Karen Read — recently acquitted in the death of her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe — has filed a civil lawsuit alleging that state police investigators and several former friends protected the real perpetrators and falsely built a case against her.
The complaint, filed in Bristol County Superior Court, names eight defendants: former Massachusetts State Police investigator Michael Proctor, Sgt. Yuriy Bukhenik, Lt. Brian Tully, Brian and Nicole Albert, Jennifer and Matthew McCabe, and ATF agent Brian Higgins. The filing also states that additional entities, including the Massachusetts State Police and the Town of Canton, will be added once statutory requirements are satisfied.
Read maintains that for three-and-a-half years she was wrongly targeted and persecuted as a result of what she calls “gross misconduct” by the Massachusetts State Police and others who allegedly worked to shield the true killers of O’Keefe. He was found dead in a snowbank with severe head injuries in January 2022 outside the Alberts’ home.
Prosecutors had accused Read of intentionally striking O’Keefe with her SUV. She was tried twice on murder charges; the first trial ended in a hung jury, and the second concluded in June with her acquittal on the murder charge. She was convicted only of operating a vehicle under the influence and was sentenced to one year of probation.
In her lawsuit, filed this week, Read presents an alternate version of events from the early morning hours of Jan. 29, 2022.
According to the complaint, O’Keefe “was killed in Defendants Brian and Nicole Albert’s home… in an altercation” during a late-night gathering following an evening of heavy drinking. The individuals inside the house — referred to collectively as the “House Defendants” — allegedly “concocted a plan immediately after the altercation to avoid culpability and to frame Karen Read.”
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2):format(webp)/Karen-Read-and-John-OKeefe-8c0b529e6823492aaf409a1c96c15ccc.jpg)
As part of that alleged plan, the suit claims, someone conducted a Google search for “how long to die in the cold,” moved O’Keefe’s body outside, and positioned him on the Alberts’ front lawn “near the road to make it look like Mr. O’Keefe was hit by a vehicle and that he died in the snow without ever coming into the House that night.”
The lawsuit further alleges that investigators allowed the House Defendants to “direct the investigation away from themselves, and towards Ms. Read,” emphasizing that the Alberts are “a prominent family in Canton” and that Proctor — the lead investigator — was “close personal friends” with them. Brian Albert is described as a longtime Boston police officer, while Higgins was an ATF agent at the time.
Investigators are accused of ignoring “obvious and compelling evidence” that did not support the theory that Read ran over O’Keefe.
The complaint cites O’Keefe’s injuries — including “bruises and lacerations on his face,” “a deep gash to the back of the head,” and “dog bite wounds and scratches” on his arm — as consistent with a physical assault. It alleges that his body “showed no signs of a vehicular strike.”
The filing also says that state police never examined the Alberts’ German Shepherd — described as “a dog that had a history of attacking other dogs and people” — despite the documented bite wounds on O’Keefe’s arm.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(632x0:634x2):format(webp)/karen-read-1-062525-ea6a187dcb0541d59f5540c8178c00ec.jpg)
The complaint goes on to allege that Proctor and his colleagues failed to search the Alberts’ home for nearly a week, did not seize or examine phones, carried out only cursory interviews, and allowed potential witnesses to communicate and align their stories. It also claims Proctor “secretly communicated with the Alberts” through his sister, allegedly relaying confidential information outside official investigative channels.
According to the lawsuit, Proctor wrote that Read had “zero chance [of] skating… she’s f***ed” just 16 hours after O’Keefe’s body was discovered — and before Proctor had even entered the Alberts’ home.
Read also cites several alleged private messages to accuse Proctor of demeaning and sexualizing her during the early stages of the investigation.
In one alleged message, Proctor purportedly said he searched Read’s phone “looking for naked pictures” and expressed disappointment that “there were ‘no nudes so far,’” later adding: “Hopefully she kills herself.”
Attorneys for the defendants did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
