Lost in the fallout of the Karen Read murder trial is the unknown of why it took nearly a month for officials in Canton to publicize police Det. Kevin Albert’s paid administrative leave from the embattled department.
Police Chief Helena Rafferty did not respond to a Herald inquiry seeking an answer to that question and others regarding Albert’s leave on Wednesday, a day after the Select Board went public with the decision.
Town Administrator Charles Doody responded to a Herald email sent to the Select Board following the inquiry put out to Rafferty, referring the questions back to the chief.
Select Board Chairman Michael Loughran dropped the bombshell revealing Albert’s leave status Tuesday at the board’s meeting since Norfolk County Judge Beverly Cannone declared a mistrial in the Read case on July 1.
Albert has been off the job since June 13, Loughran said. His leave comes while “an outside, independent investigation is being conducted relative to his actions in a case he investigated with (Trooper) Michael Proctor approximately two years ago,” the Select Board chairman added.
The Select Board met on June 25 – the first day of jury deliberations at Norfolk Superior Court – but most of that meeting involved contention from residents over whether Rafferty’s contract should be extended.
Board members approved a one-year contract, instead of three, for the chief who has led the department since being promoted in June 2022, months after John O’Keefe’s death. In opting for the shorter contract, the board emphasized that the dust needs to settle from the Read case and cited an ongoing $200,000 audit of the department.
The board did not mention Albert’s leave at that time.
Albert is the brother of Christopher Albert, a Select Board member who recused himself from Rafferty’s contract vote. He’s also brother to retired Boston Police Sgt. Brian Albert, who owned the home at 34 Fairview Road where O’Keefe’s bloody body was found covered in snow the morning of Jan. 29, 2022.
O’Keefe, a 16-year Boston Police officer, died at age 46 when Read, his girlfriend of two years, allegedly backed her Lexus SUV into him at high speed, leaving him to die in the cold during a major snowstorm.
Read, 44, of Mansfield, has been charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating a motor vehicle under the influence and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death. A trial on those charges ended when the judge declared a mistrial last week in response to the jury reporting it was deadlocked. The Norfolk DA’s office has said it intends to re-try the charges.
The Select Board announced Albert’s leave a day after the State Police suspended Proctor, the lead investigator in the Read case, without pay.
Read’s defense attorneys have blasted Proctor and Albert’s handling of the investigation, alleging the two and others were part of a conspiracy to frame their client.
Proctor acknowledged on the stand that he and Albert communicated about coordinating aspects of the O’Keefe case even though the Canton Police Department recused itself from the investigation due to the Albert brothers’ connection to the case.
Albert did not testify during the 9-week trial that featured 74 witnesses taking the stand. Rafferty placed him on leave a day after Proctor testified he and the Canton police officer were drinking buddies.
Defense Attorney Alan Jackson took exception to text messages the two exchanged the morning after a night of drinking in July 2022 that revealed Albert had left his badge in Proctor’s cruiser.
“Which means you were drinking and driving in your cruiser, right?” Jackson asked before Proctor responded, “From what I remember, we were down on the Cape working on a cold case together, and I stopped for dinner, had a few beers, and then dropped him off.”