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Karen Read investigator Michael Proctor drops appeal to reverse State Police firing
The ex-trooper withdrew his appeal following unspecified “disclosures” Friday, his attorney said.
Fired over his conduct during Karen Read’s high-profile murder case, former Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor has dropped his Civil Service Commission appeal to get his old job back, his lawyer said Monday.
“Based upon disclosures made available to our office on Friday, October 17, 2025, the Appeal of Michael Proctor was withdrawn today,” attorney Daniel Moynihan confirmed via email.
More on Michael Proctor:
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Michael Proctor’s text messages ‘affect everything that he does’ as an investigator, trooper alleges in hearing
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‘An exemplary trooper’: Ex-trooper Michael Proctor fights for his job back at civil service hearing
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‘It’s a figure of speech’: Michael Proctor addresses texts, Karen Read investigation in ABC interview
Addressing the commission earlier this year, Moynihan argued Proctor was an “exemplary trooper” who was “made to be a scapegoat” amid intense public scrutiny surrounding Read’s case. Proctor led the investigation into the death of Read’s boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe, and was one of several investigators implicated in her defense team’s claims of a law enforcement conspiracy to frame Read for murder.
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State Police fired Proctor in March following an internal investigation and lengthy suspension, pointing in part to the texts he sent friends, family, and coworkers about Read and her case. In those messages, Proctor called Read a “wack job c**t” and “retarded,” made crass remarks about her appearance and medical history, joked about looking for nude photos on her cellphone, and expressed hope that she would kill herself.
Stephen Carley, a lawyer for the State Police, used Proctor’s own words against him in August when he described the texts as “Distasteful. Unprofessional. Inappropriate. In poor taste. Juvenile. Sexist. Disgusting. Dehumanizing.”
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Read was acquitted of murder and manslaughter charges in June, though the dust from her case is still settling in Norfolk County and beyond. Proctor’s Civil Service Commission appeal was set to resume Tuesday with three days of additional testimony.
Moynihan did not elaborate on the disclosures that prompted the ex-trooper to withdraw his appeal. However, the date he gave coincided with a notice from the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office regarding information from Proctor’s cellphone that is potentially relevant to other cases he investigated.
Those criminal matters notably include the murder case against Brian Walshe, who stands accused of killing and dismembering his wife, Ana, at their Cohasset home in January 2023. Walshe’s lawyers had previously questioned whether material from Proctor’s phone could contain relevant exculpatory information in his case and others.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys from several cases met Monday to discuss the matter further.
Livestream via NBC10 Boston.
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