A former Massachusetts police detectives was indicted this week in federal court in the death of Sandra Birchmore and staging her apartment to look like a suicide.
Matthew Farwell, 38, was a Stoughton Police detective when he met Birchmore in 2012 when he began volunteering for the department’s Police Explorer’s Academy, which she had joined two years earlier when she was 12.
According to the indictment, Farwell began a sexual relationship with Birchmore while she was 15, including times when he was on duty. The relationship continued as Birchmore got older, and in late 2020, when she was 23, Birchmore learned she was pregnant and told Farwell he was the father.
A month later, a friend called the Stoughton Police Department and told them about Farwell’s relationship with Birchmore. Shortly afterward, a department employee told Farwell about the call.
The indictment accuses Farwell of strangling Birchmore to death on February 1, 2021, and staging her apartment to look like a suicide.
Federal prosecutors said they were handing over the results of their investigation to state and local authorities to determine if Farwell should also face further charges.
An internal report released by the Stoughton Police Department in September 2022 concluded that three officers, including Farwell and his twin brother William Farwell, had all had sexual relations with Birchmore, CrimeOnline previously reported. The report also concluded that she committed suicide. The Farwell brothers and the third officer, Robert Devine, all resigned before the probe was completed, but no charges were filed.
The probe said that Matthew Farwell and Birchmore had an explosive argument and he ended their relationship days before her death.
According to WBTS, prosecutors say Farwell was angry when he learned of Birchmore’s pregnancy and told her to delete any evidence that they had sex before she was 16, the age of consent in Massachusetts. After her death, he researched how to delete data from his own phone.
“Let me be clear, Matthew Farwell’s gun and badge did not grant him the authority to ignore the Constitution, and they certainly did not entitle him to sexually abuse and rape a child before killing her and her unborn baby in an attempt to cover up his alleged crimes,” said Stephen Kelleher, assistant special agent in charge of FBI Boston.
Birchmore’s family has filed a wrongful death suit naming all three officers and the town and police department of Stoughton.
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[Featured image: Sandra Birchmore/Facebook and Matthew Farwell/handout]
