Karen Read trial witness shares why police suspected her in cop boyfriend’s death

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A key witness in the case against a Massachusetts woman accused of hitting her cop boyfriend with her SUV and leaving him for dead detailed on Monday how police came to suspect her in the first place.

Massachusetts State Trooper Yuri Bukhenik, a witness for prosecutors in the case against Karen Read over the death of Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe, testified on Monday that police began investigating the former finance professor after a friend of the couple said Read had damaged her taillight. That detail potentially ties her Lexus to the scene outside the Canton, Massachusetts house where O’Keefe, 46, was found in the snow.

Bukhenik said investigators also talked with first responders present at the scene in January 2022 who said that Read made a bombshell admission then: "I hit him."

The trooper’s latest testimony gets at some of the most foundational evidence prosecutors are using to tie Read, 45, to her boyfriend’s death: her apparent confession and pieces of broken taillight found outside the house in Canton. Prosecutors say Read deliberately hit O’Keefe in a drunken rage and left him for dead. Read’s lawyers say she was framed. She is back in court in Dedham, Massachusetts after a trial in 2024 ended in a hung jury.

Bukhenik’s testimony on Monday comes after the trooper has already spent two full days on the stand testifying about "flirtatious” text messages Read sent Brian Higgins - an agent with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives - in the month leading up to the death of Boston police officer John O'Keefe.

The trooper also testified about O’Keefe’s gruesome injuries and what Read told police after her boyfriend was found unconscious outside the home of a fellow Boston cop. Read's defense attorney launched a tense cross-examination, grilling Bukhenik about the integrity of his investigation and his former subordinate, Michael Proctor, who sent crude text messages during the case and was fired in March for unrelated reasons.

Read’s case in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, has turned into a yearslong whodunnit legal saga that has captivated true-crime fans across the country, spurring an array of podcasts, movies, and television shows. Judge Beverly Cannone issued an order barring supporters of either side from demonstrating within 200 feet of the courthouse.  

The first full day of testimony began April 23. Cannone estimated the trial could last between six and eight weeks.

How the initial investigation closed in on Read

Under questioning by the prosecution, Bukhenik again walked jurors through how he came to focus on Read as a potential suspect.

Bukhenik said he first learned from a friend of the couple that Read had damaged her taillight and went to see the vehicle for himself. He said Read was “calm," "stoic” and “poised” when answering initial questions from police.

During the investigation, Bukhenik said first responders told police they heard Read say "I hit him" multiple times, further corroborating his theory. Bukhenik again opened sealed evidence bags to show jurors O'Keefe's jeans as well as red, black and clear pieces of taillight found at the scene.

“All the evidence, all the statements, all the digital, all the circumstantial, all that information is coupled, put together, capped off by the defendant's statements herself to form the case,” he said.

Bukhenik told prosecutors he looked through phone records for evidence that Higgins - the ATF agent who exchanged flirty texts with Read - would have motive to murder O’Keefe but found none.

Read’s attorney asked Bukhenik if he found motive for Higgins to confront O’Keefe. Bukhenik said there was a possibility Higgins could have been jealous after spotting Read at a bar with O’Keefe, but said he didn’t follow up on that possibility.

Read's attorney wrapped up his questioning by raising the possibility that O'Keefe was killed in an alcohol-fueled fight and dragged across the lawn where his body was found. Bukhenik said the stains on O'Keefe's jeans did not indicate he was dragged, but admitted he didn't take any steps to forensically determine what the stains were.

Trooper questioned about Read’s broken taillight

During cross examination of Bukhenik, Read’s attorney played video of her SUV arriving at the Canton Police Department garage, seeming to raise the possibility that Proctor planted pieces of her taillight at the crime scene.

Read’s broken taillight is a key piece of evidence supporting the prosecution’s theory that Read hit O’Keefe with her SUV and left him for dead. The defense has argued Read was framed, and questioned whether Proctor compromised the integrity of the investigation.

Though Bukhenik previously testified that neither he nor Proctor approached the vehicle’s right rear taillight, video showed Proctor walking around the back of the vehicle and then exiting the frame with what Bukhenik said on the stand may have been a black portfolio in his hand.

Read’s attorney asked if the video was taken before 5:45 p.m. on Jan. 29, 2022, when the first pieces of broken taillight were uncovered near where O’Keefe was found unconscious in the snow. Bukhenik agreed that it was. He also agreed the scene was just a short drive from the police department.

But Bukhenik told prosecutors he and Proctor did not go to the scene. He said they remained at the police department until about 6 p.m., while another team searched for evidence. Bukhenik said video footage showed the Lexus was damaged before it arrived at the police department and he never saw anyone take a piece of broken taillight while it was in the garage.

Rules for protestors outside Karen Read trial may change

A panel of First Circuit Appeals Court judges has ruled that a buffer zone outside the Dedham courthouse meant to keep protesters at bay during Read's second murder trial is constitutional, but the court should revisit the rules to allow peaceful protests.

A federal judge in April ruled against Read supporters who sued Norfolk Superior Court Judge Beverly Cannone for implementing the buffer zone. The supporters challenged the ruling in the appeals court.

At oral arguments in the First Circuit court, an attorney for the protestors said his clients were willing to protest only on streets and sidewalks off courthouse property as well as stay quiet and away when jurors entered and left the courthouse.

The appeals court panel sent the case back to the district court "to consider anew both plaintiffs' motion and the Commonwealth's arguments against it."

"With Plaintiffs' position now clarified, we think it prudent to vacate (but not reverse) the district court's denial of a preliminary injunction and remand this case for further proceedings to determine how the Order has been interpreted and applied," the ruling said.

Trooper grilled about 'vile term' fired subordinate used to describe Read

Alan Jackson, Read's attorney, continued his heated cross examination on May 12 by again questioning Bukhenik about text messages he received from Proctor during the investigation into Read. The crude texts were previously read to the jury on May 8.

In August 2022, a trooper sent a photo of Read's attorney David Yannetti to several members of the department. Proctor responded to the group text saying he was going through the phone of Yannetti's client, referring to Read with a slur used against the disabled community.

“No nudes so far,” Proctor wrote.

Bukhenik said although he acknowledged the message by liking it, he never saw the "vile term."

Jackson asked Bukhenik why he gave Proctor a positive performance review a few months later, writing that his subordinate handled himself and the high profile case with the “utmost professionalism” and “strict integrity.”

Bukhenik stood by his previous testimony that the investigation was handled with integrity and honor, but said Proctor's comment about Read was "unfortunate" and "unprofessional." Bukhenik previously testified he lost five vacation days for failing to properly supervise Proctor.

'Flirtatious' texts show Read may have 'ghosted' Higgins

On May 9, Bukhenik read aloud to the jury dozens of messages between Read and Higgins expressing mutual romantic interest and discussing Read's deteriorating relationship with O'Keefe.

Read told Higgins she didn’t want to stop talking to him, but there was no contact between them for five days until Higgins texted Read after spotting her at a bar with O'Keefe on Jan. 28, 2022. O'Keefe was found unresponsive in the snow the next morning.

Read's attorney asked Bukhenik if he thought Read was "ghosting" Higgins, or abruptly cutting off all contact without any explanation.

"One could read into it in that manner," Bukhenik said.

How to watch the Karen Read trial 

CourtTV has been covering the case against Read and the criminal investigation since early 2022, when O'Keefe's body was found outside a Canton home.

You can watch CourtTV’s live feed of the Read trial proceedings from Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Massachusetts. Proceedings begin at 9 a.m. ET.

Contributing: Terry Collins, Paste BN; Jessica Trufant, The Patriot Ledger