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On the stand:

• Det. Lt. Brian Tully, Massachusetts State Police

The Karen Read murder trial resumes Thursday with additional testimony from Massachusetts State Police Det. Lt. Brian Tully, who supervises the unit that investigated Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe’s death.

O’Keefe was found injured and unresponsive on a lawn in Canton on Jan. 29, 2022, and prosecutors say Read — his girlfriend of two years — is to blame. 

The couple had gone out drinking with friends the night before, and Read, 44, is accused of drunkenly and intentionally backing her SUV into O’Keefe while dropping him off at an afterparty after midnight on the 29th. However, lawyers for the Mansfield woman say O’Keefe entered the home and was beaten, possibly attacked by the family dog, and dumped outside in the snow. 

Tully leads the State Police detective unit out of the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office. He testified Wednesday that he first learned of O’Keefe’s injuries in a call from State Police Sgt. Yuriy Bukhenik shortly after 7 a.m. on Jan. 29. 

“Normally, I would not get a call like that, but we learned that Mr. O’Keefe was an active Boston police officer,” Tully explained. “Sgt. Bukhenik wanted to make me aware of it at that point.” 

Tully said Bukhenik and State Police Trooper Michael Proctor began investigating the case that day and provided updates as they learned new information. He testified about some of the evidence investigators found at the scene outside 34 Fairview Road, including a sneaker that matched the size, style, and color of the one Bukhenik and Proctor found with O’Keefe’s clothing at Good Samaritan Medical Center.

“The shoe that was recovered by the troopers at the hospital was a right sneaker,” Tully said. “This one found was the left, or a left.”

He also recalled conversations about the Canton Police Department’s potential conflict of interest in the case, given Canton Det. Kevin Albert’s brother, Brian Albert, owned 34 Fairview Road at the time.

“Because of the appearance of a conflict, we had made a decision that the Canton police was going to take a step back from the investigation and that State Police would do the investigation without them,” Tully noted. 

Proctor, who testified earlier this week, came under fire for his personal ties to the Alberts, as well as the vulgar texts about Read he sent to family, friends, and colleagues throughout his investigation into O’Keefe’s death. 

After becoming aware of Proctor’s texts, “I had a long discussion with him about the content and nature of them,” Tully testified. “I expressed my displeasure at his unprofessionalism and the content of them, and I reported it up my chain of command.”

Testifying earlier on Wednesday, Proctor admitted he used language that dehumanized Read, with some texts calling her a “wack job c**t” and “retarded,” and others making light of her Crohn’s disease. 

Days into the investigation, Proctor texted his sister: “Hopefully she kills herself.” On the stand, he confirmed he was talking about Read. 

“My emotions got the best of me based on the fact that Ms. Read hit Mr. O’Keefe with her vehicle and left him to die on the side of the road,” Proctor explained. “So my emotions got the best of me with that figure of speech.” 

He described his texts as “juvenile and regrettable” but said he stood by the investigation into O’Keefe’s death. 

“This investigation was done with the utmost integrity, not just by me, but my supervisors and other troopers in my office,” Proctor said.