When Sandra Birchmore was found dead in her Massachusetts home, police quickly decided it was a suicide.
asserted
it → find → home
From the start, her friends didn't believe it.
asserted
friends → believe → it
The 23-year-old had recently learned she was pregnant — and was thrilled about it, they told police.
asserted
they → learn → police
The person upset about the pregnancy, they said, was the married police detective she'd been seeing, Matthew Farwell.
asserted
she → upset → pregnancy
Five years later, Farwell, 40, is on trial in federal court, charged with killing Birchmore and staging her death to look like a suicide to hide that he had begun sexually abusing her when she was 15.
asserted
she → charge → her
State police troopers working in the Norfolk County district attorney's office never wavered from their judgment that Birchmore's death was a suicide, according to federal prosecutors.
uncertain
death → work → prosecutors
Farwell was interviewed for just 15 minutes in a parking lot, they said.
asserted
they → interview → lot
Investigators didn’t take notes, examine him for injuries or sample his DNA.
asserted
Investigators → take → DNA
Police did look at Farwell’s phone, but only after he’d deleted his texts with Birchmore.
asserted
he → look → Birchmore
“Not only did they not investigate, they very quickly told others, including the medical examiner, that this was definitively a suicide and there was no foul play,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Torey Cummings told jurors.
asserted
Cummings → investigate → jurors
Among those they reassured was Farwell’s twin brother, Billy Farwell.
asserted
brother → reassure → those
He testified that the lead investigator — a longtime family friend — told him he wanted the case closed.
asserted
case → testify → him
Billy Farwell recalled the investigator saying that he needed the investigation like he needed a “bullet in the head.”
asserted
he → recall → head
One of Farwell’s attorneys, Kimberly Stevens, acknowledged to jurors Farwell “had an affair” but insisted he is no killer.
“He has made regrettable mistakes.
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He → acknowledge → mistakes
He is human,” Stevens told jurors.
asserted
Stevens → tell → jurors
“Matthew did not kill Sandra Birchmore.”
asserted
Matthew → kill → Birchmore
The FBI began looking into Birchmore's death in 2023, partly at the urging of a former deputy chief at the Stoughton Police Department, where Farwell worked.
asserted
Farwell → begin → Department
Deputy Chief Brian Holmes had led an internal affairs investigation, but Farwell resigned before Holmes released findings that concluded Farwell had a sexual relationship with Birchmore.
asserted
Farwell → lead → Birchmore
An expert brought in by federal authorities, Dr. William Smock, concluded Birchmore was strangled with a duffel bag strap and that she struggled before dying.
asserted
she → bring → strap
Birchmore was 12 when she participated in a police mentoring program in Stoughton for children interested in careers in law enforcement.
asserted
she → participate → enforcement
Farwell, who was 24, soon friended her on Facebook.
asserted
who → friende → Facebook
Years later, they would exchange 40,000 texts, some of which were read at the trial.
asserted
some → exchange → trial
In one 2020 text, Birchmore told Farwell she would never forget the day they first had sex: April 10, 2013, when she was 15 and Farwell was 27.
asserted
Farwell → tell → sex
“Best day of my life,” Birchmore wrote.
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Birchmore → write → life
“Me too,” Farwell replied.
asserted
Farwell → reply → ?
Over time, the communications showed Farwell engaging in sexting that involved strangling or choking.
asserted
that → show → strangling
“I’ll grab your throat and say you won’t say a word to anyone or you will be sorry,” Farwell wrote in one message.
asserted
Farwell → grab → message
In 2020, prosecutors said Birchmore pressed Farwell to get her pregnant — and threatened to tell his wife about their relationship if he didn't.
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he → say → relationship
After she became pregnant late that year, she texted Farwell an image that read, “Congrats, we are going to be parents.”
asserted
we → become → image
Farwell responded that he had “nothing to say.”
asserted
he → respond → nothing
When Birchmore suggested in a text that Farwell should be present when the baby was born, he replied: “You are truly the worst person on the face of the earth.”
uncertain
You → suggest → earth
One of Birchmore's friends, Leslie Davis, testified that the two fought.
asserted
two → testify → friends
She said Birchmore told her about one fight where Farwell pushed her to the ground.
asserted
Farwell → say → ground
Birchmore had wanted Farwell to promise to identify himself as the baby's father on a birth certificate.
asserted
Farwell → want → certificate
“He wouldn’t sign it and said, ‘That’s not my baby,’” Davis said.
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Davis → sign → it
In January 2021, a woman called Stoughton police and reported Farwell's relationship with Birchmore.
asserted
woman → call → Birchmore
Farwell was incensed, saying in a text to Birchmore, “You have no idea how bad what she did is.”
asserted
did → incense → what
Twelve days later, on Feb. 1, 2021, Farwell texted Birchmore, asking to stop by her apartment.
asserted
Farwell → texte → apartment
She said he was welcome.
asserted
he → say → ?
Security camera video showed Farwell entering the building at 9:14 p.m. A digital forensics expert testified that Birchmore's phone stopped moving at 9:40 p.m., three minutes before the lobby security camera recorded Farwell leaving.
asserted
Farwell → show → p.m.
…and 16 more, not listed.
The Aporia
