BOSTON (WHDH) - Matthew Farwell’s defense team Friday called a forensic psychiatrist to bolster their claim that Sandra Birchmore killed herself after Farwell broke off their relationship, and said he wanted nothing to do with the unborn baby she said he fathered.
Dr. Melissa Piasecki told jurors that Birchmore had a lifetime of factors that increased her risk of suicide – from being born premature, to the losses of her mother and grandmother, to risky behaviors including choking during consensual sex.
“This type of catastrophic loss would have been overwhelming for her,” Piasecki testified.
Piasecki also pointed to Birchmore’s diary entries from 2017 where she talked about ways to kill herself, and the pros and cons of suicide, saying, “Once somebody thinks suicide is an option for them, they’ve opened a door. They will always be open to suicidal behavior.”
Farwell is charged with killing 23-year-old 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 maintains Birchmore took her own life.
During cross examination, federal prosecutors said Piasecki seemed to focus little on Birchmore’s excitement and planning for her pregnancy in her final days and hours.
The prosecutor asked, “You said her pregnancy was a source of tremendous stress and conflict? The conflict was with the defendant Matthew Farewell, right?”
Piasecki answered, “Yes.”
Regarding the factors that Piasecki said increased Birchmore’s risk of suicide, the prosecutor tried to ask, “You’re not here to testify that people at risk for suicide can’t be murdered, right?”
The defense objected and the question went unanswered.
The defense said it has about three more days of witnesses to call, and the judge expects jury deliberations in the case to begin next Friday.
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