Matthew Farwell convicted in Sandra Birchmore killing
A federal jury convicted former Massachusetts police officer Matthew Farwell of killing Sandra Birchmore and causing the death of her unborn child.
- Development
- 10 November 2026
- Coverage
- Verdict
- Current status
- Verdict returned
- Source record
- 3 verified sources
Federal jury returns two guilty verdicts
A federal jury in Boston convicted former Stoughton police officer Matthew Farwell on November 10 of killing Sandra Birchmore and causing the death of her unborn child. The verdict followed a trial over Birchmore's February 1, 2021 death, which state authorities initially treated as a suicide.
Jurors found Farwell guilty of one count of killing a witness or victim and one count of causing the death of an unborn child. Chief U.S. District Judge Denise J. Casper scheduled sentencing for February 3, 2027. The federal statutes require life imprisonment on both counts; the witness-killing count also authorizes the death penalty, which prosecutors did not seek at trial. [1] [2] [3]
Relationship began through a police youth program
Birchmore joined the Stoughton Police Department's Explorers program in 2010, when she was 12. Farwell served as an instructor in the program after becoming a Stoughton officer in 2012. Prosecutors said Farwell began sexually exploiting Birchmore when she was 15 and continued a relationship with her into adulthood.
The government presented thousands of messages and photographs documenting the relationship. Prosecutors said Farwell sometimes met Birchmore for sex while he was on duty. They argued that he later feared she would reveal the exploitation and that her pregnancy increased the pressure on him to prevent disclosure. [1] [2]
Apartment evidence and medical testimony were central
Prosecutors used surveillance footage and phone data to place Farwell inside Birchmore's Canton apartment building on the evening she died. They argued that he strangled Birchmore and staged the scene to resemble suicide by hanging. The trial included expert testimony about injuries and the medical findings used to distinguish strangulation from suicide.
Farwell's phone activity and his communications with Birchmore formed part of the chronology. The government said he left the apartment after the killing and went to a hospital less than 12 hours later for the birth of his third child with his wife. Federal investigators reopened the circumstances of Birchmore's death after witnesses contacted authorities in October 2023. [1] [2] [3]
Defense denied murder and challenged the evidence
Farwell acknowledged having a sexual relationship with Birchmore but denied killing her. His lawyers maintained that she died by suicide and challenged the prosecution's medical conclusions. The defense also disputed the government's account of when the relationship began, while prosecutors placed its start when Birchmore was 15.
The jury returned guilty verdicts on both counts after a trial lasting more than a month and testimony from about 50 witnesses. Jurors had told the judge they were deadlocked before continuing deliberations and reaching a unanimous decision. The verdict resolved the factual disputes against Farwell. [2] [3]
Sentencing scheduled for February
Farwell remains in federal custody awaiting sentencing on February 3, 2027. The conviction for killing a witness or victim carries a mandatory penalty of death or life imprisonment, while causing the death of an unborn child carries a sentence of at least life imprisonment. Judge Casper will impose the formal sentence.
The U.S. Attorney's Office credited the FBI and federal prosecutors with reexamining a death that had originally been ruled a suicide. The verdict does not erase the earlier failures identified during the trial, but it establishes a federal criminal judgment that Farwell killed Birchmore and her unborn child. [1] [2] [3]
Sources & further reading
- Matthew Farwell Convicted of Murdering Sandra Birchmore and Causing the Death of Her Unborn Baby ↗U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts · 2026-11-10 · Primary source
- Former Massachusetts police officer convicted of killing pregnant woman ↗Associated Press · 2026-11-10
- Former Stoughton police officer found guilty of killing Sandra Birchmore ↗WBUR · 2026-11-10
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