Karen Read trial continues after witness asked about link to lead investigator

Friday marks Day 9 of the high-profile Karen Read murder trial and Julie Albert will be back on the stand after the defense on Thursday started to question her about her connection to Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor, the lead detective assigned to investigating the death of Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe.

Read, 44, of Mansfield, is facing charges including second-degree murder in the death of O’Keefe, her boyfriend.

Julie Albert, the wife of current Canton selectman Christopher Albert, was still on the stand being cross-examined by defense attorney David Yannetti when Judge Beverly Cannone ended testimony for the day.

PLAY-BY-PLAY FROM DAY 9 OF TESTIMONY (Friday, May 10, 2024):

9:35 a.m.

• Yannetti asked Julie Albert if she was nervous that one of the investigators would approach her son and ask about his whereabouts. Julie Albert replied no.

• Julie Albert describes Courtney Proctor as “a good friend and sister’s best friend.”

9:25 a.m.

• Defense attorney Yannetti is asking Julie Albert about her testimony yesterday regarding the 67 phone calls she had with Courtney Proctor, the sister of the lead MSP investigator.

• Julie Albert doesn’t remember a 12-minute call on 2/1/22 the day Read was arrested.

9:20 a.m.

9:11 a.m.

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Both Chris and Julie, the family of Brian Albert, who owned the home at 34 Fairview Road in Canton where O’Keefe was found dead in the snow as a blizzard raged in January 2022, testified that they were at the Waterfall bar having drinks with Read but had gone to bed before her boyfriend’s death.

Chris Albert testified that he and his family knew Trooper Proctor, the lead investigator assigned to the Read murder case, for many years and well before they were questioned in O’Keefe’s death.

Julie Albert testified that she was a longtime friend of Proctor’s sister, Courtney, but she denied using her friend as an intermediary to Proctor and the case focusing on Read.

But Read’s defense claimed Julie and Courtney Proctor spoke 67 times over the phone in the seven months following O’Keefe’s death.

“I don’t deny it but I don’t recall the exact amount,” Julie said when asked, “Do you deny that you spoke with her over the phone 67 times?”

The Massachusetts State Police Internal Affairs Unit said in March that it was investigating Proctor for a potential violation of department policy in connection with the Read murder case.

Months early, Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey asserted that Proctor did not have a personal connection to any of the people involved in the case.

Read’s defense has alleged that Proctor was not truthful with his relationship with people he has identified as witnesses in the case.

The Alberts also said they lived two doors down from O’Keefe, saying, “We were friendly.” They also said they would routinely watch his home while he was away.

Chris Albert testified that he and his wife used to refer to O’Keefe as “Mr. Nebbercracker,” a character from the animated film Monster House.

They referred to him as the “old, curmudgeonly” figure because he wouldn’t want anyone on his lawn.

The defense has argued that Read is a scapegoat for a well-connected group of people, including the Albert family, who were at a party inside 34 Fairview Road in Canton on the night of O’Keefe’s death.

Read’s attorneys have long argued that O’Keefe was beaten up inside the home and then dragged outside. Read’s defense attorneys have also alleged that the Albert family is at the center of an effort to frame Read.

On Wednesday, the jury in Read’s murder trial saw the video as a number of close friends took the stand and recalled the night before O’Keefe’s death.

The prosecution showed O’Keefe with friends at Canton’s CF McCarthy’s hours before he died. Read joined them later and drank with the group.

Tuesday’s testimony focused on a busted cocktail glass and a piece of broken taillight in the snow. The prosecution said the taillight and other evidence led them directly to Read.

Prosecutors claim Read drunkenly struck O’Keefe with her luxury Lexus SUV while making a three-point after dropping him off at the home. They allege she fled the scene and left him to die.

Last week, jurors traveled to Canton for a tour of the crime scene outside retired Boston Police Officer Brian Albert’s former home, where the body of O’Keefe was found.

Also, a focus during last week’s testimony was Read’s demeanor and the words she uttered at the crime scene. Testimony from two police officers and two firefighters described Read as distraught and screaming and that O’Keefe had no pulse and wasn’t breathing.

RELATED VIDEO:

Witness testimony in Karen Read murder trial from Thursday, May 9, 2024

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