A high-ranking Massachusetts State Police trooper returned to the stand Thursday in the Karen Read murder trial.
Massachusetts State Police Sgt. Yuriy Bukhenik testified Wednesday, and much of his testimony focused on the broken taillight on Read’s SUV. He was questioned about his investigation. He was the on-duty supervisor on the day Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe’s body was found.
He talked about his police work and also described his first interview with Read on the morning of Jan. 29, 2022.
“She stated, quote, I don’t know, it happened last night,” Bukhenik said.
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Sgt. Yuriy Bukhenik was back on the stand Thursday, taking questions from Karen Read’s defense about the investigation and about Trooper Michael Proctor, another central figure in the case.
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Read is accused of hitting O’Keefe, her boyfriend, with her SUV and leaving him to die on the lawn of fellow Boston Police Officer Brian Albert on Fairview Road in Canton, Massachusetts, on Jan. 29, 2022.
Video shared with jurors Wednesday showed Read’s SUV backing up into O’Keefe’s car in his own driveway and then driving off. Her defense said that’s how the taillight got damaged. another surveillance video showed Read and her father later looking at the taillight outside in the snow.
There was a lot of evidence on display Wednesday, halfway through week 6 in the Karen Read trial. Things got off to a slow start with two forensic scientists on the stand, but things picked up when a high-ranking state police trooper was called to testify. The prosecution still has about 30 names left on the witness list.
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NBC10 Boston asked Read outside court Wednesday how the taillight got damaged.
“You saw it. I backed up into John’s car,” she said.
Bukhenik also described how many drinks Read had while out at bars the night before O’Keefe’s death. He counted seven at C.F. McCarthy’s before Read left to go to the Waterfall Bar and Grill.
Thursday is expected to be a half day of testimony. The trial will not be in session on Friday.
Massachusetts State Police Sgt. Yuriy Bukhenik returns to the stand
Massachusetts State Police Sgt. Yuriy Bukhenik returned to the stand Thursday morning, and was asked again how many drinks Read consumed on the night before O’Keefe’s death. Between C.F. McCarthy’s and the Waterfall, he said she had nine drinks.
He also testified that Ring video obtained from O’Keefe’s home on the night before he died did not include the time period when Read returned to the home in her SUV.
Bukhenik also talked about the morning of Feb. 3, 2022, when he, Trooper Michael Proctor and another state police trooper conducted a secondary search at 34 Fairview Road since the snow was now melting and they believed that some potential evidence might be missing, including O’Keefe’s baseball cap.
He said they located the hat, a drinking straw from a cocktail glass, and several pieces of colored plastic on the grass portion of the yard near the flagpole. Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally then introduced several photos into evidence showing the items that were recovered that day.
Bukhenik said he returned to 34 Fairview Road the following day. He said he advised everyone in his unit to drive by the location on their way to and from work in case other items showed up as the snow continued to melt.
On the morning of Feb. 4, 2022, he said he went by the scene after receiving a call from Canton police saying they had found additional evidence at the scene. He said the items, 20 pieces of broken plastic and glass, were found on the lawn.
Lally also introduced O’Keefe’s baseball cap and other items recovered from 34 Fairview Road into evidence.
Bukhenik also talked about an interview he and Proctor conducted in the wake of O’Keefe’s death with Nicole Albert inside her home at 34 Fairview Road. He said Nicole Albert’s husband, Brian Albert, was also in the room at the time.
Lally also played a short audio clip from an interview Bukhenik conducted with Read on June 9, 2022.
“You’re aware he was beaten up by Brian and [his nephew] Colin Albert,” Read said in the audio clip, the first time jurors have heard her voice during the trial. “I mean, we’re all in on the same joke, right? My taillight is cracked and John was pulverized.”
At that point, Bukhenik said he advised Read not to say anything further.
Shortly before 10:30 a.m., defense attorney Alan Jackson began cross-examining Bukhenik, and he started by asking about the Ring videos at O’Keefe’s home. He asked who wrote the warrant seeking the Ring videos and controlled them once received from the company.
Bukhenik said it was Proctor who did all of that. And he said there was no evidence that Read had ever logged into or manipulated the Ring video in any way.
Jackson also asked Bukhenik if he ever communicated that he suspected O’Keefe’s death might have been related to a physical altercation instead of being hit by a vehicle. Bukhenik said he did at one point communicate that detail to the medical examiner’s office.
Despite that belief, Bukhenik acknowledged that neither he nor Proctor conducted any interviews in the following days with anyone inside the Albert home. He said he also never took any photos inside the home or secured the home as a potential crime scene.
Jackson also attempted to show that Proctor would have had access to the evidence in the case, given that he was the case officer for the O’Keefe investigation.
Bukhenik was also asked by the defense about Feb. 4, 2022, when he stopped by the home on Fairview Road after learning that former Canton Police Chief Kenneth Berkowitz had found what appeared to be broken pieces of taillight on the lawn.
Jackson asked if Bukhenik found it suspicious that the police chief whose department had removed itself from the investigation due to potential conflicts was collecting evidence at the scene. But Bukhenik said he did not see that as a problem.
The defense then showed a Ring video from O’Keefe’s house showing Read’s SUV backing up and appearing to at least come close to hitting O’Keefe’s parked vehicle based on the way O’Keefe’s vehicle moved.
Jackson also asked about a video shown Wednesday showing the sallyport at the Canton Police Department where Read’s SUV was kept during the investigation. When Bukhenik was unable to recall the specific video, Jackson had it displayed on screen in court.
The court appeared to show a mirror image of the sallyport, as the number four was inverted on the wall. Jackson at one point asked Bukhenik if the video was backward.
“It’s a mirror image,” Bukhenik said. “It’s accurate. I don’t know why it’s that way.”
Was a video shown in court Wednesday during the Karen Read murder trial flipped? Here’s what NBC10 Boston commentator and analyst Sue O’Connell had to say in the latest episode of “Canton Confidential.”
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Bukhenik was still on the stand being cross-examined when court wrapped up for the day. There will be no testimony Friday in the case.
After the jury was dismissed Thursday, Judge Beverly Cannone said she received a motion from the prosecution on Thursday morning that she had not had time to read. She suggested taking a look at it and returning to court at noon, but defense asked for an opportunity to argue the motion so Cannone said she will hold a hearing on the motion at 8:30 a.m. Monday, before testimony resumes.
Cannone also said at the end of the day Thursday that she expects the jury to get the case for deliberations by the last week of June.
Next week, there will be full days of testimony on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, but no testimony on Tuesday.