Trooper relieved of duty after Karen Read’s mistrial

BOSTON (WWLP) – The trial of Karen Read for killing her boyfriend in 2022 has been declared a mistrial by the judge Monday afternoon after five days of jury deliberation.

In the hours since the District Attorney’s Office has said they will re-try the case, and state police have relieved the lead investigator of duty. State Police Investigator Michael Proctor will be transferred out of the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office after backlash over conflicts of interest while he served as lead investigator on the case, including relationships with the owner of the home outside of which John O’Keefe was found dead, and inappropriate texts about Read that were sent during the trial.

The DA’s office will re-try the case without him, attempting to prove that Read intentionally and drunkenly hit O’Keefe with her SUV and left him for dead in a snowstorm. Read’s defense will continue to argue that she is being framed and that O’Keefe was beaten up inside the home and left out front to die.

She is charged with second-degree murder, punishable in Massachusetts by life in prison without parole, as well as a lesser charge of manslaughter while operating a vehicle under the influence and leaving the scene of an accident.

The next step in all this will come later this month as a status conference has been scheduled by the judge for July 22.

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