string of text messages exchanged between Read and Brian Higgins, a Canton-based ATF agent with whom she was flirting behind O'Keefe's back. Having Bukhenik read the texts allows the defense to introduce hearsay statements into the case, according to Grace Edwards, a Massachusetts defense attorney who is following the case closely. They also raise questions about the integrity of the investigation, something the defense has aimed to discredit entirely. "They are being entered not for the truth of what is contained in them but to show that they existed," she told Fox News Digital. "That is important because the defense wants to be able to argue that these messages existed, and did or did not the investigation consider them as a lead? Wouldn't the knowledge of a romantic flirtation between Karen Read and Brian Higgins create the possibility of conflict between Brian Higgins and John O'Keefe?" Read the full story here. Live Coverage begins here
CBS News
12-05-2025
- CBS News
Watch Live: Karen Read investigator Yuri Bukhenik returns for cross-examination
Yuri Bukhenik, a key investigator in the Karen Read case, is back on the stand Monday for a third day of cross-examination from defense attorney Alan Jackson as the trial enters its fourth week. You can watch testimony live on CBS News Boston when it begins at 10 a.m. by clicking on the video player above. Read, 45, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating under the influence of alcohol, and leaving the scene of personal injury and death. Prosecutors say that in January 2022 Read hit and killed Boston police officer John O'Keefe, who she was dating, with her SUV and left him to die in the snow outside Brian Albert's home at 34 Fairview Road in Canton. Read's attorneys argue she is being framed and O'Keefe was actually killed during a fight inside the home then dragged outside. Bukhenik first took the stand on Thursday for direct questioning from special prosecutor Hank Brennan before Jackson took over that afternoon on cross-examination. Yuri Bukhenik testifies in Karen Read trial Jackson has attempted to highlight for the jury Bukhenik's relationship with Michael Proctor, who was fired by Massachusetts State Police for his conduct while handling the case. Bukhenik forfeited five vacation days for failure to properly supervise Proctor. On Friday, Jackson had Bukhenik read texts between Read and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent Brian Higgins, who the defense says is one of the men who could have killed O'Keefe inside Brian Albert's home. Read talks about her up and down relationship with O'Keefe in the text messages. Higgins and Read shared a kiss a few weeks before O'Keefe died. During cross-examination, Jackson asked Bukhenik how he would characterize the texts. "My opinion is that it's an angry girlfriend trying to set up a hookup to hurt John," Bukhenik said. Read said last week the prosecution is winding down its case, though it is not clear how many witnesses remain as attorneys for both sides are under a gag order.
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Yahoo
Three Weeks Into State's Case Against Karen Read: Investigators Grilled, Flirtations Revealed
The supervisor of a fired Massachusetts State Trooper who disparaged Karen Read in a series of misogynistic texts to other cops in the homicide unit after her arrest said that the investigation into the woman currently on trial in the high-profile case that is making national headlines was conducted with "integrity." Massachusetts State Police Sergeant Yuri Bukhenik, who has spent days on the stand as a witness for the prosecution, was grilled by Read's L.A.-based defense attorney about the misconduct in the investigation that led to this year's firing of his underling Trooper Michael Proctor. When pushed by Read's attorney Alan Jackson, Bukhenik insisted that the investigation into the Jan. 29, 2022 death of Boston Police Officer John O'Keefe, who prosecutors say was struck by Read's vehicle, was handled with "honor and integrity." 'The investigation was conducted with honor and integrity, and all the evidence pointed in one direction,' Bukhenik said, as Read, who is charged with second-degree murder, motor vehicle manslaughter while driving under the influence and leaving the scene of a collision causing death, listened intently. 'The investigation was handled with integrity by Michael Proctor.' However, leaders of the Massachusetts State Police fired Proctor in late March, largely because of a group text chain that was read aloud in Read's first trial, which ended in a hung jury last July after nine weeks of testimony and five days of jury deliberations. During Read's trial last year, Proctor admitted that he sent texts to family, friends and fellow troopers in which he called Read names and profane insults, including 'wack job cunt,' and admitted to texting his sister that he wished Read would 'kill herself.' It is unclear if the prosecution will call Proctor to testify, but his firing by the department has loomed large over Read's retrial. "Would you agree with me that Michael Proctor was the lead investigator as well as the case agent in charge of this case?" Jackson asked Bukhenik."He was assigned as the case officer for the case," Bukhenik answered. Jackson repeated his question about "Former Trooper Michael Proctor," saying: "He was assigned ultimately, to use another phrase, as the lead investigator, wasn't he?" Jackson asked."I'm not going to agree with you," Bukhenik was also grilled about the decision from the Canton Police Department to recuse itself from conducting interviews in Read's case because a detective, Kevin Albert, Brian's brother, is a detective in the town. That line of questioning followed Bukhenik's testimony about the now deceased former Canton Police Chief Ken Berkowitz who called the state police after he drove by the Albert home on February 4, 2022, and saw a piece of red taillight, which was not recovered in the initial investigation. Now I wasn't pairing up with Chief Berkowitz to interview the taillight piece," Bukhenik said. Jackson and other lawyers on Read's defense team believe that O'Keefe was killed inside a home at 34 Fairview Road in Canton that was owned by another Boston Police Officer, Brian Albert, and brought outside where he died in the cold. Bukhenik was pressed on why homicide investigators assigned to the Norfolk County District Attorney's Office never searched the home where the party was held, and where O'Keefe's body was found in a snowbank after a night of partying. Read maintains that she dropped her boyfriend off at the party and went looking for him after he didn't come home. Jackson also asked Bukhenik about Chloe, the Albert's family dog, a German Shepherd, who was re-homed after O'Keefe's death. Read's legal team will put an expert on the stand to say that O'Keefe could have been mauled by a dog, evidenced by deep cuts on his arm. "Did you learn that the Albert family had gotten rid of the dog?" Jackson asked Bukhenik, who answered: "We learned that they no longer cared for the dog. I don't know if 'get rid of' is accurate."Much of the state's case relies on pieces of taillight found near O'Keefe's body that investigators say led them to believe Read hit her boyfriend and left the scene. During his long days on the stand, Bukhenik acknowledged that most of the fragments were found days, and even weeks after the death, which Jackson said indicates Read was framed. Another damning moment came when under cross examination Bukhenik admitted that no pieces of Read's broken taillight were recovered until after her vehicle - the purported murder weapon – was parked inside the sallyport at Canton Police Headquarters. The state maintains that the taillight is evidence she reversed into him and fled the scene after an argument. Bukhenik was seemingly combative when Jackson asked about chain of custody issues regarding pieces of the taillight and items of O'Keefe's clothing that were recovered at the hospital. Jurors were also riveted by flirtatious text messages exchanged between Read, a former adjunct professor at Bentley University, and ATF Agent Brian Higgins, who was drinking with the group that included O'Keefe in the hours before he died, and was at the Albert home's afterparty. 'You're hot,' Brian Higgins — an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, wrote to Read in a series of text message from January 2022.'Are you serious or messing with me?' Read responded.'No, I'm serious,' Higgins said.'The feeling is mutual,' Read wrote. 'Is that bad?' The texts were read in agonizing detail by Bukhenik on the stand. Jackson wants the jury to believe that Higgins had motive to kill O'Keefe because on the night that they all met at the Waterfall bar in Canton the agent had texted Read, but she "ghosted" him. The two had discussed "a kiss" exchanged during the two weeks in January where they flirted with one another, and Read told Higgins that O'Keefe had hooked up with another woman on New Year's Eve, 29 days before his body was found covered in snow. The kiss, Read texted Higgins, was captured on her boyfriend's home surveillance, which O'Keefe confronted Read about.'He's like 'Christ, are you guys hooking up??'' Read texted Higgins.'I don't need drama dude,' Higgins responded. 'You legit planted one on me.'Read tried to downplay the situation, and told him the kiss wasn't recorded because she knew where the cameras were. 'It was a peck anyway,' Read said, in an apparent effort to minimize the last message Read sent to Higgins, read by the investigator to a rapt jury simply said: 'John died.'
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Yahoo
Karen Read trial reveals flirty text messages with ATF agent behind boyfriend's back
Legal experts are handing Karen Read's defense team the win for Friday's heated cross-examination of Massachusetts State Police Sgt. Yuri Bukhenik – who returned for his second day on the stand as prosecutors look to convince the jury that Read fatally struck her boyfriend, Boston cop John O'Keefe, and left him to die in a blizzard in January 2022. During hours of cross-examination from defense attorney Alan Jackson, the homicide investigator was asked to read a long string of text messages exchanged between Read and Brian Higgins, a Canton-based ATF agent with whom she was flirting behind O'Keefe's back. Having Bukhenik read the texts allows the defense to introduce hearsay statements into the case, according to Grace Edwards, a Massachusetts defense attorney who is following the case closely. They also raise questions about the integrity of the investigation, something the defense has aimed to discredit entirely. State Trooper Points To Possible Weapon In John O'keefe Death – And It's Not Karen Read's Car "They are being entered not for the truth of what is contained in them but to show that they existed," she told Fox News Digital. "That is important because the defense wants to be able to argue that these messages existed, and did or did not the investigation consider them as a lead? Wouldn't the knowledge of a romantic flirtation between Karen Read and Brian Higgins create the possibility of conflict between Brian Higgins and John O'Keefe?" She said that both sides performed well Friday and credited Hank Brennan, the special prosecutor brought in to handle Read's retrial, with devising a new strategy after the first trial ended in a mistrial. But she said the defense won out slightly. Read On The Fox News App "Great lawyering on both sides today. Hank Brennan's new trial strategy indicates he won't need to call upon Brian Albert or Brian Higgins or Michael Proctor," she said. "They have stretched the witness to the max the last few days. Alan Jackson appears to have worn the witness down and there was damaging testimony regarding the handling of evidence. Overall, I felt the defense achieved more of their goals today." Karen Read's Google Timeline Derailed Again As 2Nd Expert Disputes Defense Claims Sgt. Bukhenik spent hours on the stand Friday, reading through flirty text messages between Read and Brian Higgins, an ATF agent and potential love interest whom she contacted behind O'Keefe's back. The Ukraine native, who immigrated to the U.S. when he was nine and joined the Marine Corps after 9/11, often sparred with Jackson about semantics, asking for a copy of Webster's Dictionary at one point, telling the court that English was his "third language." Frequent objections from the special prosecutor, Hank Brennan, also interrupted the proceedings as Judge Beverly Cannone repeatedly called the sides to the bench for off-camera discussions. At one point, Jackson replayed video shown earlier of Read backing out of O'Keefe's garage the morning he was found dead. The defense clip included a layover of a box with a zoomed-in view of O'Keefe's vehicle, which was parked outside. It appeared to bounce in place as Read neared it with her rear bumper – the same one later found with a broken taillight. "The prosecution looks like it's trying to hide the truth with all objections," said Linda Kenney Baden, a prominent East Coast defense attorney who is closely following the case on her "Justice Served" podcast. KAREN READ TRIAL: CANTON COP EXPLAINS USING LEAF BLOWER, RED SOLO CUPS, STOP & SHOP BAG FOR EVIDENCE Another damning moment, she said, was when Bukhenik admitted that no pieces of Read's broken taillight were recovered until after her vehicle - the alleged murder weapon – was parked inside the sallyport at Canton Police Headquarters. But she said it was Bukhenik's responses to Jackson that may have turned off jurors – calling the day a win for the defense. In the texts, Read, now 45, discussed her relationship struggles, repeatedly mentioning that she was not married and referred to herself as "single" despite, as Higgins wrote, having a "live in boyfriend." They discussed finding each other "hot," a kiss they shared outside O'Keefe's house, heavy drinking and danced around laying out their intentions for one another. Karen Read's Google Timeline Derailed Again As 2Nd Expert Disputes Defense Claims "Are you breaking up or staying together?" Higgins asked at one point, about Read and O'Keefe. "I don't know," Read replied. "He hooked up with another girl on vacation. I am very close to his niece. It's a very f----- up situation." Higgins repeatedly asked Read for clarity about her intentions, although they both said they found each other attractive and traded invites to one another's homes. "Ok, so he is cool with you dating other people?" Higgins asked in another exchange. "I doubt it," Read wrote. "If he is seeing someone else I wouldn't want to know either way. He probably feels the same. And you probably feel that way about whoever you hook up with. I think that's normal." Higgins was present at the Waterfall Bar and Grille with Read, O'Keefe and others before the whole group went to the nearby home of Brian Albert, a fellow Boston police officer who is also close friends with Higgins. Read has claimed she dropped O'Keefe off, saw him go inside and left. Prosecutors allege that she hit him with the rear end of the Lexus SUV and left him to die on the ground. Read had pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, manslaughter and fleeing the scene. Her defense denied that a collision happened at all and insists his fatal injuries were inflicted in some other way - possibly a "fight" with one or more people at the after-party. Read's first trial, in which she claimed she was being framed by a group of law enforcement with ties to Albert and his family, ended with a deadlocked jury and a mistrial. Special prosecutor Hank Brennan, a prominent Massachusetts defense attorney who previously represented Whitey Bulger, was brought in to take over the reins from Assistant Norfolk County District Attorney Adam Lally, who is still part of the prosecution team. While Read has said that whether she will testify in her own defense remains "to be determined," Brennan sought and obtained video interviews that Read had given to various TV outlets and documentarians and has been playing clips in court for the jury. Karen Read's Google Timeline Derailed Again As 2Nd Expert Disputes Defense Claims In the texts, Higgins told Read he wasn't interested in "drama" but continued the two-way flirting until she sent a chilling text to him around noon on Jan. 29, 2022. "John died," she wrote. Just hours earlier, while she was out drinking with O'Keefe about an hour before the end of his life, Higgins sent two texts to her that went unanswered around 11:30 p.m. on Jan. 28, 2022. Lawyers for both parties also agreed in court that at 12:20 a.m. the following morning, Higgins also texted O'Keefe. "You coming here???" Earlier, Jackson also grilled Bukhenik over how evidence was handled in the case. Bukhenik testified that no taillight fragments had been recovered until after Read's SUV was in state police custody. He couldn't say which officer had filled out an evidence bag under his name and didn't remember whom he had given the unsigned evidence to. Jackson asked him whether he was aware that more than a dozen reports in the case weren't written until more than 100 days after the events that they were supposed to "memorialize" had taken place. He said he was not. GET REAL-TIME UPDATES DIRECTLY ON THE True Crime Hub Police witnesses may be hurting the case due to missteps that shouldn't have happened had routine protocols been followed, according to Joseph Giacalone, a former NYPD cold case investigator and an adjunct crminal justice professor at Penn State Lehigh Valley. "A tie goes to the defense," he said of Friday's testimony. "The Massachusetts State Police have a major problem on their hands." The MSP fired former Trooper Michael Proctor, who was a lead investigator in the case, after his testimony during the first trial revealed unprofessional text messages he had sent regarding Read. He could testify when the defense presents its case later in the trial. Follow The Fox True Crime Team On X Local police also testified that they used red Solo cups and a grocery bag to collect evidence, removed snow with a leafblower and continued to be involved on the outskirts of the case despite a conflict of interest – one of their detectives is Brian Albert's brother. "The prosecution is going to go home this weekend and reevaluate things, because this week couldn't have been worse," said David Gelman, a former prosecutor and Philadelphia-area defense attorney who is following the case. He previously told Fox News Digital he was surprised the commonwealth even moved forward with a new trial after the first case fell apart. On the other hand, digital evidence has not supported defense claims. Two experts have testified that Albert's sister-in-law, Jennifer McCabe, made a key Google search about hypothermia shortly after Read and two other women found O'Keefe unresponsive in the snow – not hours earlier, before anyone should have known he was dead, as the defense has claimed. And reading the texts in court could be a "double-edged sword," said Paul Mauro, a former NYPD inspector. Did Higgins have a reason to get into an altercation with O'Keefe? Or do they paint Read as manipulative and untruthful?Original article source: Karen Read trial reveals flirty text messages with ATF agent behind boyfriend's back
Fox News
10-05-2025
- Fox News
Karen Read trial reveals flirty text messages with ATF agent behind boyfriend's back
Legal experts are handing Karen Read's defense team the win for Friday's heated cross-examination of Massachusetts State Police Sgt. Yuri Bukhenik – who returned for his second day on the stand as prosecutors look to convince the jury that Read fatally struck her boyfriend, Boston cop John O'Keefe, and left him to die in a blizzard in January 2022. During hours of cross-examination from defense attorney Alan Jackson, the homicide investigator was asked to read a long string of text messages exchanged between Read and Brian Higgins, a Canton-based ATF agent with whom she was flirting behind O'Keefe's back. Having Bukhenik read the texts allows the defense to introduce hearsay statements into the case, according to Grace Edwards, a Massachusetts defense attorney who is following the case closely. They also raise questions about the integrity of the investigation, something the defense has aimed to discredit entirely. "They are being entered not for the truth of what is contained in them but to show that they existed," she told Fox News Digital. "That is important because the defense wants to be able to argue that these messages existed, and did or did not the investigation consider them as a lead? Wouldn't the knowledge of a romantic flirtation between Karen Read and Brian Higgins create the possibility of conflict between Brian Higgins and John O'Keefe?" She said that both sides performed well Friday and credited Hank Brennan, the special prosecutor brought in to handle Read's retrial, with devising a new strategy after the first trial ended in a mistrial. But she said the defense won out slightly. "Great lawyering on both sides today. Hank Brennan's new trial strategy indicates he won't need to call upon Brian Albert or Brian Higgins or Michael Proctor," she said. "They have stretched the witness to the max the last few days. Alan Jackson appears to have worn the witness down and there was damaging testimony regarding the handling of evidence. Overall, I felt the defense achieved more of their goals today." Sgt. Bukhenik spent hours on the stand Friday, reading through flirty text messages between Read and Brian Higgins, an ATF agent and potential love interest whom she contacted behind O'Keefe's back. The Ukraine native, who immigrated to the U.S. when he was nine and joined the Marine Corps after 9/11, often sparred with Jackson about semantics, asking for a copy of Webster's Dictionary at one point, telling the court that English was his "third language." Frequent objections from the special prosecutor, Hank Brennan, also interrupted the proceedings as Judge Beverly Cannone repeatedly called the sides to the bench for off-camera discussions. At one point, Jackson replayed video shown earlier of Read backing out of O'Keefe's garage the morning he was found dead. The defense clip included a layover of a box with a zoomed-in view of O'Keefe's vehicle, which was parked outside. It appeared to bounce in place as Read neared it with her rear bumper – the same one later found with a broken taillight. "The prosecution looks like it's trying to hide the truth with all objections," said Linda Kenney Baden, a prominent East Coast defense attorney who is closely following the case on her "Justice Served" podcast. Another damning moment, she said, was when Bukhenik admitted that no pieces of Read's broken taillight were recovered until after her vehicle - the alleged murder weapon – was parked inside the sallyport at Canton Police Headquarters. But she said it was Bukhenik's responses to Jackson that may have turned off jurors – calling the day a win for the defense. In the texts, Read, now 45, discussed her relationship struggles, repeatedly mentioning that she was not married and referred to herself as "single" despite, as Higgins wrote, having a "live in boyfriend." They discussed finding each other "hot," a kiss they shared outside O'Keefe's house, heavy drinking and danced around laying out their intentions for one another. "Are you breaking up or staying together?" Higgins asked at one point, about Read and O'Keefe. "I don't know," Read replied. "He hooked up with another girl on vacation. I am very close to his niece. It's a very f----- up situation." Higgins repeatedly asked Read for clarity about her intentions, although they both said they found each other attractive and traded invites to one another's homes. "Ok, so he is cool with you dating other people?" Higgins asked in another exchange. "I doubt it," Read wrote. "If he is seeing someone else I wouldn't want to know either way. He probably feels the same. And you probably feel that way about whoever you hook up with. I think that's normal." Higgins was present at the Waterfall Bar and Grille with Read, O'Keefe and others before the whole group went to the nearby home of Brian Albert, a fellow Boston police officer who is also close friends with Higgins. Read has claimed she dropped O'Keefe off, saw him go inside and left. Prosecutors allege that she hit him with the rear end of the Lexus SUV and left him to die on the ground. Read had pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, manslaughter and fleeing the scene. Her defense denied that a collision happened at all and insists his fatal injuries were inflicted in some other way - possibly a "fight" with one or more people at the after-party. Read's first trial, in which she claimed she was being framed by a group of law enforcement with ties to Albert and his family, ended with a deadlocked jury and a mistrial. Special prosecutor Hank Brennan, a prominent Massachusetts defense attorney who previously represented Whitey Bulger, was brought in to take over the reins from Assistant Norfolk County District Attorney Adam Lally, who is still part of the prosecution team. While Read has said that whether she will testify in her own defense remains "to be determined," Brennan sought and obtained video interviews that Read had given to various TV outlets and documentarians and has been playing clips in court for the jury. In the texts, Higgins told Read he wasn't interested in "drama" but continued the two-way flirting until she sent a chilling text to him around noon on Jan. 29, 2022. "John died," she wrote. Just hours earlier, while she was out drinking with O'Keefe about an hour before the end of his life, Higgins sent two texts to her that went unanswered around 11:30 p.m. on Jan. 28, 2022. Lawyers for both parties also agreed in court that at 12:20 a.m. the following morning, Higgins also texted O'Keefe. "You coming here???" Earlier, Jackson also grilled Bukhenik over how evidence was handled in the case. Bukhenik testified that no taillight fragments had been recovered until after Read's SUV was in state police custody. He couldn't say which officer had filled out an evidence bag under his name and didn't remember whom he had given the unsigned evidence to. Jackson asked him whether he was aware that more than a dozen reports in the case weren't written until more than 100 days after the events that they were supposed to "memorialize" had taken place. He said he was not. GET REAL-TIME UPDATES DIRECTLY ON THE TRUE CRIME HUB Police witnesses may be hurting the case due to missteps that shouldn't have happened had routine protocols been followed, according to Joseph Giacalone, a former NYPD cold case investigator and an adjunct crminal justice professor at Penn State Lehigh Valley. "A tie goes to the defense," he said of Friday's testimony. "The Massachusetts State Police have a major problem on their hands." The MSP fired former Trooper Michael Proctor, who was a lead investigator in the case, after his testimony during the first trial revealed unprofessional text messages he had sent regarding Read. He could testify when the defense presents its case later in the trial. Local police also testified that they used red Solo cups and a grocery bag to collect evidence, removed snow with a leafblower and continued to be involved on the outskirts of the case despite a conflict of interest – one of their detectives is Brian Albert's brother. "The prosecution is going to go home this weekend and reevaluate things, because this week couldn't have been worse," said David Gelman, a former prosecutor and Philadelphia-area defense attorney who is following the case. He previously told Fox News Digital he was surprised the commonwealth even moved forward with a new trial after the first case fell apart. On the other hand, digital evidence has not supported defense claims. Two experts have testified that Albert's sister-in-law, Jennifer McCabe, made a key Google search about hypothermia shortly after Read and two other women found O'Keefe unresponsive in the snow – not hours earlier, before anyone should have known he was dead, as the defense has claimed. And reading the texts in court could be a "double-edged sword," said Paul Mauro, a former NYPD inspector. Did Higgins have a reason to get into an altercation with O'Keefe? Or do they paint Read as manipulative and untruthful?
