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Karen Read, the Boston woman acquitted of murder stemming from the death of her police officer boyfriend, is headed back to court after she filed a new lawsuit suing the Town of Canton and the Massachusetts State Police over their alleged mishandling of the investigation.
The 87-page lawsuit obtained by Digital was filed in Bristol Superior Court Thursday morning and alleges “an imbedded culture of bigotry, misogyny, systemic failures, and institutional rot at the very core of both organizations.”
Court documents include a series of expletive-laced messages exchanged between the case’s former lead investigator, ex-Trooper Michael Proctor, and former Canton Police Sgt. Sean Goode, and alleges widespread misconduct and negligence surrounding the probe into John O’Keefe’s 2022 death.
“[S]he’s a jew…so def puts out,” Goode wrote in one text, according to court documents.
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Karen Read exits Norfolk County Superior Court in Dedham, Mass., on June 18, 2025, after being found not guilty of the murder of her boyfriend, John O’Keefe. (Richard Beetham for Digital)
The filing also points to messages allegedly sent by Proctor, in which he referred to Read as a “retarded,” “whack job c—,” with “no a–.”
In a statement released to the media, attorneys Alan Jackson, Damon Seligson, and Aaron Rosenberg alleged the two law enforcement agencies fostered “a culture of bias and corruption that they built, tolerated, and hid from the public for years.”
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Karen Read gives John O’Keefe a kiss on the side of his head in an undated photograph. (Karen Read for Digital)
“Michael Proctor and Sean Goode did not slip through the cracks; they are emblematic of the failure to responsibly exercise the trust and faith the public puts in these institutions,” the attorneys added.
KAREN READ ‘DIDN’T DO THIS CRIME,’ SAYS JURY FOREMAN AFTER ACQUITTING HER OF MURDER CHARGES: REPORT
Read was acquitted of murder and manslaughter charges last year following a mistrial in the death of O’Keefe.
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Karen Read and her legal team address the media outside Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Mass., on June 18, 2025. Read was found not guilty of the murder of her boyfriend John O’Keefe. (Richard Beetham/ Digital)
At the time, prosecutors alleged Read drunkenly struck O’Keefe with her SUV and left him to freeze to death in the snowy front yard of a friend’s home in nearby Canton. However, her defense team successfully argued that Read was not responsible for O’Keefe’s death.
The development comes just days after Goode, who responded to the scene of O’Keefe’s death and testified in Read’s first trial, resigned from the Canton Police Department following an investigation into alleged misconduct, according to Boston 25. Authorities have not revealed if the probe is connected to Read’s case.
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In 2025, Proctor was fired from his position within the state police after his text messages sent about Read were read in her first trial.
Read is also facing a wrongful death lawsuit filed by O’Keefe’s family, and has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against multiple witnesses who testified against her in both murder trials.
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“Karen Read was acquitted of every charge related to John O’Keefe’s death — and now the agencies that negligently permitted virulent misogynists and bigots to target her will answer for what they built, what they concealed, and what they did to her,” Read’s attorneys wrote. “The days of hiding behind badges and promotions while peddling vile bigotry are over. The truth is coming, and with it an unflinching reckoning.”
Digital reached out to the Town of Canton, Massachusetts State Police and Read’s attorneys for comment.
