During the trial of a Massachusetts police officer accused of murder, jurors heard testimony that he was not the father of the unborn child carried by the woman he is accused of killing. Matthew Farwell, 40, a former officer with the Stoughton Police Department, faces a federal witness-tampering homicide charge in the death of 23-year-old Sandra Birchmore.
Prosecutors allege Farwell strangled Birchmore in early 2021 after she informed him of her pregnancy and then staged her death to appear as a suicide. Farwell has pleaded not guilty, with his defense team asserting Birchmore died by suicide after he ended their relationship.
FBI Special Agent Heidi Kelsch testified that DNA testing identified Jason Pickard, an Army recruiter from Quincy, as the biological father of Birchmore's unborn child. Birchmore and Pickard reportedly met around December 2019. Pickard is listed as a potential witness in the trial.
Despite the DNA findings, testimony indicated that both Birchmore and Farwell initially believed he was the father. In December 2020, Birchmore texted Farwell, "Congrats, we are going to be parents in 2021." Farwell's reply, according to Kelsch, was, "I literally have nothing to say right now."
Birchmore was found deceased in her Canton, Massachusetts, apartment on February 4, 2021. Crime scene photos presented to the jury depicted her heavily pregnant body near a door, with a ligature around her neck attached to the doorknob. Other images showed preparations for the baby, including an ultrasound photo on her refrigerator.
Prosecutors contend Farwell strangled Birchmore three days prior to her discovery, driven by her alleged threat to reveal their affair to his wife, who was also pregnant at the time. Surveillance footage showed Farwell entering Birchmore's apartment wearing a mask on the night of the murder. His attorneys maintain he went there to end the relationship, and she took her own life after he left.
The trial is being conducted in federal court after the FBI reinvestigated Birchmore's death, which was initially classified as a suicide. Federal investigators allege Farwell killed Birchmore to prevent her from exposing his alleged abuse, leading to the witness-tampering homicide charge.
Further complicating the case, it was revealed that Farwell's twin brother, William, also a Stoughton officer, and Deputy Police Chief Robert Devine allegedly had sexual relationships with Birchmore when she was a teenager in the police Explorers program. An internal police investigation deemed these relationships "inappropriate," while a family attorney accused the officers of exploitation. Devine has denied any sexual relationship, and William Farwell claims Birchmore was a consenting adult. Birchmore's friend had contacted the Stoughton Police Department in January 2021 to report her relationship with Matthew Farwell, a detail that emerged through FBI testimony and text messages presented in court. Farwell, in a text to Birchmore, expressed anger that their relationship was known, stating, "Your [expletive] friend called my job. WTF? You told me that no one knew about us, yet she claimed we are [expletive]."
FBI testimony also detailed texts suggesting Birchmore and Farwell discussed conceiving a child. When Birchmore learned of Farwell's wife's pregnancy in October 2020, she allegedly threatened to expose their relationship unless he agreed to have a baby with her. Farwell's response to her question about pregnancy, according to the FBI agent, was, "Not really, but you made it clear I don't have an option."