STOUGHTON, MASS. (WHDH) - A new charge faces former Stoughton police officer Matthew Farwell in federal court in connection with the death of Sandra Birchmore.
Farwell, already charged with murdering Birchmore, who was 23 and pregnant at the time, now faces charges in the death of the unborn baby.
Farwell did not appear in court on Friday, but a not guilty plea was entered in his behalf.
He was arrested by SWAT teams in Revere in August 2024 and charged with murder.
Federal prosecutors said Farwell strangled Birchmore in her Canton apartment in 2021 then staged it to look like she committed suicide. They said Farwell began sexually abusing Birchmore when she was 15 years old and part of the Stoughton Police Department’s youth mentor program, where Farwell was an instructor.
Prosecutors said Birchmore told Farwell she was pregnant with his child and he killed her to keep her from sharing information about his sexual exploitation of her as a child.
Farwell pleaded not guilty to her murder and remains in federal custody.
If Farwell is found guilty in the deaths of both Birchmore and her unborn child he faces up to life in prison or the death penalty.
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