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An ex-Massachusetts detective has been found guilty of killing Sandra Birchmore, whose death was initially ruled a suicide before federal investigators reopened the case.
Matthew Farwell, formerly with the Stoughton Police Department, was convicted Tuesday of killing Birchmore, 23, who was pregnant when she died in February 2021.
Prosecutors said Farwell strangled Birchmore before staging the scene inside her apartment to make it appear as if she had taken her own life. He was convicted of killing a witness or victim and causing the death of an unborn child.
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The verdict marked a dramatic reversal in a case that initially ended with authorities concluding Birchmore had died by suicide. Federal authorities later took over the investigation, and Farwell was arrested in 2024.
Jury Reaches Verdict in Matthew Farwell Trial
Farwell was convicted on both federal counts. Although he was not charged with murder under state law, the federal case required prosecutors to prove that he killed Birchmore. He now faces life in prison, with sentencing scheduled for February.
The verdict came after jurors had appeared unable to reach an agreement. On Monday, they informed U.S. District Judge Denise Casper that they were deadlocked before returning a conclusion of guilty on Tuesday.
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Prosecutors argued that Farwell killed Birchmore to prevent her from exposing their relationship and his sexual abuse of her.
The two met through the Stoughton Police Explorers program. Prosecutors said their sexual relationship began when Birchmore was 15 and Farwell was a 27-year-old police officer. Farwell's attorneys maintained during the trial that Birchmore died by suicide and that he did not kill her.
Prosecutors said Farwell strangled Birchmore on February 1, 2021, after she became pregnant and believed he was the father of her unborn child. DNA evidence later established that he was not the father.
Who Was Sandra Birchmore?
Birchmore first applied to join the Stoughton Police Explorers program in 2010. Prosecutors said she met Farwell in 2012, when she was 15, and that the relationship developed a sexual component while he was 27.
She died in her apartment in Canton, Massachusetts. Her death was initially ruled a suicide. Authorities did not charge Farwell until 2024, after federal authorities took over the case.
After Tuesday's verdict, Birchmore's family sharply criticized the authorities who initially handled the case and thanked federal investigators for pursuing it.
"We want to thank the FBI for picking up the Stoughton (Internal Affairs) report and rigorously investigating Sandra's death when the Massachusetts State Police would not," a representative for the family said outside the courthouse.
The family also criticized Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey and prosecutor Lynn Beland for not prosecuting Farwell. Morrissey's office responded that its "ability to prosecute was constrained" because Birchmore's manner of death was originally classified as suicide.
Matthew Farwell Family: What We Know
Farwell was married during his relationship with Birchmore.
His twin brother, William Farwell, was also a Stoughton police officer and testified during the federal trial. William Farwell testified under immunity that he also had sexual relations with Birchmore when she was an adult. Former Stoughton Police Deputy Chief Robert Devine had improper communications and sexual contact with Birchmore as well, according to investigators and state police oversight records.
The conclusion of the criminal trial also turns attention toward a wrongful-death lawsuit filed in 2022 by Birchmore's aunt, Darlene Smith, on behalf of her estate. The lawsuit names Matthew Farwell, William Farwell and Devine, along with the town of Stoughton and its police department.
Smith is Birchmore's closest living relative, and her attorney, Steven Marullo, has represented the estate in the civil case. The lawsuit had largely been paused while the federal criminal case against Farwell proceeded.
Newsweek contacted Marullo for comment Tuesday night about the verdict, whether the family believes there should be further accountability over the original investigation and what the conviction means for the pending lawsuit.
Matthew Farwell's conviction comes more than five years after Birchmore's death and two years after federal authorities arrested him.
Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here. Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Edward T. Cummins
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