STOUGHTON, MASS. (WHDH) - A former Stoughton police officer has been indicted on a charge of killing a witness or victim in connection with the 2021 death of 23-year-old Sandra Birchmore, the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts announced Wednesday.
Officials said a law enforcement team arrested Matthew Farwell, 38, in Revere Wednesday morning.
Farwell made his initial appearance in federal court in Boston later in the day and a judge ordered he be held pending a new court date next month.
“It is disheartening to have to charge law enforcement officers, especially with crimes this serious,” said Acting US Attorney Joshua Levy in a press conference. “But it is our job at the Department of Justice to investigate potential crimes without fear and without favor.”
Farwell served as a police officer in Stoughton until 2022. While working with the Stoughton police, the US Attorney’s Office said, Farwell worked as an instructor for a department-run vocational education program dubbed the Explorers Program.
Prosecutors said Birchmore joined the Explorers in 2010, when she was 12-years-old. Serving as an instructor, officials said, Farwell used his authority and access to groom Birchmore and ultimately sexually abuse her.
The US Attorney’s Office said Farwell first abused Birchwell when she was 15-years-old and continued to have sex with her when she became an adult.
Prosecutors said Farwell engaged in sex acts with Birchmore while on duty and continued his relationship with her until she died.
The US Attorney’s Office said Birchmore learned she was pregnant in December 2020 and had been excited about the pregnancy. When she told Farwell he was the father of the child and when she said she expected him to be involved in the child’s life, though, prosecutors said Farwell became violent.
Court documents revealed Birchmore’s friend told police Farwell responded, “he wished [she] would just die and he wants nothing to do with the baby.”
The US Attorney’s Office said Farwell sent angry text messages to Birchmore after the January incident and later asked if she could give him a spare key to her apartment in Canton.
“He acted angerly, it is alleged, when Sandra Birchmore started making requests of Mr. Farwell around doctor’s appointments and ultrasounds and what information would be on the birth certificate,” Levy said.
Court documents indicate that when Birchmore’s friend called Stoughton police to report the relationship, Farwell started frantically texting Birchmore, writing, “you also told me no one knew about us yet [he/she] claimed we are (expletive).”
“I literally can’t believe this is even real life like what else do I have to worry about now? Which other friend will do something tomorrow?” he continued, according to court documents.
Prosecutors said Farwell strangled Birchmore and staged her body and apartment to make her death look like a suicide.
Though Birchmore died on Feb. 1, 2021, her body was not found until Feb. 4.
Authorities initially ruled Birchmore’s death a suicide. After a federal investigation probed new evidence, though, officials said they found “critical new evidence” leading to Farwell’s indictment and arrest.
“When it became clear to Mr. Farwell that he could no longer control Sandra Birchmore, he allegedly silenced her permanently,” Levy said. “And he used his knowledge and experience as a law enforcement officer to stage her death to look like a suicide.”
According to court documents, prosecutors said Farwell chose Feb. 1 because a blizzard was approaching Massachusetts and no one would notice Birchmore’s absence from work for several days. Also, Farwell’s wife was hours away from delivering the couple’s third child.
“He allegedly attempted to cover his tracks to literally try and get away with murder,” Levy continued. “And he almost did, until today.”
Stoughton Police Chief Donna McNamara responded to the indictment against Farwell in a statement.
In addition to a “lengthy and aggressive” internal affairs investigation, McNamara said the Stoughton Police Department supported and worked with other agencies, including the FBI, as outside agencies investigated Birchmore’s death.
She said Birchmore’s alleged murder “is a horrific injustice” and said the allegations against Farwell “represent the single worst act of not just professional misconduct but indeed human indecency that I have observed in a nearly three-decade career in law enforcement.”
“It has been my life’s work over these past three years to ensure that justice was served,” McNamara said.
“…Sandra Birchmore received no justice during her life,” McNamara continued. “It is imperative that justice be served in her death, and today’s actions appear to bring our society one step closer to justice.”
The Norfolk District Attorney’s Office in its own statement said its investigation into Birchmore’s death “has remained open and active.”
The DA’s office said it has collaborated with local police, the state attorney general’s office, and the FBI.
The Norfolk DA’s office said state police troopers were involved in the operation to arrest Farwell in Revere Wednesday and said “We look forward to supporting and assisting Federal authorities as they pursue this prosecution.”
Now facing a federal charge, Farwell previously reached a voluntary decertification agreement with the state Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission in March in connection with allegations in the Birchmore case.
The commission, known as the POST Commission, is tasked with certifying and decertifying Massachusetts police officers. It first denied Farwell’s application to be recertified in October 2022.
Authorities brought Farwell into court near 2:30 p.m. Wednesday. He was wearing a t-shirt and jeans, with cuffs on his ankles and wrists.
Farwell is due back in court on Sept. 10.
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