A federal jury in Boston on Tuesday convicted former Stoughton police officer Matthew Farwell of killing Sandra Birchmore, 23, and her unborn child, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Massachusetts said. Farwell, 41, was found guilty on both counts he faced: killing a witness or victim, and causing the death of an unborn child.
Farwell faces a mandatory life sentence in prison. His sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 3, 2027. The jury of eight men and four women deliberated for roughly 14 hours, telling the judge on Monday afternoon that they were deadlocked before being ordered to continue deliberating on Tuesday. The verdict was returned at around 2 p.m.
Prosecutors said Farwell strangled Birchmore in her Canton apartment on Feb. 1, 2021, and staged her death to look like a suicide by hanging, to stop her from disclosing years of alleged sexual abuse that began when she was 15. He was a 27-year-old police officer when they met through the Stoughton Police Explorers program. Prosecutors said Birchmore had told Farwell she was pregnant with his child and was ready to come forward about the abuse.
Birchmore's body was found in her apartment on Feb. 4, 2021, and her death was initially ruled a suicide by state investigators. The state medical examiner later changed the death certificate, and the FBI ruled the death a homicide in 2024, arresting Farwell that same year. He had pleaded not guilty.
The nearly four-week trial featured video of Farwell at Birchmore's apartment on the night she died and some of the 40,000 text messages the two exchanged over eight years. Farwell did not testify. His defense argued that Birchmore died by suicide after he ended their relationship.
