Jury Sees Graphic Photos in Trial of Officer Accused of Murdering Pregnant Woman
Prosecutors allege Matthew Farwell strangled Sandra Birchmore after she revealed her pregnancy, then staged her death to look like a suicide.
A federal jury has been shown graphic crime scene photographs of Sandra Birchmore, a 23-year-old pregnant woman prosecutors say was murdered by a Massachusetts police officer who had allegedly sexually abused her as a teenager.
Matthew Farwell, 40, a former Stoughton Police Department officer, is on trial for strangling Birchmore in early 2021. Prosecutors contend that after she told him she was pregnant, Farwell killed her and then used his police knowledge to stage her apartment to appear as a suicide. He has pleaded not guilty, with his defense claiming Birchmore died by suicide after he ended their relationship.
Canton Police Officer Ensley Cotard testified that he was dispatched to Birchmore's apartment for a wellness check on February 4, 2021, after she failed to report for work. Upon entering the apartment with a key from the leasing manager, Cotard discovered Birchmore's body in her bedroom. He described finding her near a door with a ligature around her neck, attached to the doorknob.
The FBI reinvestigated Birchmore's death, which was initially ruled a suicide, leading to the federal trial. Prosecutors allege that Farwell killed Birchmore to prevent her from revealing his alleged abuse, framing the case as a federal witness-tampering homicide. Opening statements indicated that Farwell strangled Birchmore days before she was found, as she threatened to inform his wife, who was also pregnant at the time, about their affair.
Surveillance footage presented in court showed Farwell entering Birchmore's apartment wearing a mask on the night of her death. His defense team argues that he was there to end their relationship and that Birchmore died by suicide after he left.
Farwell worked for the Stoughton Police Department from 2012 to 2022. Prosecutors allege he met Birchmore when she was 12 through the police explorers program and used his authority to groom and sexually abuse her when she was 15, continuing the relationship into her adulthood.
It has also emerged that Farwell's twin brother, William, also a Stoughton officer, and Deputy Police Chief Robert Devine allegedly had sexual relationships with Birchmore. Devine denies any such relationship, while William Farwell claims Birchmore was a consenting adult. An internal police investigation deemed the relationships 'inappropriate,' and Birchmore's family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit, accusing the officers of grooming and exploitation.
A DNA test confirmed that the baby Birchmore was carrying was not Matthew Farwell's.