BOSTON (WHDH) - Testimony continued on Wednesday in the Matthew Farwell trial. Farwell is accused of killing Sandra Birchmore and her unborn child after grooming her for sex when she was 15 years old and was part of the Stoughton Police Mentoring Program.
State Police Detective Matthew Dunne took the stand first on Wednesday.
Dunne gave details about the initial investigation into Birchmore’s death. When asked if it was deemed suspicious, he said no.
Dunne was questioned about their first interview with Farwell after Birchmore’s death. In that interview, Farwell explained to Dunne that he went to Birchmore’s apartment on the day of her death to break up with her.
Jurors were shown security video Tuesday from 2021 that prosecutors said shows Sandra Birchmore entering her apartment building alive for the last time.
Video presented by the prosecution also showed Farwell going in and out of the elevator in that building hours later, with a focus on his face covering, which a witness said was unusual for him to wear during the pandemic.
Prosecutors said Farwell was inside Birchmore’s apartment for just 28 minutes – during which time they allege he killed her and her unborn child.
COVID masking was common at that time, but the first witness in the case, Stoughton Police Department Detective Heather Cheever, testified she “never saw him with a mask on,” adding that Farwell said that he “didn’t care about COVID or wearing a mask.”
The jury was also shown a sonogram taped to Birchmore’s refrigerator.
Prosecutors allege Farwell strangled Birchmore, 23, to keep her from going public with their relationship, which began when she was 15 years old taking part in a Stoughton Police Explorers’ Program.
Farwell’s lawyers said he went to Birchmore’s apartment that day to break up with her and claim she took her own life when he left.
Cheever admitted police took Birchmore to the hospital in 2020 because she had talked of suicide, but testified that “she was angry”.
“She got into an argument with her aunt,” Cheever said. “She made a statement that she wanted to hurt herself, but said she didn’t really mean it. She said it out of anger.”
The jury also heard from Birchmore’s boss at a school where she was a teacher’s aide, who testified that Birchmore was single and happy to be pregnant.
The trial is expected to last five weeks.
Farwell has pleaded not guilty and faces life in prison if convicted.
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