BOSTON (WHDH) - The father of Sandra Birchmore’s unborn child took the stand in the Matthew Farwell murder trial Thursday, and the 37-year-old said he was granted immunity from criminal charges for his testimony.
Farwell is charged with killing 23-year-old Sandra Birchmore and her unborn child and staging the death to look like a suicide. Prosecutors allege Farwell killed her to stop her from exposing federal crimes, including sexual exploitation of a child. They claim Farwell had been grooming her for sex since she was 15-years-old and part of the Stoughton Police Explorers mentoring program.
Farwell’s defense argues that Birchmore took her own life.
Prosecutors say DNA tests prove Jason Pickard, a 37-year-old former Army Recruiter, was the father of Birchmore’s child, though they say no one knew that until after she died in February 2021.
Pickard said Birchmore originally reached out to him on Facebook, and their relationship quickly became sexual. When he learned Birchmore was pregnant, Pickard said she insisted that he was not the father, testifying, “She told me it was not and could not be my child.”
Pickard said Birchmore told him that Farwell was the father. He testified that Birchmore told him she and the former Stoughton police officer had been having sex since she was 15-years-old and part of the Stoughton Police Explorers mentoring program.
Pickard said he did not want to reveal his relationship with the investigators looking into Birchmore’s death, saying, “I was afraid. I was a married man. I was a recruiter. She was a recruit.
I knew what it would do to my marriage. I knew it to my children. I knew what it would do to my career. And I also respected her request not to tell.”
He said Birchmore was excited to be pregnant, and asked him to help him baby-proofing her apartment. He said he felt that suicide was the last thing on her mind.
During testimony, the defense asked, “So when she told you that she had gone to her doctor and gotten on antidepressants, what was your conversation, if any, about that?”
Pickard answered, “I don’t remember there being much of one. I don’t think as much of the stigma on antidepressants. I’m on antidepressants.”
The defense responded, “Oh. Sure…thank you for sharing.”
The defense also pointed out that Pickard apparently told a different story about Birchmore and suicide to FBI investigators. They asked, “Did Sandra Birchmore, while you were with her, express thoughts of suicide?”
He responded, “No ma’am.”
The defense continues, “So, did you tell the FBI that she did?”
Pickard answered, “It looks that way.”
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