State Police sergeant disciplined over handling of Proctor’s texts in Karen Read case

Sgt. Yuriy Bukhenik has forfeited five vacation days following an internal affairs investigation linked to testimony from Read's trial.

A Massachusetts State Police investigator who supervised embattled Trooper Michael Proctor has forfeited five vacation days after failing to reprimand Proctor for inappropriate text messages he sent during the Karen Read case.

Sgt. Yuriy Bukhenik “failed to properly supervise and/or counsel a subordinate for sending inappropriate correspondence regarding an ongoing investigation,” according to a copy of the personnel order shared with reporters Monday.

Read, 44, is accused of killing her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe; prosecutors allege she deliberately backed her SUV into O’Keefe after a night of bar-hopping with friends in January 2022. Her lawyers have alleged a coverup, putting law enforcement and prosecutors under the microscope.

Proctor, the lead investigator on Read’s case, admitted to sending vulgar texts about Read to family, friends, and coworkers throughout his investigation, including messages that called Read derogatory names and poked fun at her Crohn’s disease, appearance, and accent. In one text, Proctor said he hoped Read would kill herself.

Bukhenik’s personnel order specifically cites messages sent on Aug. 17, 2022, the same day a trooper sent a picture of one of Read’s lawyers, David Yannetti, to a group chat with Proctor and other State Police colleagues.

“Funny, I’m going through his retarded client’s phone. No nudes so far,” Proctor wrote in the chat, per his testimony at Read’s trial. “I hate that man, I truly hate him.”

Proctor later clarified his hostility toward Yannetti came after the defense attorney “stood up in open court and spouted lie after lie about me” and “dragged my name through the mud.” On the stand, he confirmed none of his superiors reprimanded him for his message about searching through Read’s phone, with Bukhenik even “liking” the text.

Proctor was relieved of duty soon after Read’s case ended in a mistrial July 1, and he’s since been suspended without pay while State Police conduct an internal affairs investigation.

State Police previously said another trooper who testified in Read’s murder trial, Detective Lt. Brian Tully, is also facing an internal affairs investigation and remains on full duty. The agency has not yet announced the results of that probe.

Read the personnel order: