The Canton Police Department placed Kevin Albert, brother of Brian Albert, on paid administrative leave following testimony from Michael Proctor in the Karen Read trial.
Days after the trial against Karen Read ended with a hung jury, officials in Canton, Massachusetts, are revealing more fallout from the case.
The Canton Police Department placed Kevin Albert on leave last month, Chair Michael Loughran announced Tuesday at a Canton Select Board meeting.
"Chief [Helena] Rafferty has placed Kevin Albert on paid administrative leave," Loughran said, "while an outside independent investigation's being conducted relative to his actions in a case he investigated with Michael Proctor approximately two years ago."
One of Albert's brothers, Brian Albert, is a Boston police officer who owns the Fairview Road home where John O'Keefe — Read's boyfriend and a fellow Boston police officer — was found unresponsive in the snow on the morning of Jan. 29, 2022.
His other brother, Chris Albert, serves on the Canton Select Board.
Massachusetts State Police began investigating O'Keefe's death because of Kevin Albert's position with the Canton Police Department. Proctor became the lead investigator.
During the trial, Proctor acknowledged being close with his sister, Courtney Proctor, who is the best friend of Chris Albert's wife, Julie.
He also testified about his relationship with Kevin Albert, with whom he went out drinking about five months into the Read investigation on July 19, 2022.
After a night of drinking, Kevin Albert left his badge in Proctor's cruiser and reportedly couldn't find his gun.
"Found your badge in my cruiser this morning," Proctor texted Albert the next morning.
Albert told him to leave it in his mailbox, and then said, "Did I take my gun?" and included a wincing face emoji.
State police have suspended Proctor without pay pending the outcome of an internal investigation for his behavior while investigating Read.
Loughran said Albert has been on paid leave since June 13 "and will remain on leave until the results of the investigation are provided by the outside independent investigator."
Proctor's testimony about Kevin Albert came one day earlier on June 12.
More on the Karen Read case
Chris Albert apologized Tuesday for his recent verbal altercations that were in the public eye.
"As many of you know, I've had two recent verbal altercations with members of the public outside of my role as a select board," Albert said at the meeting. "Despite the tremendous harassment, stress and anxiety that my family, extended family and I have been subjected to over the past 16 months, my actions were inappropriate, and as an elected official, I am held to a higher standard, and I understand that the residents of Canton expect public officials to always conduct themselves professionally and focus on the business of the town. I apologize for my recent reaction and will refrain from any further public incidents that are unbecoming as a member of this Canton Select Board."
Read was charged with murder, manslaughter and leaving the scene of a crash resulting in death. Her defense has argued that she was framed in a coverup involving Proctor, members of the Albert family and others. A mistrial was declared last week, and the state has said it will retry the case.
NBC10 Boston's Marc Fortier and Asher Klein contributed to this report.
