Authorities say former Massachusetts police officer Matthew Farwell reacted harshly after learning that his mistress, Sandra Birchmore, was pregnant.
“I literally have nothing to say right now,” Farwell texted her, according to testimony cited by Boston 25. “You are truly the worst person on the face of the earth.”
Farwell, a former Stoughton Police Department officer, is accused of killing 23-year-old Birchmore and her unborn baby at her apartment in February 2021. Prosecutors allege he acted to conceal their relationship from his pregnant wife.
His defense attorneys maintain that Birchmore, who worked as an elementary school teacher’s aide, died by suicide.
How Did Matthew Farwell and Sandra Birchmore Meet?
Farwell and Birchmore allegedly began their relationship after she joined the Stoughton Police Explorers Academy as a teenager, WCVB reported.
According to court documents obtained by the outlet, prosecutors believe the pair began having sex when Birchmore was 15 and Farwell was 27. The alleged sexual relationship continued for years, including while Farwell was on duty.
Oxygen contacted Farwell’s attorneys for comment on the allegation but did not immediately receive a response.
Sandra Birchmore Allegedly Demanded Matthew Farwell Impregnate Her
Prosecutors said Birchmore issued Farwell an ultimatum in October 2020: She would remain silent about their relationship if he had a child with her.
When Birchmore later asked whether he would be all right if she became pregnant, FBI Special Agent Heidi Kelsch testified that Farwell replied, “Not really, but you made it clear I don’t have an option.” Farwell was already expecting his third child with his wife at the time.
In December 2020, Birchmore texted Farwell, “Congrats, we are going to be parents in 2021,” Kelsch testified, according to Boston 25.
Farwell responded with a series of angry messages.
“You blackmailed me into getting what you wanted,” he wrote, according to testimony. “You literally don’t care about anything but yourself…this is completely my fault. I should have just walked away and let you hurt yourself.”
Birchmore responded, “well if that’s how you feel maybe I will hurt myself then.”
However, Kelsch told jurors that Birchmore did not conduct any suicide-related searches that night. Instead, she texted a friend about possible themes for a baby shower.
Kelsch said Birchmore contacted more than 85 people about her pregnancy in the months before her death, WPRI reported. The FBI agent also described thousands of messages exchanged by Birchmore and Farwell over the years, including her account of “the butterflies” she felt about losing her virginity to him and discussions about Farwell punishing her through sexual acts.
In January 2021, Farwell allegedly confronted Birchmore after one of her friends contacted the police station to report their inappropriate relationship.
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“Your [expletive] friend called my job,” Farwell wrote, according to Kelsch. “You told me that no one know about us, yet she claimed we are [expletive].”
Birchmore attempted to minimize the situation in a message, according to WPRI, writing, “It’s literally nothing.”
In the weeks afterward, Birchmore told friends that Farwell’s behavior appeared to have changed. She said he had asked for a key to her apartment and offered to help raise the baby, provided that his connection to the child remained secret.
“It was like a complete 180 from where we were at,” Birchmore wrote in one message, according to Boston 25.
What Happened to Sandra Birchmore?
But on Feb. 4, 2021, Birchmore was discovered dead inside her apartment, with a duffel strap wrapped around her neck and attached to the closet door.
Though it was initially believed to be a suicide, investigators say they later uncovered surveillance video showing Farwell—in a mask—entering the apartment on Feb. 1, 2021 just three minutes before her final movement was recorded on her phone, according to WCVB.
Prosecutors said his DNA was linked to the ligature found around her neck and her clothing, the outlet reported.
A grand jury later indicted Farwell for the deaths of both Birchmore and the unborn baby, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
DNA tests also revealed that Farwell had not been the father of her unborn baby. The biological father was revealed to be Army recruiter Jason Pickard, WPRI reported. Pickard is listed as a possible witness for the prosecution, but it’s not clear yet whether he will be called to testify.
Stoughton Police Chief Donna McNamara announced in 2022 that an internal investigation revealed that Farwell’s twin brother William Farwell and officer Robert Devine had inappropriate sexual relationships with Birchmore, according to 10 Boston. The twin later admitted in an interview with investigators that he had a sexual relationship with Birchmore for about two years when she was an adult, including sexual encounters with her in 2020, per the outlet.
Devine adamantly denied the allegations in a meeting with the Massachusetts Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commission, the outlet reported.
Defense Claims Sandra Birchmore Died By Suicide
In opening statements, defense attorney Kimberly Sevens told jurors that Farwell did not kill Birchmore, insisting that the teacher’s aide took her own life, 10 Boston reported.
Before her death, Birchmore had searched “what color is the suicide ribbon?,” had been increasingly stressed about being on her own and had struggled with suicidal thoughts in the past, Stevens said.
“She is worried,” Stevens said, “she is stressed, she is freaking out, she is pulling up imagery of suicide.”
The Massachusetts Office of the Chief Medical Examiner had also initially listed Birchmore’s manner of death as suicide, before later changing it to “undetermined.”
The trial remains ongoing.
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