The prosecution and defense are expected to provide their closing arguments in the murder trial of former Stoughton police officer Matthew Farwell.
Farwell is charged with killing 23-year-old Sandra Birchmore and her unborn child and staging the death to look like a suicide. Her body was found in a seated position with a strap around her neck and tied to a doorknob. 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 maintains Birchmore took her own life.
With their final witnesses, Farwell’s defense tried to poke holes in prosecution evidence, including the thousands of text messages between Farwell and Birchmore found on her devices.
A defense forensic expert was asked, “Were best practices used in preserving Miss Birchmore’s MacBook?”
The expert answered, “No.”
The defense also tried to Bolster evidence that Birchmore was searching the color of the suicide ribbon on the internet before she died.
They then asked the expert, “What did Sandra Birchmore do at 7:50 p.m. and 32 seconds?”
“She searched the suicide ribbon,” he answered.
The defense continued, “How did you know she typed in that full sentence?”
“Because after this entry she got a complete search,” the expert answered.
On cross-examination, the prosecution pointed to what wasn’t found on Birchmore’s phone. The defense expert testified there was no suicide note, and no goodbye messages to her friends on the day she died.
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