Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor’s admitted unprofessional conduct on the stand in the Karen Reed murder trial will now affect another high-profile homicide case he is involved in.
An attorney representing Brian Walsh — the Cohasset man accused of killing his wife, Ana, in early 2023 — plans to file a motion naming Proctor as potential suspicious conduct, NBC10 Boston told .
Proctor is testifying at Reid’s trial this week. He was the case officer, the same role he had in the Walshe murder trial. Proctor was accused by Reid’s defense team of playing a role in a complicated legal job — a claim vehemently denied by Proctor and state prosecutors.
Proctor testified that in the early days of the inquest into John O’Keefe’s death he made several insulting comments about what he read in text messages – comments about his health and calling him a “c—“.
Walshe’s defense attorney, Larry Tipton, told NBC10 Boston that he has not yet concluded that there was any investigator bias involving his client, but what he heard in the Reed case raises his suspicions. His motion would name Proctor, Tipton said, as well as any other investigator involved in the Reed case.
NBC10 Boston has reached out to the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office, which is investigating both the Reid and Walshe cases. The office did not respond with comment.
Michael Proctor, the lead investigator in John O’Keeffe’s death, testified at Karen Reed’s murder trial that state police officials were among those who sent inappropriate texts about the defendant.
Legal experts told NBC10 Boston that Proctor’s behavior could have “catastrophic” implications for the state’s case during the Reed trial — and could have ripple effects on other investigations he conducted as a state trooper assigned to the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office homicide unit.
When Proctor, along with several other law enforcement officers, investigated the murder of Ana Walshe, he was the assigned case officer on the case, which led to a massive search for the missing 39-year-old Cohasset mother of three. Eventually, her husband, Brian, was accused of killing her, dismembering her body and dumping it in a dumpster. He is innocent.
Proctor said his comments about Reid were “unprofessional and regrettable” but said they had “zero impact on the facts and evidence and the integrity of this investigation.”
Shira Diener, an instructor at Boston University’s Defender Clinic, believes these developments will affect Proctor’s involvement in the Walshe trial.
“Because of the highness [the Karen Read trial]That’s well-known,” Tyner said. “I think the defense attorney would be in a very strong position to hear internal affairs reports before the trial that involved him begins — their kind of potentially biased discovery is difficult to obtain.”
Dinner added that the Commonwealth may try to avoid standing him up in future cases, “because it’s not going to come up.”
“It’s always relevant,” Tyner said. “The issue of bias is never equal to anything. It’s what we ask our jurors to do.”
The prosecution can still try its case without calling Proctor, Tyner said, by calling other witnesses to corroborate the narrative.
It’s week 7 of the Karen Reed case, and we’re now hearing for the first time from the lead investigator on the case, Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor. On Monday, he was asked to read aloud text messages he wrote in the case, which came under fire from defenses of his credibility and integrity.
Both the office and the Massachusetts Office of Public Safety and Security Administration declined to comment on Proctor’s testimony Tuesday. Massachusetts State Police also did not release a statement.
State police confirmed in March that Proctor was the subject of an internal investigation for a possible violation of department policy, but did not comment on what led them to investigate their own policy. However, sources told NBC10 Boston that the investigation is connected to the Reed case.
Proctor is certified under the POST Commission of Massachusetts, as of May 31, the latest date available. The commission provides a mandatory statewide certification system for all Bay State police officers.
