DAY 14: Karen Read Retrial
Sgt. Bukenhik’s third — and last — day on the stand.
It was another full day with Sgt. Bukhenik on the stand, but thankfully the attorneys were able to wrap it up by the last hour. The first part of the day was cross-examination, and the last portion was redirect and recross-examination.
SGT. YURI BUKHENIK (MSP Investigator):
CROSS EXAMINATION:
THE SNOWPLOW DRIVER
Defense asks Yuri if he recalls a snow plow driver mentioning that he saw a Ford Edge vehicle at 34 Fairview around 3:30am. Yuri says this sounds about right, but doesn’t have reports in front of him.
Defense asks if he recalls the snow plow dispatch time as 2:30 am. Yuri says he believes so.
Did you ask if the homeowners owned a Ford Edge? No.
RING CAMERA
Ring corporation sent investigators the key login of data & time video recordings were triggered during the timeframe in question.
Defense asks if there was any indication that the defendant, Karen Read, logged into John’s home RING device? Yuri says no.
After John’s phone was seized, at some point the RING app was opened by investigator Trooper Proctor. Yuri confirms yes.
INJURIES
Defense asks Yuri about John’s injuries. You mentioned seeing bruising on his arm? Yuri says, I saw bruising on his hand. No sign of bruising on upper arm area where abrasions were that he recalls.
Defense Attorney Jackson has Yuri describe what lividity is to the jury. He then asks if the photo of John’s upper arm showing discoloration looks like there is lividity. Yuri says he can’t see discoloration in that photo and disagrees that there is a sign of lividity.
TRIP TO DIGHTON & SUV SEIZURE
Defense asks if 4:12 pm sounds like the right time Yuri and Proctor left Karen’s parent’s house in Dighton, and followed the tow truck with her SUV back to CPD. Yuri says he’d have to review the video evidence and reports to confirm the exact time, but it sounds about right.
Proctor’s report had written 5:30 PM as the time they left Dighton, which was incorrect. Defense asks Yuri if he corrected it on the report, and Yuri says no.
Defense says Proctor took an oath to his reports, but he wasn’t aware there was home security camera at Karen’s parent’s home outside that documented the time earlier.
SUPERVISION and TEXTS
Defense asks the Sgt. about his role as a supervisor. You’re responsible to supervise? Yes.
Trooper Proctor was in your charge? Yes. You were responsible for the quality control of subordinates? Yes.
Proctor’s group chat text thread from August 2022 (over 7 months after Karen was originally charged with manslaughter) was brought up again in trial.
At one point an officer had texted the group this photo of Karen’s attorney, David Yannetti.
In response to that text photo, Proctor sends 3 texts one after the other…
“Funny. I’m going through his retarded client’s phone right now.”
“No nudes so far.”
“I hate that man. I truly hate him.”
Yuri says he acknowledged the first text Proctor sent with a thumbs up emoji. Another officer did a thumb’s down emoji for the second text.
Defense says you did not intervene as a supervisor regarding the “no nudes…” text, and Yuri says he did not.
Trooper Fanning is Yuri’s supervisor who was also in the text thread, and he did not intervene either.
Defense brings up the statement that Yuri made several days prior that Proctor investigated the case with integrity. Jackson asks if these texts are showing integrity? Yuri says no. How about Honor? Yuri says no. Yuri agrees they were inappropriate.
During this timeframe (after inappropriate texts sent), Yuri did a performance review for Proctor and marked his oral and written communication as ‘exceptional’.
Defense asks about the time that Proctor and Yuri headed to the home of Chris and Julie Albert (Chris is Brian Albert’s brother. Him and his wife were at the Waterfall bar that night, but did not go to 34 Fairview afterwards).
Jackson asks Yuri if Proctor told him about a connection he had to the family, and Yuri says, yes. Prior to entering the house, Proctor told Yuri he knows of the family, but that they are not his friends. Yuri asks if he feels comfortable interviewing them, and Proctor says yes. Yuri says he was there with him and would oversee it.
There is an objection made around this point and a side bar. The judge decides to hold a short voir dire at lunch time to see if Yuri has the awareness/knowledge to even speak on this topic of Proctor any further.
SECURITY CAMERAS AT THE POLICE STATION
Proctor requested the security surveillance of CPD for evidence collection, and Yuri delivered the video footage to him.
Defense shows security footage of what appears to be Brian Higgins arriving at the station parking lot around 1:30 am in the Jeep with a snow plow on the front.
Using different camera footage, Defense shows Higgins walk into the station for about 6 minutes, and then exit back out to the parking lot. The video is somewhat grainy, but as he walks back towards his vehicle, there is a moment where it looks like his phone lights up near his face.
Video clips then show Higgins walking from his Jeep to the vehicle parked next to it and the one in front. Higgins explained in the first trial that his boss wanted the vehicles to be parked as close as possible to the center so the parking lot area could be cleared. Here’s that clip. (Thank you Julie Carpenter for helping me locate it.)
Jackson asks if Yuri sees a duffle bag at one point, but Yuri says he can’t tell. (I personally could not tell either watching it). Eventually Higgins drives away around 1:45pm.
Yuri says he knows Brian Higgins in a professional manner, but they have no friendship outside of work.
Jackson asks if Higgins offered to hand over his entire phone? Yuri says no. (Although not clarified well here, we do know from previous testimony that Higgins handed over an extraction report of all his conversations/texts with Karen and John without being asked.)
Jackson asks if Yuri requested for Higgins to hand over his phone, and Yuri says no.
Do you know where the phone is today? Yuri says no.
INDOOR SALLY PORT GARAGE
Defense says that Yuri described one of the security cameras as providing a fair and accurate depiction of the internal Sally Port garage last trial, and Yuri agreed. (If you watched the last trial, you’ll recall that Yuri was unaware it was showing in a mirrored image until it was pointed out.)
Yuri states a mirrored image is still accurate.
Jackson shows security footage of when the tow truck driver had arrived with the vehicle. Tow truck driver exits the SUV at one point, and then exits garage. Proctor is seen on the other side of vehicle near the back right taillight briefly. Another person is seen walking out of garage, and then Proctor exits the garage. Jackson asks if one of the men exiting the garage is Officer Berkowitz, and Yuri says it could be. He can’t tell.
Jackson asks Yuri if the time of this security footage was prior to the first taillight pieces being found by the SERT team at 34 Fairview. Yuri says he would need to look at the timestamps, but could be.
Jackson plays a video clip from an alternate camera in the garage. The footage time jumps about 45 minutes ahead.
REDIRECT:
We learn…
The mirrored (inverted) security camera in the Sally Port garage is one of multiple other city cameras (at the station and across town) that have a lens that records inverted.
The same camera in the Sally Port has been recording in that manner prior to 1/29/22. A raw video from one month prior was provided to confirm this.
Prosecutor Brennan asks Yuri if he was aware that the other camera that was skipping in and out of time, was in ‘poor health’? Yuri says he was not aware.
A video of the tow truck arriving at the station is shown at about 5:31 PM. The SUV pulls into the garage at about 5:36 PM.
No one removed any evidence from the broken taillight.
Yuri says he knows the SERT team was dispatched at some point, but was unclear the time when they arrived at Fairview to begin searching.
We know from SERT Leader O’Hara’s testimony that he arrived to the scene at 4:56 PM. Here’s a reminder of the SERT timeline…
About 5:45 PM was when the first item was found by SERT.
Yuri and Proctor never went to Fairview that evening.
Yuri says he never handed anyone anything, nor saw Proctor hand anyone anything to bring to Fairview.
Once Yuri and Proctor secured the seized vehicle in the garage, they headed into the station. They were in the dispatch area, as well as the conference room. Eventually headed to get dinner in Norwood, and then returned to the station around 7:30-ish pm.
They were debriefed at some point regarding the evidence located by the SERT officers. A shoe was located and a shard of taillight.
Yuri headed home at about 8 pm.
Prosecutor Brennan shows the photo of Karen’s vehicle with a hole in it at 8:30 am on 1/29/22, as well as the photo of the vehicle in evidence after the snow had melted. Yuri says both depict the taillight he saw with a large hole.
FOLLOWING LEADS
Sgt Yuri has no connection to any of the witnesses other than a vague business relationship with Brian Higgins. When first called regarding a man in the snow, he had no first-hand knowledge of the events, witnesses, crime scene, etc.
Sgt. Yuri is the one who called Trooper Proctor (on call officer) when receiving the ‘man in the snow’ alert.
Brennan re-highlights that Yuri was an MSP officer for 10 years at that point, and military vet with honorable discharge.
When Yuri and Proctor arrived at CPD the morning that John was found in the snow, they were informed about the recovered evidence at the scene:
Broken cocktail glass
John’s phone
Girlfriend made statements like, ‘Did I hit him?’
Yuri then called the Medical Examiner.
After that he wanted to interview the 3 women who found John in the snow.
The investigators arrived at the McCabe’s home, and separated Jen McCabe, her husband (Matt) and Brian Albert (brother-in-law) for interviews.
Yuri says they chose not to interview witnesses at the station at that point because the driving conditions were bad due to the blizzard, and the witnesses had just endured a tragedy. Yuri said they were understanding that it would be more comfortable for witnesses in their own home.
No one was a suspect at that point.
No witness saw John go into the Fairview home.
Canton Police had already gone into the Fairview home and interviewed witnesses there.
All evidence and interviews are a trust-by-verify process. No witnesses had any concerning demeanors, etc.
Yuri and Proctor went to Good Samaritan Hospital to view John’s injuries. This is where Yuri’s theory shifted from a cocktail glass injuring John to a vehicle. He said the injuries showed that something with much more force had caused John’s head wound. That’s the point that the investigators decided they wanted to view the SUV in question.
Yuri wanted to see if the hood and headlights showed damage, assuming it was the front of car that hit John because that’s the most common type of vehicular-pedestrian accident. He then learned that witness Jen McCabe told an officer about the broken taillight.
Proctor and Yuri drove to Dighton (Karen’s parents’ home) to interview Karen. Karen’s father remained in the living room with Karen when interviewed. Yuri is unsure where Karen’s mother was in the home at that time.
Yuri said they didn’t have her go to the station for the same reason no other witnesses were made to go back to the station. The driving conditions were bad, and everyone had just endured a tragedy. Yuri had concern for Karen’s wellbeing knowing that she had been sectioned earlier for suicidal comments.
Karen’s demeanor was: calm, stoic, poised.
She sat on the couch, and had a pillow in her lap. Laptop to her side.
Karen said she never saw John go into the house.
MORE EVIDENCE THAT POINTED AT KAREN
Interviews with medics saying they heard the defendant say she ‘hit him’.
Medic Whitley interview saying that Karen mentioned she had been fighting with John that night.
Digital evidence was collected from phones (voicemails, texts, geolocation)
SUV techstream data was pursued.
All evidence was building on one another.
John’s pants have what appear to be grass stains on the rear of them indicating his body made contact with the lawn and slid.
His hat had been found at ground level practically frozen to the grass/road indicating the hat was on the street before the snow storm came in stronger later.
Higgins texts with the defendant and John were viewed. No signs showing any motive to harm John in those conversations. No signs of any hostility between John and Higgins or Brian Albert.
Yuri shows more taillight pieces collected be LE to the jury.
RECROSS-EXAMINATION
Jackson says that if there is no motive for murder found, was there any signs of motive for Higgins to want to confront or harm John due to jealousy. Yuri says, no.
Brian Higgins’ “um well…” text to Karen show his frustration? Yuri says that text could have lots of different meanings. We don’t know if Higgins and Karen conversed at any point, or made eye contact, etc. To put meaning to that text
Jackson says drinking alcohol for hours could lead to physical altercations. He mentions the clip of Higgins waving in the bar, suggesting that Higgins was telling John to come outside. Yuri says he could have been waving at people to head over to the party. There was no altercation outside of the bar suggesting any arguments.
Jackson questions Yuri about John’s pants stains that appear like grass stains. Yuri says he didn’t test the pants for grass stains, its an observation.
Jackson asks if the pants look like they have drag marks, and Yuri disagrees.
What a Day!!!!