Trooper Bukhenik: Proctor Wasn’t Lead — Then Admits Reprimand Over Texts | Case Briefs

The Emily Show

Watch the full coverage of the live stream on The Emily D Baker YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/live/Tag0fJcx9ZI

Day 12 of the Karen Read Retrial happened on May 8, 2025. Sgt. Yuri Bukhenik was the only witness to take the stand as he walked in with bins of evidence. There was confusion regarding John O'Keefe's sneakers being initially misidentified a being the one from from 34 Fairview versus from the hospital. Special Prosecutor Hank Brennan and Bukhenik talked briefly in the beginning about Proctor, calling him Mr. Proctor instead of Trooper Proctor but we know Defense Attorney Alan Jackson will call him Former Trooper Proctor.

Sgt. Yuri Bukhenik explained that there was an investigation against him due to failure to properly Supervise Michael Proctor. His punishment was that he lost 5 vacation days. He continues to work in homicide and has not been demoted from Sargent. When Bukhenik read the text message thread from Proctor, which contained horrible messages that he said he acknowledged with a thumbs up emoji, we can only image what was going through the jurors minds.

Bukhenik presented a video timeline of Karen Read drinking at CF McCarthy's and The Waterfall before we got to Cross Examination!

Sgt. Bukhenik refused to call Proctor the Lead Investigator of this case and said he was only a "Case Agent' and/or "Case Officer." He was questioned about the integrity of the investigation and whether Michael Proctor's involvement tainted it, to which he responded that the investigation was done with honor and integrity. When asked if Proctor handled the case with honor and integrity, Bukhenik relented and only said yes with integrity.

Access to evidence, specifically John O'Keefe's clothing, was discussed, noting that "anyone with a key card" had access to the room where it was stored for six days.

The timing and documentation of evidence collection, particularly clothing and items from 34 Fairview, were questioned. It was noted that reports about the searches weren't written until November 4th, 2023, despite the events happening in February 2022!

RESOURCES

What You Need to Know About the Retrial - https://youtu.be/89Jpa8vz1RQ

Karen Read Retrial Playlist - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsbUyvZas7gKOJlfL__9F027hlETVU-vo

Karen Read Trial - 2024 - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsbUyvZas7gKUeCUzApgsEuQRXu5IXeTS

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