Former Stoughton police officer Matthew Farwell indicted on charges of killing Sandra Birchmore (2024)

Local News

Farwell allegedly killed Birchmore after being told that she was pregnant and that he was the father.

By Ross Cristantiello

updated on August 28, 2024

Prosecutors have indicted Matthew Farwell, a former Stoughton police detective, on charges that he killed 23-year-old Sandra Birchmore.

Birchmore was pregnant at the time of her death in February 2021. After being told that he was the father of the child, Farwell strangled Birchmore to death and staged the scene to appear as if she took her own life, according to documents filed by federal authorities Tuesday in U.S. District Court.

“The day after Sandra Birchmore was found dead in her Canton apartment, I ordered a lengthy and aggressive internal affairs investigation, the instructions of which made it clear that no stone should be left unturned,” Stoughton Police Chief Donna McNamara said in a statement. “The Stoughton Police Department has supported other agencies and worked with other agencies, including the FBI investigation that today resulted in a murder indictment that concluded that Sandra was killed.”

Farwell was arrested without incident at about 10:45 a.m. Wednesday morning. He was driving a gravel hauler at a shopping plaza in Revere when FBI agents arrested him, Assistant Special Agent in Charge Stephen Kelleher said at a Wednesday afternoon press conference.

Farwell was an instructor for the Stoughton Police Explorers Academy, a program meant to educate young people about careers in law enforcement. Birchmore participated in the program from 2010 to 2016. Farwell began working as an instructor in 2012, according to the indictment.

Farwell befriended Birchmore, going to the library with her and contacting her on social media. He “essentially groomed her,” Acting United States Attorney Joshua Levy said at the press conference.

When Birchmore was 15 and Farwell 27, he allegedly had sex with her. They reportedly continued to have sexual relations until early 2021, with Farwell secretly meeting with Birchmore while he was on duty. In December 2020, Birchmore told Farwell that she was pregnant with his child, according to the documents.

Birchmore was “very excited” about becoming a mother, Levy said. She bought baby clothes and took precautions to ensure the health of her child. Birchmore texted Farwell an image of a poster she had made celebrating the pregnancy, Kelleher said.

“Sandra Birchmore had good friends, she had a good job, she had dreams of becoming a nurse, and she had a child on the way. But Mr. Farwell did not share in that excitement,” Levy said.

Birchmore wanted Farwell to be involved in the child’s life. When Birchmore began making requests of Farwell, such as asking him to accompany her to doctors appointments, he reacted angrily, according to prosecutors.

Word started to spread about their relationship. Prosecutors say that a friend of Birchmore called the Stoughton Police Department on Jan. 20, 2021, and told an employee that Farwell had been having sex with Birchmore. Farwell was told about the call shortly afterward by a colleague.

Farwell “became visibly angry” when he learned about that call. He then began to physically abuse Birchmore, according to prosecutors. She reportedly told her friends that Farwell shoved her and put her in a headlock. At one point, he told her that he wished she were dead, prosecutors say.

“When it became clear to Mr. Farwell that he could no longer control Sandra Birchmore, he allegedly silenced her, permanently,” Levy said.

Farwell allegedly planned Birchmore’s murder. According to prosecutors, he requested a spare key to her apartment for the first time, and asked her to keep it a secret. A week before Birchmore’s death, Farwell visited her apartment and allegedly began looking through her closets and bathroom. This included the closet that Birchmore was later found dead in front of, Levy said.

Authorities allege that Farwell killed Birchmore on Feb. 1, 2021. After strangling her, Farwell staged Birchmore’s apartment in Canton to make it appear as if she killed herself, prosecutors wrote.

“Let me be clear: Matthew Farwell’s gun and badge did not grant him authority to violate the constitution. And it certainly didn’t entitle him to sexually abuse, exploit, and rape a child before killing her and her unborn baby in an attempt to cover up his alleged crimes,” Kelleher said.

Farwell “used his knowledge and experience as a law enforcement officer” to stage her death to look like a suicide, Levy said.

Over the last year, the FBI, Levy’s office, and state law enforcement agencies uncovered “critical” new evidence and examined existing information that led to this week’s indictment. Levy said that Farwell could face additional charges at the state level.

Authorities uncovered evidence that did not lend itself to the determination that Birchmore died by suicide. She reached out to a photographer about booking a newborn photo shoot in the hours leading up to her death. She contacted a friend about obtaining baby clothes. And Birchmore was in the middle of doing laundry at the time of her death, with one load of clothing in the washing machine and another in the dryer, Kelleher said.

Farwell is accused of killing Birchmore “with malice aforethought, willfully, deliberately, maliciously, and with premeditation.” The federal charge of killing a witness or victim carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison, and could result in the death penalty.

The state medical examiner’s office ruled that Birchmore died by suicide three months after her body was found. But earlier this summer, a forensic pathologist hired by Birchmore’s family said in a report that she was a homicide victim who died by strangulation.

Farwell and his twin brother, William, were accused of grooming and repeatedly sexually assaulting Birchmore in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Birchmore’s estate in 2022.

Authorities on Wednesday stressed that the investigation is ongoing.

“The alleged murder of Sandra is a horrific injustice. The allegations against the suspect, a former Stoughton Police Officer, represent the single worst act of not just professional misconduct but indeed human indecency that I have observed in a nearly three-decade career in law enforcement,” McNamara said. “It has been my life’s work over these past three years to ensure that justice was served. As I have stated previously, Sandra Birchmore received no justice during her life. It is imperative that justice be served in her death, and today’s actions appear to bring our society one step closer to justice.”