A Boston federal jury convicted disgraced ex-cop Matthew Farwell on Tuesday for murdering 23-year-old Sandra Birchmore and her unborn son.
Farwell, 41, was found guilty on two federal charges: killing a witness or victim and causing the death of an unborn child. He faces up to life in prison at sentencing on Feb. 3 and has remained in custody since his arrest. The jury of eight men and four women deliberated roughly 14 hours, sending a note Monday afternoon that they were deadlocked before a judge ordered them Tuesday morning to continue their work.
People cried in the courtroom gallery and Birchmore’s family and friends embraced after the verdict was read, according to a report by WCVB. Farwell’s lawyer rubbed his back before he left the courtroom.
The nearly four-week trial revealed how Birchmore had allegedly told Farwell she was ready to come forward about years of sexual abuse that began when she was just 15. Federal prosecutors said Farwell, a married father, killed Birchmore inside her Canton apartment and staged it as a suicide to silence her about their relationship and her pregnancy.
Farwell’s attorneys argued that Birchmore took her own life the same night Farwell told her he was breaking things off with her. Prosecutors countered that Farwell murdered her the day before his wife delivered the couple’s third child.
Birchmore was allegedly jealous of Farwell’s wife’s pregnancy and demanded he have a child with her or she would expose their years-long affair. Farwell eventually agreed, and Birchmore became pregnant with a boy in December 2020, just months before her death. The pair believed Farwell was the father, but DNA testing later revealed the fetus belonged to another man, prosecutors disclosed at trial.
Stoughton police dispatcher James Fitton testified that Farwell instructed him to “never talk about this again” when Fitton relayed a call from a woman claiming Farwell was having an affair with her friend. Prosecutors said that call became the catalyst that pushed Farwell to kill Birchmore just 13 days later.
Jurors heard from dozens of witnesses during the proceedings. The evidence presented challenged the initial ruling on Birchmore’s Feb. 1, 2021 death, which state investigators had classified as suicide before federal authorities reopened the case and arrested Farwell more than three years later.
Farwell and Birchmore first crossed paths when she was 14 and enrolled in the Stoughton Police Department’s “Explorers” program for youth, where Farwell served as an instructor. Birchmore aspired to become a police officer herself. Prosecutors alleged Farwell groomed her for a year before beginning sexual assaults when she turned 15.