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Police officer suspended for investigation into Karen Read case refuses to testify in another sensational murder case

Michael Proctor, the Massachusetts police officer who was suspended for his conduct during the Karen Read investigation, will not testify in another high-profile case in which he was one of the lead investigators, prosecutors said.

In a Sept. 6 court filing, the Norfolk County District Attorney's Office said prosecutors do not plan to subpoena Proctor in the case against Brian Walshe, a convicted art fraudster who is accused of murder and other crimes in connection with the disappearance of his wife, Ana Walshe, last year.

The filing naming Proctor as the case officer in charge of Walshe's disappearance says a local police department involved in the investigation assigned a sergeant to the same position as the state trooper.

The department has assigned dozens of additional officers to investigate the case, the filing said.

The filing cites Proctor's testimony in the Read case, in which he said he made derogatory comments about Read to his family, friends and superiors, and states that prosecutors are currently reviewing data from the officer's cellphone.

Prosecutors are trying to figure out what information they can provide to defense attorneys in the Walshe case and other cases investigated by Proctor without compromising them, the filing said.

Walshe's attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Proctor, who testified during Read's trial that his comments were unprofessional but did not compromise the integrity of the investigation, did not respond to a message sent to a phone number listed under his name.

Immediately after Read's murder trial in the death of her boyfriend, a Boston police officer, ended without a jury verdict last July, the Massachusetts State Police relieved Proctor of his duties in his unit at the Norfolk County District Attorney's Office.

The agency had launched an internal investigation into the allegations of “serious misconduct” raised in the trial, a state police official said at the time. Proctor was later suspended without pay.

A state police spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the status of the internal investigation on Thursday.

Brian Walshe was charged last year with murder, misleading a police investigation/obstructing justice and illegal transportation of a human corpse in connection with the murder of his wife. He has pleaded not guilty.

Ana Walshe, a regional manager for a real estate company, disappeared on New Year's Day 2023. Her body was never found.

The next hearing on the matter is scheduled for October 2.

In another case, Brian Walshe admitted to selling fake Andy Warhol paintings in what federal authorities called “a years-long, multi-layered art fraud scheme.”

He passed off the Warhol “Shadows” as authentic and sold them for $80,000, prosecutors at the U.S. Attorney's Office in Boston said. He pleaded guilty to wire fraud, interstate transportation for a fraud scheme and unauthorized money transaction, prosecutors said.

In February he was sentenced to 37 months in prison.

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