Former Massachusetts police detective Matthew Farwell will remain behind bars while awaiting his murder trial, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.
According to the United States District Court (District of Massachusetts), Farwell, 40, is accused of strangling Sandra Birchmore, 23, of Canton, in 2021, then taking measures to conceal the murder.
Birchmore was three months pregnant with an unborn son. Farwell initially believed that he was father of the child, but DNA testing indicated otherwise. The father of the child is currently unknown.
Farwell is facing federal charges that include:
- Killing a witness or victim
- Killing an unborn child
“At this stage of the case, and emphasizing that this court does not have the benefit of cross-examination of witnesses and the full record which will be developed at trial, the court concludes that the evidence against Farwell is very strong, if not overwhelming,” U.S. Magistrate Judge M. Page Kelley wrote in the ruling, according to MassLive.
At the time of her death, Birch had been employed as a teacher’s assistant at East Elementary School in Sharon.
Matthew Farwell/Sloughton PD
Cause of Death
In 2021, the state Chief Medical Examiner’s Office initially labeled Birchmore’s death a suicide. At the time, Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey’s office declined to file criminal charges, Boston.com reports.
A federally-employed forensic pathologist and medical examiner gave a second opinion, backing up the medical examiner’s initial findings.
William Smock, an emergency medicine physician, conducted a third investigation and determined that Birchmore had been strangled and died by homicide.
Birchmore’s family then hired an independent forensic pathologist, who also concurred that Birchmore died by homicide.
Motive
Federal prosecutors alleged Farwell killed Birchmore to prevent her from exposing a yearslong relationship that began when he groomed her at age 15, while he was a police officer with the Stoughton Police Department.
The pair met in 2010, at the Stoughton PD’s Explorers Program, a youth mentorship initiative that aims to help children learn about careers in law enforcement. Birchmore was 12 at the time. Farwell was 24.
By 2023, the pair began having sex after Farwell allegedly spent time assisting her with school work and helping her her reach the program’s explorer sergeant rank, according to court documents.
Birchmore later told friends that she had been having a sexual relationship with Farwell, adding that she sometimes babysit for the defendant and his wife.
The Boston Globe reports that Birchmore also stated that Farwell’s brother, William Farwell, had become her “best friend” and that they eventually began “meeting her for sex in his patrol car and at other places.”
William Farwell claimed he had sex with Birchmore after she became an adult, and accused the victim of having sex with numerous men.
One of the accused, former deputy chief Robert Devine, who supervised the Youth Explorers program supervisor, denied the allegations.
William Farwell and Devine are not currently charged in the case, but both were named as co-defendants in the wrongful death lawsuit filed by Birchmore’s family.
Evidence Against Matthew Farwell
According to court documents, investigators found the defendant’s DNA on a duffel bag strap found around Birchmore’s neck. They also found his DNA around her apartment and on her underwear.
Farwell allegedly tied the strap to a closet door, in an attempt to make the death appear as a suicide.
On February 1, 2021, security footage captured Farwell driving in a snowstorm, while wearing a face mask, to Birchmore’s apartment. Footage showed him leaving the apartment shortly after Birchmore’s cell phone shut off, court documents stated.
Footage also captured him later that night arriving at a hospital, where his wife had been in labor with their baby.
Federal investigators later seized Farwell’s phone and found evidence that he accessed pornographic videos involving minors.
In 2022, amid the investigation, Farwell resigned from his job with Stoughton PD. He had been with the force for 14 years, rising to the rank of detective before his resignation.
Arrest and Trial
Federal authorities arrested Farwell on August 28, 2024. A SWAT team apprehended him at a shopping center in Revere, Massachusetts.
Farwell’s defense team unsuccessfully argued to allow him out on a $50,000 bail amount while wearing a GPS monitor. They also challenged the DNA evidence, claiming that investigators did not find Farwell’s DNA under Birchmore’s fingernails.
“Farwell is accused of an extremely serious crime: murdering Birchmore with premeditation,
knowing that she was pregnant and apparently believing that the child was his,” Kelley wrote.
“Given the nature of the crimes charged and the facts of this case, if Farwell were released and reoffended, there is a grave risk that the crime would be a serious one.”
He’s currently at a Rhode Island detention facility in Central Falls. His trial is scheduled for October 5.
The prosecution will not seek the death penalty. If convicted, Farwell faces life in prison.
[Featured image: Sandra Birchmore/Facebook]
