A former police detective was convicted Tuesday of murdering a pregnant Massachusetts woman, Sandra Birchmore, to keep her from revealing that he had sexually abused her when she was 15.
asserted
she → convict → her
Matthew Farwell, 40, was found guilty of strangling Birchmore on Feb. 1, 2021 — 12 days after a tipster called the suburban Boston police department where he worked and reported that they’d had an improper relationship.
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they → find → relationship
Birchmore, who was 23 when she died, had been in a tumultuous relationship with the detective, whom she first met while participating in a Stoughton Police Department youth program as a child.
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whom → die → child
Prosecutors said Farwell staged the crime scene to make her death look like a suicide — and that it nearly worked.
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it → say → suicide
Massachusetts State Police investigators quickly concluded that Birchmore killed herself.
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Birchmore → conclude → herself
But the FBI began looking into the case two years later and concluded it was a homicide.
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it → begin → case
Federal prosecutors harshly criticized the initial police investigation at Farwell’s trial, saying officers didn’t follow leads and closed the case too quickly.
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officers → criticize → case
Farwell’s lawyers acknowledged that the married detective had an affair with Birchmore, but said it began when she was 16, making her old enough to consent under Massachusetts law.
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her → acknowledge → law
They also maintained that he did not kill her.
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he → maintain → her
They argued that Birchmore had threatened suicide before and that she killed herself after he went to her apartment to break up with her.
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he → argue → her
Farwell’s conviction carries a mandatory life sentence.
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conviction → carry → sentence
The nearly monthlong trial — with about 50 witnesses and 500 exhibits — unfolded in federal court in Boston, partly because local prosecutors never brought criminal charges.
Massachusetts State Police officers and investigators, some with personal connections to Farwell, quickly concluded Birchmore’s death was a suicide after she was found slumped on her apartment floor with a strap around her neck.
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she → unfold → neck
One investigator, Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Fogarty told jurors, saw nothing suspicious in Birchmore’s apartment and concluded this was a “troubled girl who killed herself.”
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who → tell → herself
The state’s medical examiner, relying partly on information from police, initially ruled Birchmore died by suicide.
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Birchmore → rely → suicide
The office has since changed the official manner of death to “undetermined.”
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office → change → death
The FBI began looking into Birchmore’s death in 2023, partly at the urging of a former deputy chief at the Stoughton Police Department who had led an internal affairs investigation into Farwell based on the tip the department received before Birchmore’s death.
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department → begin → death
Federal investigators concluded the local probe into her death was rushed and compromised.
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probe → conclude → death
Farwell was interviewed for just 15 minutes in a parking lot, they said.
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they → interview → lot
Investigators didn’t take notes, examine him for injuries or sample his DNA.
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Investigators → take → DNA
Police looked at Farwell’s phone only after he had deleted texts with Birchmore.
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he → look → Birchmore
The FBI investigation uncovered about 40,000 texts between Farwell and Birchmore, including some in which they reminisced about having sex when he was 27 and she was 15 — too young to consent under Massachusetts law.
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she → uncover → law
The texts also showed how their relationship grew contentious as Birchmore pressed Farwell to get her pregnant and threatened to tell his wife about their relationship.
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her → show → relationship
Texts in late 2020, after she was pregnant, showed they argued over what role, if any, Farwell would play in the child’s life.
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Farwell → show → life
A paternity test after Birchmore’s death revealed a different man was the father.
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man → reveal → death
At trial, a digital forensics expert testified that Birchmore’s phone stopped moving three minutes before the lobby security camera recorded Farwell leaving her building on the night of her death.
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Farwell → testify → death
An expert hired by prosecutors, Dr. William Smock, testified that Birchmore’s injuries indicated she was strangled with a duffel bag strap and that she struggled before dying.
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she → hire → strap
A defense expert, Dr. Thomas Andrew, the former chief medical examiner in New Hampshire, dismissed Smock’s determination that it was a homicide.
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it → dismiss → determination
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