CANTON, Mass. — A Canton Police Department sergeant with ties to the Karen Read murder case has resigned.
In a statement shared with Boston 25 News on Wednesday, the Town of Canton announced that Sgt. Sean Goode submitted his resignation from the Canton Police Department, effective June 2, 2026.
Goode was among the officers who responded to the scene where John O’Keefe, the Boston police officer and boyfriend of Karen Read, was found dead outside a home on Fairview Road in Canton in January 2022. He also testified during Read’s first trial.
Goode was suspended from the department in October 2025 and placed on leave shortly after investigators uncovered additional “troubling” text messages on the phone of fired Massachusetts State Trooper Michael Proctor.
“His resignation does not alter the completion of this investigation, which will be submitted to the Town and the Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission‚" Canton’s statement read. “While we understand the public’s interest in such matters, Massachusetts personnel and privacy laws limit what may be publicly shared regarding employment matters. The Town will have no further comment at this time.”
After learning about allegations of misconduct against Goode, the town hired an independent investigator to conduct an investigation. Also in 2025, an independent audit of the Canton Police Department found missteps in how the Read investigation was handled.
Read was found not guilty in O’Keefe’s death during her retrial last June after a mistrial was declared over a hung jury in her first trial.
Read currently faces a wrongful death civil lawsuit filed by John O’Keefe’s family.
Read has also filed a sweeping civil lawsuit that accuses multiple Massachusetts State Police troopers and several Canton residents of conspiring to frame her.
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