Three more Massachusetts State Troopers with ties to the case of Karen Read, a Mansfield woman accused of killing her Boston police officer boyfriend, are facing internal affairs investigations.
Detective Lt. Brian Tully, Sgt. Yuri Bukhenik and Lt. John Fanning all remain on full duty during the investigations, according to a statement issued by Massachusetts State Police. Tully and Bukhenik both testified in the first murder trial, which ended in a mistrial earlier this month.
“The department respectfully declines further comment in fairness to the integrity of the process and pending investigative outcomes,” the statement reads.
In total, four state troopers and one Canton police officer are under investigation stemming from the Read case.
Canton Police Officer Kevin Albert has been on leave since June after his text messages with Michael Proctor, the lead State Police investigator in the case, were scrutinized during her trial.
Kevin Albert is a brother of Canton Select Board member Chris Albert and retired Boston police officer Brian Albert, who then owned the house where O’Keefe was found dead outside in January 2022.
While testifying in the case, Proctor acknowledged that he and Kevin Albert texted about coordinating part of the O’Keefe investigation even though the Canton Police Department recused itself.
The texts also revealed that Proctor and Kevin Albert worked on a cold case together and went out drinking together after. Albert later sent Proctor a text asking if he had left his badge and gun in Proctor’s police cruiser.
Proctor has been suspended without pay following a duty status hearing. During the trial, he was questioned about inappropriate texts he had sent regarding Read during the investigation. He apologized to the jury for his “unprofessional” comments.
The case has drawn widespread national attention. Read’s defense claims that the charges against her are a result of a cover-up by law enforcement and that others involved framed Read for O’Keefe’s death.
Prosecutors say Read and O’Keefe had been drinking at a local bar with friends and acquaintances before they got into an argument. They say she hit him with her SUV outside the former home of Brian Albert, who was hosting an after-party, shortly before 12:30 a.m.
But Read’s lawyers say she dropped O’Keefe off at Brian Albert’s home and that O’Keefe was fatally beaten inside before his body was placed on the front lawn. They say she was then framed for his death.
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Karen Read case: State troopers face internal affairs investigation
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