Red Solo Cups, an Inappropriate Witness, Fake Videos, and the Absolutely Inept trial of Karen Read. (Part 2, the Leaf Blower)

For those wondering where the controversy is, it began on the morning Karen Read, Jen McCabe, and Kerry Roberts found the victim, Boston Police Officer John O'Keefe, near death in the snow on the lawn of 34 Fairview Avenue in Canton Massachusetts.  The precise moment it began is when Canton Police Detective Sargent Michael Lank, Sargent Sean Goode, and Lt. Paul Gallagher arrived on the scene to investigate.  These are, after all, the law enforcement officers responsible for asking a neighbor to borrow red solo cups in order to to scoop up snow to collect blood evidence, and then not sealing those solo cups, placing them in an opened Stop and Shop bag, and finally resting that bag on the floor next to an oily dirty rag in the sally port of the Canton Police Department.  Important forensic evidence was given the care that I give my kitchen counters when I am cleaning them.  

As if the evidence collection process weren't bad enough, the Canton PD made some other seriously boneheaded decisions in the early morning hours of January 29, 2022.  When they realized there was a considerable amount of snow that was covering the victim, they made the decision that the best method for removing that snow would be to use a leaf blower to blow the snow of the surface of the victim's body.  Yes, you heard correctly, a leaf blower.  Any trace physical evidence was likely destroyed during this time and who knows what would have happened had a proper investigation had been conducted.  

Now Canton PD can't be completely to blame.  Canton, according to records searches, had not had a homicide since before the year 2000, and was obviously ill equipped to handle a crime of this magnitude.  To be even more fair to the Canton PD, the Massachusetts State Police initially refused to come to the scene, and the Canton PD were the only investigators to process the scene until at least 9 am on January 29, 2022.  

So the evidence, from. Jump Street, was not collected and handled appropriately, and it doesn't get any better throughout the rest of the investigation.  The next phase of the controversy is the events that took place once the case was handed over to the Massachusetts State Police and a pair of all star investigators who have and will continue to play a major role in how the strength of the Commonwealth's case appears to the jury and to the public.  

Enter Michael Proctor, a 10+ year veteran of the Massachusetts State Police, and lead investigator in the case against Karen Read.  Mr. Proctor discovered and processed a majority of the major pieces of evidence in the case against Karen Read.  This is a man who, according to defense attorney David Yannetti, after he seized Karen Read's phone, sent text messages to his friends expressing his displeasure that he was not able to find any "nudes" on her phone.  In other text messages to his friends he referred to Karen as a "cunt" and made statements like "I hope she kills herself" in reference to her.  We are obviously talking about one of the State's very finest members of law enforcement so just remember what was said here, when you hear Michael Proctor's name moving forward, when determining the validity of the evidence in the case against Karen.  

Now we move on to thing 2!  I say Thing 2 because when I look at Massachusetts State Police Sargent Yuri Bukhenik's face, no other description comes to mind other than "thing." Yuri is Proctor's side kick, even though during trial he said he was Proctor's supervisor.  During trial Yuri has been quick to point out that several pieces of evidence were collected, and processed by Michael Proctor.  This includes items of clothing from the victim that were not processed through the crime lab until March 14, 2022.  Thing 2 said the items were soaking wet and may have been drying on butcher paper in the 6 weeks it took for the crime lab to receive the clothing items.  

There may be many of the 6 people reading this that are wondering where the inappropriate witness comes into play.  The Commonwealth witness I am referring to is Julie Albert, and the inappropriate part refers to her pronunciation of Thing 2's name.  She referred to Yuri during trial as "Sargent Bukaki."  While not only making the entire courtroom laugh, it has become the template for countless memes surrounding the Karen Read trial since.  If you are unfamiliar with the term "Bukaki," I would urge you to google it, but it may result in the destruction of any positive thoughts you may have had about me up until this point.  Better safe than sorry!

Troopers Proctor and Bukaki were responsible for conducting interviews of many of the critical witnesses that the Commonwealth has called to the stand thus far during trial.  This includes the interviews of the homeowners of 34 Fairview, Brian and Nicole Albert, who claim they slept through ambulances, fire engines, police cars, and screaming Karen Read, until Jen McCabe snuck in, without notifying police, to alert her sister who was allegedly still asleep.