Canton police officer suspended for his alleged conduct involving Karen Read lead investigator

Canton police have suspended officer Kevin Albert — whose brother Brian owned the house at the center of the Karen Read case — "while an outside independent investigation is being conducted relative to his actions in a case he investigated with [state police detective] Michael Proctor approximately two years ago," Canton Select Board Chairman Michael Loughran announced Tuesday night.

Speaking during Tuesday's board meeting, Loughran said police Chief Helena Rafferty placed Kevin Albert on paid administrative leave on June 13 "and will remain on leave until the results of the investigation are provided by the outside independent investigator."

Members of the audience, including some holding signs in support of Read, interrupted the statement with applause.

Read is charged with killing her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O'Keefe, by striking him with her SUV and leaving him for dead in the snow. Her defense attorneys say she was framed and allege O'Keefe may have been assaulted by someone inside Brian Albert's house before dying outside.

Brian Albert was also a Boston police officer but has since retired.

The judge declared a mistrial in the Read case after jurors said they could not come to a unanimous verdict.

During Read's murder trial, Proctor testified that he and Kevin Albert socialized and drank together, including in July 2022, when the pair were jointly working a cold case on Cape Cod. They stopped for dinner and drinks on the way home.

Read attorney Alan Jackson alleged to Proctor on the stand that "the two of you got so drunk" that Kevin Albert left his badge in Proctor's cruiser and couldn't find his gun the next day.

Text messages between the pair showed Kevin Albert asked Proctor, "did I take my gun" with a wince emoji. He later added he was hungover and he'd need a couple more drinks "to make me feel good."

That testimony came on June 12, the day before Kevin Albert was suspended.

Neither Rafferty nor the Canton police officers' union president immediately returned messages seeking comment.

Read's attorneys also alleged that Proctor and Kevin Albert coordinated aspects of the Read case even after Canton police had recused themselves from the investigation.

This week, Proctor was suspended without pay by the state police while an internal affairs investigation into his conduct during the Read investigation. On the stand, he testified about crude and demeaning texts he sent about Read. In the messages, Proctor called Read a "whack job," joked about a medical condition she has and said he wished Read would kill herself.