The legal team representing a former Massachusetts police officer, Matthew Farwell, is set to present arguments on Tuesday for relocating his trial to Rhode Island. Farwell stands accused of murdering his pregnant girlfriend and attempting to disguise the act as a suicide. His attorneys contend that a fair trial in Massachusetts is unattainable, according to a report by Boston25.

The case took a dramatic turn in 2024 when Farwell was federally indicted for the death of Sandra Birchmore, which occurred on February 1, 2021. Initially, the Stoughton Police Department led an investigation that concluded Birchmore’s death was a suicide. However, this conclusion has since been challenged, as noted by CrimeOnline.

Further scrutiny of the department’s investigation revealed that Farwell, along with his twin brother William Farwell and another officer, Robert Devine, had engaged in inappropriate relationships with Birchmore. This revelation prompted their resignations, although no criminal charges were pursued against them at that time.

According to the federal indictment, Matthew Farwell’s relationship with Birchmore began when she was just 15 years old, during her participation in the department’s Police Explorer’s Academy. This relationship continued intermittently, even during Farwell’s duty hours. The situation escalated in late 2020 when 23-year-old Birchmore informed Farwell that she was pregnant and that he was the father. At the time, Farwell was married and a father of three.

Matthew Farwell began his relationship with her when she was 15 and a member of the department’s Police Explorer’s Academy, the federal indictment said. The relationship continued over the years — sometimes when Farwell was on duty — and then, in late 2020 when Birchmore was 23, she told him she was pregnant and Farwell, a married father of three at the time, was the father.

The indictment accuses Farwell of strangling Birchmore to death and staging her apartment to look like a suicide.

Farwell’s trial is set to begin in October, Boston25 said, and he has pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors announced last month they were not seeking the death penalty.