Michael Proctor, the former Massachusetts State Police trooper who led the Karen Read murder investigation, was fired on March 19, 2025, after a departmental trial board found he had sent degrading text messages about Read, shared confidential case information with people outside law enforcement, and drank alcohol while on duty. He was dishonorably discharged, lost his appeal before it concluded, and in December 2025 had his law enforcement certification suspended statewide. His conduct has since reopened questions in roughly twenty other cases he investigated.
Why He Was Fired
The Massachusetts State Police opened an internal affairs investigation after Read’s first trial ended in a mistrial in July 2024, prompted in part by a parallel federal inquiry from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.1ABC News. State Trooper Fired After Karen Read Mistrial Proctor was suspended without pay.
A three-member trial board held closed hearings over three days beginning in January 2025. It found him guilty of three counts of unsatisfactory performance and one count of consuming alcohol while on duty. The performance counts covered the derogatory text messages about Read, the disclosure of sensitive investigative details to people outside law enforcement, and the appearance of bias he created against the suspect he was investigating.2NBC Boston. Mass State Police Announce Trooper Michael Proctor Has Been Terminated The alcohol count stemmed from a July 2022 incident in which Proctor drank at dinner while on duty and then drove his state police cruiser.3CBS News Boston. Michael Proctor Massachusetts State Police Karen Read
The board recommended termination. Superintendent Col. Geoffrey Noble accepted the recommendation, saying he had “weighed the nature of the offenses, their impact on our investigative integrity, and the importance of safeguarding the reputations of our dedicated women and men in the State Police.”2NBC Boston. Mass State Police Announce Trooper Michael Proctor Has Been Terminated Proctor was dishonorably discharged on March 19, 2025.4ABC 33/40. Massachusetts State Police Fire Trooper Michael Proctor
Because his service totaled ten years and seven months, Proctor does not qualify for a state police pension, which requires twenty years. His family said the decision “lacks precedent” and pointed to his twelve-year record without prior discipline.5Boston Herald. Massachusetts Trooper Michael Proctor Fired Over Karen Read Case Actions
The Text Messages That Drove the Case
Proctor first acknowledged the texts on the witness stand at Read’s 2024 trial, calling them “unprofessional and regrettable.” The FBI had obtained them from his iCloud account during a separate federal investigation.
In messages to childhood friends, Proctor called Read a vulgar slur, mocked her appearance and a medical condition, and shared a photo of her being walked out of a police barracks. When his sister asked about the case, he wrote: “Hopefully she kills herself.”6NBC Boston. A Look Back at His Offensive Texts About Karen Read While executing a warrant on Read’s phone, he texted a colleague that he was looking for “nudes.”7NBC Boston. Karen Read Trial Day 21
Worse material surfaced later. After additional disclosures from the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office in October 2025, thousands more texts came to light. In exchanges with former Canton Police Sergeant Sean Goode, Proctor used racial slurs against Black people, wrote that responding officers should “let them die” when a Black person was involved in a crash, and made a comment referencing Hitler approvingly.8CBS News Boston. Michael Proctor Sean Goode Text Messages One message cited in Read’s later civil complaint described planting drugs on a person: “Like literally shove a [expletive] nightstick up his [expletive], plant a bag of coke on him, and be like, ‘You’re going in.'”9WCVB. Michael Proctor Protective Order Karen Read Lawsuit
The Appeal That Collapsed
Proctor appealed his termination to the Massachusetts Civil Service Commission. At an August 2025 hearing, his attorneys argued the firing was a “witch hunt” driven by media pressure, that he had been made a “scapegoat,” that his personal phone had been “infiltrated,” and that he had a reasonable expectation of privacy over messages from his own device.10CBS News Boston. Michael Proctor Karen Read Massachusetts State Police Appeal
The hearing never finished. On Friday, October 17, 2025, Proctor’s legal team received the Norfolk County disclosures containing the thousands of additional messages. Proctor signed a withdrawal letter the next day, and the appeal was officially dropped on Monday, October 20, canceling three remaining days of testimony.10CBS News Boston. Michael Proctor Karen Read Massachusetts State Police Appeal His attorney, Daniel Moynihan, said the decision was based on the new disclosures. Read’s defense attorney Alan Jackson later said Proctor “wanted no part of what those messages would reveal.”11WCVB. Michael Proctor Drops Appeal
Loss of Police Certification
On December 18, 2025, the Massachusetts Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commission suspended Proctor’s law enforcement certification, finding by a preponderance of the evidence that suspension was “in the best interest of the health, safety, or welfare of the public.”12Boston.com. Ex-Trooper Michael Proctor Suspended by POST Commission The order bars him from performing police duties anywhere in Massachusetts and directs him to surrender all remaining credentials, including any uniform, badge, firearm, cruiser, and use-of-force instruments.13Boston Herald. POST Commission Suspends Karen Read Investigator Michael Proctor’s Certification Proctor retains the right to request a hearing before a final decision. As of mid-2026, no final hearing has been publicly reported.
Proctor’s Own Account
In a June 2025 interview with NBC’s Dateline, Proctor denied framing Read or cracking the taillight on her SUV, calling the accusation “ridiculous” and saying “there’s not one piece of evidence or fact to support that, because it did not happen.” He described the messages as “juvenile” venting by someone investigating the death of a fellow police officer, saying they “do not represent me as a person or my investigative work,” and challenged critics: “What’s in your phone? What’s in your private phone, your personal phone, private conversations?”14NBC Boston. Michael Proctor Karen Read Dateline His wife, Elizabeth, said he was “incredibly remorseful.”
What It Means for Karen Read and Other Cases
Read’s retrial ended on June 18, 2025, with acquittals on second-degree murder, manslaughter, and leaving the scene of a collision. She was convicted only of operating under the influence and sentenced to one year of probation.15NPR. Karen Read Acquitted at Trial Proctor did not testify at the retrial; Jackson called him “radioactive,” while the special prosecutor argued the misconduct did not negate the physical evidence.16NBC News. Karen Read Trial Verdict
The fallout extends well beyond Read. The Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office has reviewed roughly twenty cases Proctor investigated, including up to nineteen murder cases dating back to 2017.17Yahoo News. Michael Proctor Phone Data Could Affect Cases His phone held hundreds of thousands of files going back to 2013, and the office has been providing material to defendants since at least the fall of 2025, including in cases already resulting in convictions.18MassLive. Mass Public Defender Agency Raises Concern About Cases Involving Karen Read Investigators
The most prominent case under scrutiny is the murder prosecution of Brian Walshe, charged with killing his wife, Ana Walshe. Proctor was the lead investigator, signed the criminal complaint, and served the search warrant on the Walshe home. The defense has obtained his notes and communications and is using the misconduct revelations to challenge the investigation. Jury selection is scheduled to begin in October 2026.19NBC Boston. Brian Walshe Murder Case Hearing Update Defense attorneys in several other Norfolk County murder cases, including those of Myles King, Jovani De Los Santos, and Shawn Johnson, have also sought the files.20NBC Boston. Michael Proctor Communications Murder Cases
In June 2026, the Committee for Public Counsel Services, Massachusetts’s public defender agency, formally asked the State Police for a list of every open and closed case Proctor investigated, citing his texts discussing “planting evidence on suspects.” Chief Counsel Anthony Benedetti called the information “mandatory discovery” needed to ensure “impacted defendants receive the evidence to which they are constitutionally entitled.”21Boston Herald. Mass State Police Asked for Info on Every Case Michael Proctor Investigated No convictions have been publicly reported as overturned, though at least one pending murder case has an active motion to dismiss based on Proctor’s misconduct.18MassLive. Mass Public Defender Agency Raises Concern About Cases Involving Karen Read Investigators
Karen Read’s Civil Lawsuit
On June 4, 2026, Read filed a civil lawsuit in Bristol County Superior Court against the Massachusetts State Police and the Canton Police Department, alleging “an embedded culture of bigotry, misogyny, systemic failures, and institutional rot.” The complaint accuses the departments of negligence in hiring, training, and supervising officers, citing dozens of pages of texts and recordings involving Proctor and Goode. Read seeks damages for legal expenses, professional and reputational harm, and emotional distress.22ABC News. Karen Read Files Lawsuit Against Massachusetts State Police and Canton Proctor’s attorney dismissed the suit, arguing the trooper’s personal communications “had no bearing whatsoever on the investigation of Karen Read.”23NBC Boston. Karen Read Says She’s Suing Mass State Police Canton Police The case is in its early stages.