A former Massachusetts police detective was convicted Tuesday of killing Sandra Birchmore, with prosecutors saying it was to prevent her from disclosing sexual abuse.
The Story
Matthew Farwell, 40, was found guilty by a federal jury in Boston of murdering Sandra Birchmore, a pregnant Massachusetts woman, on Tuesday.
Prosecutors said Farwell strangled Birchmore on Feb. 1, 2021—12 days after a tipster called the suburban Boston police department where he worked and reported an improper relationship.
They said Farwell staged the crime scene to make Birchmore’s death look like a suicide, and that it nearly worked.
Massachusetts State Police investigators initially concluded Birchmore killed herself after she was found slumped on her apartment floor with a strap around her neck, and the state medical examiner initially ruled the death a suicide, relying partly on information from police.
The FBI began looking into the case in 2023, concluding the local investigation was rushed and compromised; federal prosecutors said investigators did not follow leads and closed the case too quickly.
At Farwell’s trial, prosecutors and experts presented evidence including that federal investigators uncovered about 40,000 texts between Farwell and Birchmore and that some messages referenced sex when she was 15—too young to consent under Massachusetts law.
Federal prosecutors also pointed to the way the case was handled after Birchmore’s death, including that Farwell was interviewed for 15 minutes in a parking lot, investigators did not take notes, and police examined his phone only after texts were deleted.
Farwell’s conviction carries a mandatory life sentence, according to the evidence described in the report.
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