STOUGHTON, MASS. (WHDH) - Day seven in the Matthew Farwell murder trial Wednesday saw two of Sandra Birchmore’s friends take the stand, telling the jury what they knew about her relationship with the former Stoughton police officer.
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 part of the Stoughton Police Explorers mentoring program.
Farwell’s defense argues that Birchmore took her own life.
Donyea Holloway was in the Stoughton Police Explorers mentoring program with Birchmore, and later reconnected with her, learning Birchmore was pregnant. Holloway said Birchmore told her that Matthew Farwell was the father of her child.
Holloway testified, “She said that he was upset, and the reason being was because she wanted to put him on the birth certificate, and he didn’t want to do that.” She continued, “She can be oversharing at times. She was pretty. Always was willing to help others. I do remember [her] always being a willing participant in the program.”
Birchmore’s former hairdresser, Shauna McGrath, also testified Wednesday. She recalled a pregnant Birchmore telling her the the baby’s father, “Matt,” who worked for the Stoughton Police Department, did not want to be involved in raising her baby.
When Birchmore died, McGrath said she was so shocked and upset that she called the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office and provided them with information.
The prosecutor asked, “Did that information include your understanding of Miss Birchmore’s relationship with the person named Matt?”
McGrath answered, “Yes.”
McGrath also testified that Birchmore never told her about any prior suicide attempts or self-harm.
A third witness, Stoughton Police Detective Sandra Barrett, said she was very good friends with Farwell. She testified that in January of 2021 Farwell appeared agitated and told her he was having a problem with someone who wasn’t his wife, who was threatening to tell his wife about their relationship.
Barrett testified that when she offered to help, “He told me that he was fine. He believed that the problem was really going to take care of itself.”
The prosecution is expected to call the man who actually was the father of Sandra Birchmore’s child to the stand Thursday. In court earlier this week, DNA testing showed the father was not Matthew Farwell.
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