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DEDHAM, MASS. (WHDH) - State police Det. Lt. Brian Tully returned to the witness stand for more testimony in the Karen Read murder trial Thursday, detailing cell phone records and new surveillance videos one day after the defense delivered blistering cross examination of the state’s lead investigator in the case.
State Police Trooper Michael Proctor on Wednesday faced questions about text messages he sent about Read and admitted he let his emotions get the best of him.
In questioning after Proctor’s cross examination, Tully said Proctor’s texts were reported up the chain of command.
After finishing his testimony on Thursday, Tully was followed on the witness stand by several other witnesses for the prosecution.
Read, 44, of Mansfield, is facing charges including second degree murder after prosecutors said she hit Boston police officer John O’Keefe with her SUV and left him to die after dropping him off outside the Canton home of Brian and Nicole Albert on Jan. 29, 2022.
Read and O’Keefe were dating when O’Keefe died.
Read’s defense has said she is being framed, saying O’Keefe was actually beaten to death and attacked by a dog during a party inside the Albert home.
Read’s attorneys claim police covered up details and planted evidence to implicate Read in the case. The defense has pointed to Proctor as a key player in the alleged cover-up and raised questions about his handling of evidence.
Defense attorney reacts to Proctor testimony
In his testimony, Proctor was forced to read crude language from his text messages.
In one exchange, a friend asked Proctor about the possibility of Read not being held responsible for O’Keefe’s death.
“My response was ‘Zero chance she skates,’” Proctor said.
“And then what did you write?” asked attorney Alan Jackson.
“‘She’s [expletive],’” Proctor said.
“‘Zero chance she skates, she’s [expletive],’ right?” Jackson asked.
“Correct,” Proctor said.
Jackson detailed another exchange.
“You literally said that you hope Karen Read — the subject of your investigation, the woman sitting to my left about seven feet from me — that she would just die? Correct?” he asked.
“It’s a figure of speech,” Proctor said.
Jackson ended the day with a remark — “Shame on you sir.”
The defense objected and Judge Beverly Cannone sustained the objection. She then scolded Jackson for his comment.
Jackson soon left the courthouse with Read and the rest of the defense team. Asked what he got out of Proctor’s testimony, he responded.
“Oh my God,” he said. “He’s completely not credible.”
Though Proctor himself is currently under investigation for his handling of the Read investigation, he testified he is still assigned to the case.
Brian Tully continues testimony
Brian Tully serves as the commander of the Norfolk County District Attorney’s state police detective unit.
Nearly seven weeks into Read’s trial, Tully was the prosecution’s 58th witness.
Read and her team reentered the courthouse in Dedham near 9 a.m. Thursday and soon sat for Tully’s continued questioning.
Asked whether he searched the Albert home, Tully said he had evidence O’Keefe was outside the house.
“But I don’t have anything putting him in the residence,” he said.
Recalling discussions with then Canton Police Chief Ken Berkowitz early in the investigation, Tully said he and Berkowitz came to the conclusion that Canton police should not be involved, especially in witness interviews. This decision was due to the fact that Brian Albert’s brother works as a detective with the Canton Police Department.
“We wanted to remove conflict of interest by not having Kevin Albert or any of his co-workers involved in the investigation,” Tully said.
Tully said cell phone records showed 53 phone calls from Read to a number of associates of O’Keefe in the early morning hours of Jan. 29. Among the calls, Tully said, Read called O’Keefe’s parents.
Jurors saw surveillance video from the Canton Public Library and a temple showing a large black SUV passing through at 12:16 a.m. on Jan. 29. The videos, both taken on Washington Street, appeared to show Read bringing O’Keefe to the party at the Alberts’ house after leaving a local bar where several people were spending time and drinking.
Tully described more security camera video showing the same car passing at 5:11 a.m. and 5:18 a.m.
Tully said he examined Read’s cell phone data and created maps to show how her phone communicated with various antennas during the early morning hours of Jan. 29. The data, according to Tully, showed Read’s car was heading toward the Albert home at 5:18 a.m.
In questions, the prosecution indicated Read passed by the crime scene before she went to the home of Jennifer McCabe. McCabe was at the party at the Albert home hours earlier.
Later, when McCabe, Read and another woman went back to the house, it was a frantic Read who spotted O’Keefe’s body under the snow before anyone else in the car could see anything, according to previous testimony.
Jackson began cross examining Tully near 10:45 a.m.
He suggested the fact that O’Keefe did not have a winter coat on and was only wearing one sneaker might have warranted questioning people inside the Albert home. He also asked Tully about video from a sally port at Canton police headquarters showing Read’s SUV after officers towed it away from her father’s home in Dighton.
The video, which had already been the subject of testimony, has prompted controversy after the defense revealed it showed an inverted or “mirrored” view of reality.
Tully said he saw the video briefly and did not notice it was inverted.
DNA experts begin testimonies
Tully finished his testimony shortly after 12 p.m.
Needham police Sgt. Brian Gallerani took the stand next and delivered brief testimony about collecting samples for DNA analysis from Proctor and State Police Sgt. Yuriy Bukhenik.
After Gallerani, DNA expert Nicholas Bradford began his testimony.
Bradford works for Bode Technology in Virginia and said his lab received four items from Massachusetts police in the Read investigation, including a hair, a piece of a tail light, and reference samples from detectives.
Bradford said the state police crime lab provided a single source sample of O’Keefe’s DNA for comparison.
Bradford said there was a mixture of DNA from three people on the tail light, saying there was strong evidence O’Keefe’s DNA was included in the sample. Experts found strong support for the exclusion of Bukhenik and Proctor’s DNA after the two investigators handled the evidence, Bradford said.
The prosecution soon finished its direct questioning of Bradford and the defense declined to cross examine him.
Another DNA analyst, Tess Chart, took the stand, explaining that the piece of hair most likely came from O’Keefe’s DNA profile. She said that 99.895 percent of the rest of the world’s population could be ruled out.
Again, the defense declined to cross examine her.
Then, Andre Porto, a DNA expert at the Massachusetts State Police Crime Laboratory, was called to the stand.
Porto also found that O’Keefe’s DNA was on the tail light sample — 510 nonillion times more likely to be his DNA than that of an unknown person. He said that O’Keefe’s DNA was also detected on the broken drinking glass found near his body.
He also testified that O’Keefe’s DNA was found in blood stains on his clothing. He then completely his testimony.
This is a developing story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest updates.
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