Massachusetts State Police leader vows further reforms after Karen Read trial

With the spectacle of the Karen Read trial finally over, attention now turns to the fallout — especially within the Massachusetts State Police.

“The events of the last three years have challenged our Department to thoroughly review our actions and take concrete steps,” MSP Col. Geoffrey Noble wrote Thursday in a statement distributed by the agency.

Those steps, he wrote, are to “deliver advanced investigative training, ensure appropriate oversight, and enhance accountability.”

“Under my direction as Colonel, the State Police has, and will continue to, improve in these regards. Our focus remains on delivering excellent police services that reflect the value of professionalism and maintain public trust,” he wrote.

Read, 45, of Mansfield, was indicted in 2022 in the death of her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe.

She was tried twice on charges of second-degree murder, OUI manslaughter and leaving the scene of a collision causing death, first last year and again this year. A jury acquitted her on Wednesday of all those charges, convicting her instead of only driving drunk — a minor offense they could consider under manslaughter.

Between when the first trial ended in mistrial on July 1, 2024, and when the new trial started in April, two major things occurred at the MSP.

First, Gov. Maura Healey appointed Noble, who was previously with the New Jersey State Police, as the head of the agency. Second, Trooper Michael Proctor, the “case officer” in the O’Keefe death investigation, was fired. In the firing document, the MSP explicitly pointed to inappropriate behavior in the O’Keefe investigation as reasons for termination.

The two things are not necessarily directly correlated, as Proctor’s sequence of discipline fell under the tenures of three agency leaders.

– His investigation took place in 2022, when Col. Christopher Mason ran the agency.

– He was placed under internal review in March 2024, relieved of duty the day of the mistrial and suspended without pay a week later — all under the leadership of interim Col. John Mawn Jr.

– Then came the trial boards and Proctor’s ultimate termination occurred under Noble’s tenure.

What is linked, however, is the level of scrutiny the agency now faces following the public unraveling of its investigative conduct during the trial.

Two MSP investigators suffered humiliating cross-examination over it: Proctor and Sgt. Yuriy Bukhenik, who as Proctor’s supervisor was grilled on his subordinate’s actions. Bukhenik and his own boss, Lt. Brian Tully, were also placed under internal investigation at one point, though only Proctor faced serious repercussions.

The fallout from the flaws of the investigation was not just reflected in the verdict, but also in opinion by the public and observers.

A poll by a firm called Opinion Diagnostics found that 78% of 1,170 eligible jurors in Norfolk County believed Read to be innocent of manslaughter, either by belief in her innocence (54%) or through reasonable doubt (24%). And 68% of respondents said they believe the evidence does not show her liable for wrongful death.

The criminal verdict may be final, but the question of public trust in the investigation — and in the agency behind it — will remain.