Former officer charged with murder of 23-year-old pregnant woman

A former Stoughton, Massachusetts, detective was charged this week with the murder of a pregnant woman, who he alleged had sexually exploited her since she was 15 as part of a youth vocational training program.

The death of 23-year-old Sandra Birchmore in 2021 was initially ruled a suicide, but her family and supporters spoke out about her death for years, alleging in local media, online posts and a lawsuit that Matthew Farwell — the alleged father of her unborn child — was responsible.

On Wednesday, federal authorities released the shocking news that Farwell had been charged with killing a witness or victim. He claimed he faked Birchmore’s death to look like a suicide so she wouldn’t talk about the possible crimes he had committed.

Farwell was arrested. His attorneys did not immediately respond to HuffPost requests for comment.

“Matthew Farwell’s gun and badge did not give him the authority to violate the Constitution, and it certainly did not give him the right to sexually exploit, abuse and rape a child before murdering her and her unborn baby in an attempt to cover up his alleged crimes,” Stephen Kelleher, an FBI assistant special agent in charge, told reporters.

According to a bail request obtained by HuffPost, Birchmore first applied to a local “Police Explorers” program in March 2010, when she was 12. Farwell volunteered for the vocational training program before joining the Stoughton Police Department in 2012, and subsequently became an instructor with Police Explorers.

Prosecutors said Farwell began communicating with Birchmore online in 2012, when he was 26 and she was 15, and would meet her at the Stoughton Public Library “where he would sexually manipulate her under the guise of providing academic tutoring.” His sexual abuse began in 2013, prosecutors said, but a text message cited in the bail request appeared to show Farwell telling Birchmore he had wanted to have sex with her when she was younger.

And as Birchmore grew into an adult, Farwell allegedly developed a “controlling and sometimes abusive relationship.”

Prosecutors say the sexual encounters occurred while he was on the job. They said Farwell’s actions could violate federal laws, including coercion and enticement, deprivation of rights under the law and wire fraud.

In October 2020, Birchmore told Farwell she wanted a child. The two reached an agreement that Farwell would impregnate Birchmore in exchange for her silence about the criminal sexual encounters, prosecutors said. But when Birchmore told him she was pregnant in December, the bail application said he “reacted badly.”

“He became physically violent toward Birchmore,” prosecutors wrote. “She told multiple friends that Farwell had pushed and shoved her, grabbed objects out of her hands, and put her in a chokehold.”

One of Birchmore’s friends called the Stoughton Police Department in January 2021 and allegedly came forward about the sexual assault. A department employee later informed Farwell about the call, with prosecutors saying he then “angrily demanded that the employee never tell anyone about the information.”

Farwell reportedly confronted Birchmore, texting her, “What else do I have to worry about? What other friend is going to do something tomorrow?” It was at this point that prosecutors say he began to hatch a plan to kill her.

On Feb. 1, 2021, Farwell told Birchmore he was going to her apartment and entered wearing a face mask, prosecutors said. He allegedly strangled Birchmore before repositioning her body. Emergency responders later found Birchmore “seated with a belt around her neck and doorknob,” according to the bail request. The state coroner’s office ruled her death a suicide months later.

But her relatives believed Farwell was responsible, and thousands of people joined a Facebook page dedicated to Birchmore’s death. Her family filed a wrongful death lawsuit in December 2022, accusing Farwell and two other Stoughton officers — Robert Devine and Farwell’s brother, William Farwell — of driving the 23-year-old to suicide. The family alleged in the lawsuit that the men had engaged in sexual acts with Birchmore when she was a minor and part of the Police Explorers program.

In response, all three denied or claimed they did not have enough knowledge to confirm or deny their responsibility for the deaths. The lawsuit is still ongoing. The three men voluntarily left their jobs with the Stoughton Police Department in 2022, The Boston Globe reported.

Earlier this year, a forensic pathologist hired by Birchmore’s family ruled her death a homicide, the Globe reported.

A post on the website “Justice for Sandra Birchmore” described this week’s indictment of Matthew Farwell as an important step.

“This is not the end. It is just the beginning in getting Sandra and her unborn child the justice they deserve. It is also important to note that this indictment could save countless other women from the evil of Matthew Farwell,” the site reads. “And what about the others? Only time will tell if William Farwell and Robert Devine will also be charged.”

Stoughton Police Chief Donna McNamara praised the federal charges against Matthew Farwell and called Birchmore’s death “a horrible injustice.”

“The charges against the suspect, a former Stoughton police officer, represent the worst act of not only professional misconduct but human indecency that I have seen in my nearly 30-year career in law enforcement,” McNamara said.

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