BOSTON (WHDH) - Sandra Birchmore’s therapist testified Friday in the Matthew Farwell trial. Friday was a half-day in the trial.
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 was part of the Stoughton Police Explorers mentoring program.
Dr. Diala Alkhalil, a licensed mental health counselor, said she was shocked when she learned Birchmore had died.
“I had just seen her,” Dr. Alkhalil said. “And there was no indication of any suicidal ideation, passive or active plans whatsoever. She seemed [to be] feeling okay.
When Birchmore became pregnant, Dr. Alkhalil said Birchmore told her the father was a married police officer who didn’t want to be involved in raising the child. She testified that Birchmore was as happy as she’d ever seen her, adding that she never discussed parenting with anyone else.
“She knew she was going to be a single mom,” Dr. Alkhalil said. “She knew she was going to do this alone.”
Under cross-examination, Dr. Alkhalil admitted that thoughts of suicide may increase when patients begin taking antidepressants, as Birchmore had. She reported that Birchmore was fearful after she saw a vision of her dead mother holding her baby. The defense wondered why she didn’t call it a hallucination.
“I didn’t describe it as a dream,” Dr. Alkhalil said. “I described it as more of a visit. I think that’s probably what she described it as. A visit from her mom.”
Lindsay Crean, a longtime friend of Birchmore’s, also testified to Birchmore’s happiness.
“We had a conversation that she believed the baby that she’s pregnant with is an angel sent from her mother who had passed,” Crean said.
Crean also acknowledged under defense questioning that about nine months earlier, when Birchmore was fighting with her aunts, she messaged Crean on Facebook, writing, “I kind of want to just KMS. My mental state has been going down and has gotten worse.”
Crean agreed during testimony that KMS stands for “kill myself.”
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