Key events in the murder case of a former Stoughton police officer

Timeline of Events in the Sandra Birchmore Case

• In 2010Sandra Birchmore joined the Stoughton Police Department’s Explorers Program at age 12.
• In 2012Matthew Farwell became a Stoughton police officer and served as an instructor for the Explorer’s Program.
• In 2013According to the Justice Department, Farwell allegedly had sex with Birchmore when she was 15 years old. According to the Justice Department, he “used his authority and access to manipulate, sexually exploit, and ultimately sexually abuse Birchmore.”
• Farwell allegedly engaged in sexual acts with Birchmore on multiple occasions while on duty as a Stoughton police officer, the DOJ said. To conceal this activity, Farwell allegedly falsely claimed to be working certain hours when in fact he was not working but engaged in sexual acts with the then-underage victim. Farwell’s sexual contact with Birchmore allegedly continued until her death on Feb. 1, 2021, the DOJ said.
• December 2020Birchmore discovered she was pregnant, the DOJ said. According to court documents, Birchmore told Farwell that he was the father of the child shortly after she discovered she was pregnant. Birchmore told loved ones that Farwell had allegedly become violent toward her, the DOJ said.
• On or around January 20, 2021Birchmore’s boyfriend called the Stoughton Police Department and reported Farwell and Birchmore’s sexual relationship. When Farwell learned of this, he allegedly sent angry text messages to Birchmore and a few days later — about a week before Birchmore’s death — Farwell visited Birchmore at her Canton apartment and asked her if she could give him a spare key to the apartment and keep it a secret, the DOJ said.
• On February 1, 2021“Because his criminal conduct was likely to come to light, Farwell killed Birchmore to silence her, court documents show,” the Justice Department said.
• The coroner’s office ruled that Sandra Birchmore committed suicide.
• On September 23, 2022Police Chief Donna McNamara presented the findings of a 19-month internal affairs report from the Stoughton Police Department, which concluded that three Stoughton police officers had “inappropriate relationships” with Sandra Birchmore — Matthew Farwell, his brother William Farwell and Robert Devine. The report concluded that she committed suicide.
• In December 2022Sandra Birchmore’s family filed a lawsuit in Norfolk County Superior Court, claiming the officers’ actions and Stoughton’s negligence led to her suicide.
• In June 2024it was revealed that a leading pathologist hired by Sandra Birchmore’s family had concluded that her death was a homicide, overturning the state coroner’s conclusion that she committed suicide, the Boston Globe first reported.
• On Tuesday, August 27, 2024a SWAT team arrested Matthew Farwell at a shopping center in Revere.
• On Wednesday, August 27, 2024Matthew Farwell was charged in federal court in Boston with killing Birchmore “to prevent her from disclosing information about his prolonged sexual exploitation of her while he was in service, which began when she was a minor,” the Justice Department said.