A brutal snowstorm swept through Canton, Massachusetts, on January 29, 2022, but it wasn’t just the weather that left destruction in its wake. Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe was found unresponsive in the snow outside a fellow officer’s home, and what started as a seemingly straightforward case quickly unraveled into a legal circus filled with scandal, suspicion, and claims of a cover-up.
Prosecutors say O’Keefe’s girlfriend, Karen Read, struck him with her Lexus SUV after a drunken argument, then left him to die in the cold. At first, they considered it an open-and-shut case—until a bombshell scandal involving the lead investigator threw everything into chaos.
Massachusetts State Trooper Michael Proctor, the officer responsible for investigating Read, had a lot to say about her—but not in court filings. In private text messages later exposed in trial, he called her a “wack job,” a “babe… with no a--,” and far worse. He joked about searching her phone for nude photos and even wrote that he wished she would kill herself. When these texts were read aloud in court, jurors shook their heads, and suddenly, the trial wasn’t just about Read—it was about Proctor. The scandal became the defense’s golden ticket.
Read’s attorneys pounced, arguing that this was never about a tragic accident at all. Instead, they claimed O’Keefe was beaten to death by people inside the house he was visiting that night—fellow law enforcement officers who then framed Read to protect themselves. A conspiracy theory? The prosecution certainly thought so. But after the first trial ended in a hung jury, the case is anything but resolved.
Proctor, who was suspended without pay after his texts came to light, is now at the center of a growing debate. His wife, Elizabeth Proctor, has spoken out for the first time, blasting Read’s defense as “unrelenting propaganda and disinformation” designed to distract the jury from the evidence. She argues that her husband’s crude remarks don’t change the facts and that Read’s defense is manipulating public perception to gain an advantage in court.
Read, meanwhile, is doubling down, giving interviews where she insists she was framed. She claims that O’Keefe got into a fight after she dropped him off at the house of Boston Police Officer Brian Albert—and that those inside the home know exactly what happened.
Prosecutors counter that there’s only one reason Read is the only person charged: because she’s guilty. They point to the grand jury indictment, state and federal investigations, and physical evidence tying Read to the crime. They argue that the defense’s focus on Proctor’s inappropriate messages is nothing more than a distraction designed to muddy the waters and sway public opinion.
The case isn’t just playing out in court—it’s also raging online, where Read’s supporters have turned the trial into a social media firestorm. The Proctor family says they’ve been harassed and smeared by Read’s most vocal defenders, and they fear the next jury may already be tainted by the spectacle.
O’Keefe’s family, still mourning his loss, has also taken legal action, filing a wrongful death lawsuit against Read. And with the retrial set to begin on April 1, both sides are gearing up for what’s sure to be another battle—not just in the courtroom, but in the court of public opinion.
#KarenRead #ElizabethProctor #TrueCrime #Justice
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