Karen Read case: MSP removes Lt. Brian Tully as chief of Norfolk County detective unit

BOSTON — The Massachusetts State Police has removed Det. Lt. Brian Tully as the head of the detective bureau posted at the Norfolk DA’s office and is ready to hire someone else for the job.

The MSP’s new leader, Col. Geoffrey Noble, “has conducted an initial review and believes this decision is in the best interest of the Department’s public safety mission,” according to a statement by MSP spokesman Tim McGuirk.

Tully and two of his underlings, Sgt. Yuriy Bukhenik and Trooper Michael Proctor — who served as the “case officer” of the investigation — took the stand in the Karen Read murder trial, which was declared a mistrial on July 1 after juror notes indicated an impasse. They were each subsequently put under internal review.

Tully and Proctor remain under investigation, with Proctor currently out of work but not quite fired. Bukhenik was forced to “forfeit five days of accrued leave” but is still working.

While Bukhenik was the first of the trio to testify, it was Proctor’s testimony that blew up. He admitted on the stand to using “regrettable and unprofessional comments” in talking about Read in texts to friends and co-workers, including calling her “a babe” and a “whack job” and hoping that she kills herself.

In a Friday night MSP statement, a spokesman confirmed that Tully has been moved to a temporary assignment in the MSP Division of Investigative Services, but will continue to “be available to assist … with any cases in which he was previously involved.”

Tully headed the detective bureau stationed at the Norfolk District Attorney’s office during the investigation into the death of Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe on Jan. 29, 2022. O’Keefe’s girlfriend, Karen Read, 44, of Mansfield, was charged with his murder.

The investigation was a target of Read’s defense, which claims that Read was framed by a massive police and prosecution cover-up.

The chief of the office oversees about 20 troopers tasked with investigating unattended deaths, narcotics and organized crime, sexual assault and abuse, larceny and related, financially motivated crimes. The office is also equipped with a digital evidence processing lab.