Federal prosecutors allege that former Stoughton police officer Matthew Farwell groomed and sexually abused Sandra Birchmore after meeting her through the departmentās youth Police Explorers program. They say the relationship began when Birchmore was 15 and continued for years, including while Farwell was on duty. Prosecutors further allege that he concealed the encounters by falsifying work-hour records and that, after Birchmore became pregnant and told him he was the father, he had a motive to silence her.Ā Ā
The prosecutionās central claim is that Farwell strangled Birchmore on February 1, 2021, to prevent her from reporting conduct that could have exposed him to federal charges and then staged her apartment to make the death appear to be a suicide. The Massachusetts state authorities did not charge Farwell criminally after the state-police investigation, relying on the medical examinerās initial suicide ruling and concluding that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute him. Federal investigators later revisited the case, and prosecutors now point to evidence including Farwellās presence at Birchmoreās apartment, their history of sexual choking, and the medical examinerās later change of the death classification from suicide to undetermined. Farwell has pleaded not guilty and maintains that Birchmore died by suicide.Ā
ā ļø\*Please be aware that some of these exhibits are) ***graphic in nature***. We have identified that the following photos show Sandra's body. Please proceed with caution:
Day 2, Exhibit 9: Notverygraphic, but shows body from behind, good for seeing angle of body position if you are unclear from testimony
Day 2, Exhibit 11: Shows body from front
Day 2, Exhibit 14: Shows body from front
Day 2, Exhibit 16: Shows body from front
Day 2, Exhibit 20: Close up from front
Day 2, Exhibit 21: Close up from top
Day 2, Exhibit 23: Close up from behind, good for seeing angle of body position
9:08 a.m. ā Stoughton Sergeant Robert Kuhn testifies on his relationship with Birchmore, Farwell in the video
Stoughton Sergeant Robert Kuhn positively identified Matthew Farwell in the apartment video.
āBest friendā of Sandra Birchmore says she was āenamoredā with Farwell
10:03 a.m. ā Sandra Birchmoreās best friend, Lesley Davis, testified on friendship
Lesley Davis, 30, of Attleboro, took the stand to testify on how she viewed her childhood best friendās ārelationshipā with Matthew Farwell.
Davis said she was one year older than Birchmore and that the two were ābest friendsā who met in Davisās last year of middle school, through a program at a Stoughton gym where the girls could babysit children to earn a free gym membership.
Despite attending different high schools, the two āspent a lot of time togetherā to get ice cream, go on walks or hikes at the Blue Hills Reservation, or hang out at any of Birchmoreās homes over the years, Davis said. They texted each other daily and called at least once a week. Davis described Birchmore as a ābubbly people personā and said she appreciated that Birchmore was always happy to reach out first.
10:10 a.m. ā Davis and Birchmore talked through their sexual relationships
Davis and Birchmore would talk about everything in their lives together, including their sexual relationships, Davis testified.
Davis said Birchmore told her āalmost immediatelyā about meeting Farwell when she was 15. Davis knew the two had met in the Stoughton Police Departmentās Explorers program and said Birchmore viewed the officers in that program as ārole models.ā
Birchmore told Davis that she and Farwell would have sex inside his cruiser and in his personal truck, that their sex could be āroughā with āconsensual choking,ā Davis testified.
10:28 a.m. ā Davis disapproves of Farwellās relationship with Birchmore
Davis also knew Birchmore and Farwell communicated over Facebook and said he would help her with her homework. He āgave a lot of attention to her,ā Davis said, and always wanted to know where she was.
āShe was very enamored with Matthew Farwell,ā Davis told the courtroom. āShe thought about him a lot and also wanted to have his child,ā Davis said.
Davis said she didnāt like Farwell and Birchmoreās relationship because she knew Farwell was over 10 years older and āthought there could have been a better choiceā for Birchmore, but did not want to ruin their friendship by convincing Birchmore to end the relationship or tell an adult. She eventually told her mother, but nobody else, Davis said.
Davis said she knew about an incident that had happened between Birchmore and Farwell right before she died, where he shoved her to the ground knowing she was pregnant. This is what propelled her to go to Canton Police with her family, after she found out Birchmore was dead, and attempt to let them know her concerns.
Stoughton Police Chief Donna McNamara takes the stand to identify Farwell in video
12:08 p.m. ā Chief identifies Farwell in the apartment video
Farwell was again identified by a member of the Stoughton Police Department as the man in the video shown to the jury Tuesday, which depicts a man in a mask and hood entering the foyer of Sandra Birchmoreās apartment complex in Canton.
McNamara said she knows it is him based on the fact sheād worked with him āfor 10 yearsā and his āspecific walk,ā though she too noted the COVID mask was unusual for him to be wearing.
Before identifying Farwell, McNamara testified on the required work hours for the department and said in 2021, there were a total of 60 sworn officers.
12:16 p.m. ā Police chief questioned on pepper spray in Explorers and program disbandment
During cross examination, McNamara testified the Explorers program that Birchmore was a part of was completely disbanded in 2022.
However, she was asked if children in the program had been pepper-sprayed, to which she replied she would ānot approveā of such conduct if it did happen, but confirmed adult police cadets do go through pepper spray training.
McNamara testified Birchmore had indeed reached out to her āa couple of times,ā including in 2018 when Birchmore asked about getting a license to carry a firearm. Daley tried to ask a question that began with, āThe complication was a suicide notation āā to which the prosecution objected.
āDid you assist her in getting a license to carry?ā Daley rephrased.
āNo, I did not,ā McNamara answered.
State police digital forensic analyst dons gloves to view cellphone data
12:42 p.m. ā Massachusetts State Police Trooper Nicholas Guarino, digital forensic analyst, gloves up
Gloves were donned by State Police digital forensic analyst Nicholas Guarino, who was the trooper to go through cellphones involved in this case ā including those belonging to Farwell and Birchmore.
Guarino testified heād gone through five devices total in connection to the case and that heād asked troopers at the scene to search for physical copies of passwords in Birchmoreās apartment.
2:11 p.m. ā Trooper discusses an āimmense numberā of texts gone through
After returning from lunch, Trooper Guarino again took the stand to testify on evidence found in both Birchmore and Farwellās devices. This included laptops and cellphones ā specifically, Birchmoreās MacBook and iPhone 12.
Detectives were able to view an āimmense number of text messagesā between Farwell and Birchmore on her laptop. The investigators had to use the physical laptop to read the synced messages instead of reports derived from the cellphones due to the sheer quantity of communications between them, which were making the trooperās work computers ācrash,ā Guarino said.
2:35 p.m. ā Trooper says data was ādeletedā from February 2021 search of Birchmore laptop
Guarino testified that data from an initial search in February 2021 of Birchmoreās MacBook computer was ādeleted,ā because her death had been ruled a suicide at the time ā so there was āno reason to fill extra spaceā on the state police system servers with that data.
There was a second search of her MacBook conducted in December 2021, which Guarino testified would have yielded the āsameā data on messages between Birchmore and Farwell despite the lapse in time.
Stoughton internal affairs investigation
3:29 p.m. ā Former Stoughton deputy chief says Farwell taught āfirearmsā classes at Explorers that Birchmore was in
Holmes said that in October 2012, Farwell was on the sheet to teach a firearms-related class for the Explorers police program.
Birchmore was in that class, the syllabus sheet showed, while Holmes himself would have been on the schedule to teach CPR. Holmes explained there would have been up to 20 children in one class and they engaged in activities like learning defensive tactics, about criminal and juvenile law, exposure to firearms, CPR and wore a uniform.
Holmes testified the internal affairs investigation into the nature of Farwell and Birchmoreās relationship began in 2021, before the release of its results that implicated officers Matthew Farwell, William Farwell and Robert Devine.
Matthew Farwellās work phone was part of that investigation. Holmes testified that if he had prior knowledge of the relationship he had with Birchmore, he would have gone to have a conversation with the chief and believes there would have been an investigation.
3:48 p.m. ā January 2021 call reporting the relationship
A call came in to the Stoughton Police Department on Jan. 20, 2021, from a person whom Holmes described as a āyoung womanā and prosecutors have previously called a friend of Birchmoreās. Holmes said that call, to date, no longer exists because the call was made on the business line and it was therefore āautomatically purged.ā
This is such a maddening, despicable, disgusting case. I looked at the exhibits and wept. This poor kid had no one positive in her life, and these vile men groomed her. Just beyond comprehension. I looked at the photos showing her body and just kept saying "I'm so sorry this happened to you." I hope every single one of them is held accountable.
No one has the ability to wrap their heads around this situation because itās beyond any reasonable comprehension. This young woman never was given an ounce of respect or kindness & never had a chance to live her life. MF (& others) needs to be held accountable for his absolutely abhorrent behavior. Ugh!
Imo ā¦ without the Read trial this entire thing would have been swept under the rug. Reading the text messages, listening to what CPD, MSP, did in response, what the DAās office did with their investigation makes me incredibly angry & embarrassed to live in MA
eta - the question I have is how many people knew this was happening. Everyone reports SB was an āover sharerā so how many people did she tell & when?
Agreed. This poor girl had no one. Nothing. She was groomed and used and passed around and ultimately killed by people who should have been role models and supporters.
Everything I hear is heartbreaking. Even down to the teachers she worked with sending snarky emails about her. Of course, that doesnāt mean her coworkers are bad people or anything, it just makes me more sad given the context of the rest of her short life.
Itās incredibly heartbreaking. I keep thinking about how my own bad childhood
, which resulted in me being a teen and young adult that was super-needy and desperate for positive attention. I would have easily fallen for manipulation from an older guy. And I grew up nearby in a similar townā
sooooo insular (notice how everyone testifying went to Stoughton High), which can make a personās vulnerability and loneliness worse when that town and the ppl in it are your entire world.Ā
Thanks! The whole thing makes me feel lucky that 1) I had the wherewithal to GTFO of my hometown, 2) and then met ppl who were positive and supportive influences on me.Ā
obviously I wish Sandra had had a shot at a having a happy, healthy lifeĀ
Nitter, Twitter web viewer and xcancel were getting cease and desist letters that took them down for awhile. Xcancel never came back but Nitter and web viewer did, but I'm guessing Twitter is hammering them with legal demands.Ā
The password for Sandraās laptop was MFarwell1??????
I hope he suffers and rots. What he did to that poor young woman is just heartbreaking. I will be devastated if he walks (I donāt think he will, but dear god) he murdered her mind body and soul. No earthly punishment would suffice.
Ummm, whaaat? How is it that Nicholas Guarino who works as a forensics specialist, at the time for MSP right inside the frigging (corrupt AF) DAās office had no protocol and didnāt know what Brady evidence is?
It explains a lot that apparently nobody in law enforcement in MA seems to know what Brady evidence is. Guarino also doesn't seem to know how to testify well. My god.
I'm still catching up from all the court reports from yesterday, but dear God, please let McNamara testify and her explain the IA investigation and being fired by the Mayor.
But she was no friend to Sandra. Sandra owed her money and she made that call as a way to pressure her to pay her back.
It's weird and complicated and I don't even know half the story here, but this woman had been a long-term pal, but the call she made was not done for benevolent reasons, if you know what I mean,.
She called to report Sandra for 'theft' because she hadn't paid back a couple hundred bucks she owed her. The Stoughton cop who answered the phone told her that's not a crime and in fact SHE could be accused of extortion by trying to use the police to force someone to pay back a personal loan.
THAT's when this woman brought up Sandra and Farwell as if to say, "oh yeah, you won't help me? Then I'll rat you guys all out."
At least that's what I think happened: This is the way Grant Smith Ellis has explained that phone call.
Of course,. the scumbag cop turned around and warned Farwell. This was like two weeks before Sandra was killed.
Man, the more I hear about this whole thing, the more I get pissed off. Devine saying she went after him. Like it was her fault. She was sleeping with multiple men. I do not blame her for this at all. She was groomed at a young age to where she got what she wanted by using sex. I just feel so bad that she thought this was how things were. I wish the DP was on the table for this MFer. He deserves it.
Alot of the same characters from Karen read are gonna have a lot of explaining to do this case too. Can't wait for Gurenio to explain how both he missed 4000 texts between Birchmore and Farwell and also how a fileshare server lost only Birchmores files.
A server that contains multiple case files somehow fails to a point where only Birchmores files got lost.
He found and logged all of their communications, because Birchmore had them saved on her laptop. These were reviewed by investigators.
A simple BlackBag extraction was initially done for that purpose. This was saved on an external hard drive. A few months later, they did a full file extraction of the laptop, so everything (communications + a lot more) could be preserved as evidence.
The initial, limited extraction was lost because the external hard drive died, not a server. It's, for all intents and purposes here, meaningless for evidence even if it were still available. The full file extraction is what's used to do a full analysis of the device. Farwell's defense was just trying to point to "data wasn't preserved!" in an attempt to confuse the issue.
They think (stupidly imo) that he has a chance because the death was originally ruled a suicide, her history of mental illness, and the fact that he wasn't the father... his team thinks this could all create reasonable doubt and to date, MF has maintained his innocence. I guess he'd rather go to trial and hope for a chance vs life in prison which is what he would likely receive.
It was proven he wasnāt during the autopsy, but Sandra maintained that he was. Texts show he seemed to believe he was. And that she was demanding he impregnate her or she would tell his wife about their affair. Perhaps the defense have other text evidence that show he had doubt. Remains to be seen.
Ahhh ok thank you! I think whether he knew makes a difference. Believing he was the father causes him pressure. I havenāt been able to watch this week so trying to catch up.
Yeah she had been pressuring him for months to give her a baby.
And from her own communications it seems she was convinced Farwell was the father. She didn't lie to him, because she was certain. And I think he did believe her.
There's evidence Sandra told one of her friends that Farwell had a blow out with her during which he said he wasn't the father. But it sounds like the type of denial one makes because of rage.
But yeah, these are some facts that Defense will obviously exploit.
Same. Presumed innocence not withstanding, he is admitting to abusing poor Sandra as a child. How on earth could he think this would fare well in a trial setting?
He never saw Sandra as a real person and is hoping the jury doesnāt either. Heās been the one with the power the whole time so itās difficult for him to fathom her having any now.
Do we know if the feds even offered him anything? With how they grilled some LE witnesses yesterday (I think) it sounded like they use the trial to lock in LE on certain testimony and interrogate them as much as they can within the scope of the case without them pleading theĀ fifth. With how open they place all exhibits on their website it's clear this prosecution team wants transparancy and not just never talking about the case anymore because he got a plea deal. Might be that the only pleas that were available were in which he would flip on others. Might also be that others have taken that deal before him and already flipped on him and others.Ā
The exchange about what cops can do on duty, such as getting nails done, provided a George Costanza moment for me. āWas that wrong? If I knew it was frowned upon to have sex with a teenager while on dutyā¦ā
I'm a little disappointed Chief McNamara didn't get to testify more. She seems awesome.
For those unaware - she essentially blacklisted Farwell and his buddies who groomed Sandra Birchmore from working in law enforcement anywhere in MA. She was recently forced out of her position as chief, seemingly because of her outspokenness about this issue.
I mean, I use twitter because it's a great primary source for a lot of true crimers, is why I was asking. Because it is easier just to click on the direct link.Ā
I mean, I use twitter because it's a great primary source for a lot of tru crimes, is why I was asking. Because it is easier just to click on the direct link.Ā
Not to be petty here when thereās so much to criticize him on, but does this loserās high school transcript say that he somehow managed to fail gym, of all things!?
Just like the KR trials, there seems to be so much more that could be asked of these witnesses. There just seems to be so much more there that the attorneys don't want to get into. I was expecting more hard hitting questions/answers from Guarino and McNamara, but it seems the DOJ doesn't want to go there since it doesn't pertain just to Farwell's guilt.
I noticed this especially with Chief MacNamara's testimony.
I think it's a combination of factors:
First, the two sides probably litigated this stuff before trial and the judge allowed certain lines of inquiry and forbade others.
Second and more important is the way the feds do investigations: If they still have an open investigation - in my fantasy they are actively investigating Tully, Fanning, Devine etc -- if they have open investigations, they will deliberately leave out questions and lines of inquiry that might expose open cases.
I'm NAL and hardly that well informed about these cases, but that's the best I can guess at what's going on here.
I think they also are trying to walk a line. They want to point out the bad investigation but they also don't want to make the department look so bad that it questions a bunch of other criminal cases (if that makes sense). Like we are seeing Proctor brought up over and over in upcoming trails because of the Karen Reed shadiness.
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u/cidxo311 16h ago
6 comp hours for one hour worked is criminal