Karen Read case: Ex-Trooper Proctor finally sits for deposition, source says

Flint McColgan, Boston Herald on Jun 25, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

BOSTON — Michael Proctor, the since-fired lead investigator in the John O’Keefe murder investigation, finally sat down for a deposition by Karen Read’s lawyers for the wrongful death suit against her, according to a source familiar with the matter.

The O’Keefe family filed a wrongful death suit against Read even before her second trial, which ended with her acquittal of O’Keefe’s murder. The civil case resumed after the criminal trial ended.

Read’s attorneys in that suit have been trying to get the disgraced former Massachusetts State Police trooper to sit for a deposition for some time — sure that despite all of the troubling text messages that have surfaced, the ex-cop has not yet been mined of all exculpatory evidence.

But that sit has time and again failed to materialize.

Just this month, Proctor’s attorneys filed for a protective order that could delay or get him out of the deposition.

Plymouth Superior Court Judge Mark Gildea, however, wasn’t buying it and drafted a short, two-paragraph response order that ended this way: “The motion for a protective order is denied. The witness shall appear for deposition at the place and time set forth in the subpoena on dates agreed to by counsel.”

That date was Thursday and, according to a source very familiar to the case, that deposition began as ordered. Attorneys did not respond to the Herald’s inquiries on the matter.

Depositions are closed interviews of witnesses. But the results may be hinted at during a hearing scheduled for Friday in the lawsuit.

Proctor was assigned as case officer when O’Keefe, a Boston cop, was found dead outside the Canton home of another Boston cop on Jan. 29, 2022. Within days, Read was arrested and charged. She was eventually indicted for murder.

The case, however, went off the rails when Proctor took the stand in the first of Read’s two trials. There, he was confronted with text messages indicating bias against Read from the start of the investigation. He was put on leave when that trial ended in mistrial and was fired after Read was acquitted of murder at the end of the second trial.

The text messages about Read, however, were just the tip of the iceberg that now threatens to sink many other felony cases Proctor was a part of. A Read lawsuit against the MSP and the Town of Canton revealed a slew of obscene and racist text messages between Proctor and now-resigned Canton Police Sgt. Sean Goode that defense attorneys are saying shows clear bias against their own clients.

Earlier this week, even more text messages came to light.

_____