The murder trial of Matthew Farwell got underway in federal court Friday morning with opening statements from the prosecution and defense. The ex-Stoughton, Massachusetts, police officer is accused of killing former teen cadet Sandra Birchmore and her unborn baby, and staging her death to make it look like a suicide.
Prosecutors say Farwell met Birchmore when she was a 13-year-old in the Stoughton Police Department Explorers Academy and groomed her for years. He allegedly began a sexual relationship with Birchmore when she was 15 and he was 27.
Birchmore was found dead in her Canton apartment in 2021 and her death was originally ruled a suicide. She was 23 years old at the time and pregnant with what she believed was Farwell's child, investigators say.
Prosecutors say Farwell killed Birchmore to conceal their romantic relationship after a friend reported it to police, but his defense will argue that she died by suicide after Farwell told her that the baby wasn't his and that their relationship was over.
Farwell is charged with one federal count of killing a witness or victim, and faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison if convicted. He also faces an additional charge of causing the death of an unborn child. He has pleaded not guilty to both charges.
Farwell was not handcuffed as he entered court wearing a dark gray suit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Torey Cummings gave the opening statement for the prosecution.
Cummings said Birchmore was "enamored with police officers" from a young age and Farwell "was supposed to be mentoring [Birchmore] ... but instead he was having sex with her when she was underage. That's a crime."
Birchmore was "absolutely thrilled" to be pregnant, Cummings said. But she said Farwell, who had a third child on the way with his wife, was worried about getting in trouble.
"The defendant worked hard to keep Sandra quiet, to make sure nobody would know about his crimes," Cummings said. "The defendant murdered Sandra. The evidence will show why he murdered her."
Cummings said there were more than 40,000 messages between Farwell and Birchmore over the course of their relationship, including messages that discussed strangling and choking Birchmore. The prosecutor said Birchmore started to tell people about their relationship as she got older.
"Sandra told the defendant she was going to expose what he had been doing unless he agreed to give her a baby too," Cummings said.
Farwell became "enraged" after a Stoughton police dispatcher told him that a friend of Birchmore's called and reported that they were having sex, according to Cummings.
Farwell told Birchmore "you have no idea how bad what she did is," Cummings said.
"Twelve days after the defendant sent those messages, Sandra was dead," Cummings said. "She could end his life with the information she had, so he was going to end hers first."
Farwell asked if he could visit Birchmore on Feb. 1, 2021, and went up to her Canton apartment, Cummings said. The prosecution alleges that he strangled her with a duffel bag strap.
Farwell hoped "the vulnerability that made it possible for him to groom and rape and abuse her were the same vulnerabilities that would allow him to murder her and stage it as a suicide," Cummings said.
The prosecution closed by saying Massachusetts State Police officers, working with the Norfolk County District Attorney's office, "did very little to actually investigate the death."
Sandra Birchmore's family and friends sat in the front row as the jury heard opening statements.
"My hope is that they'll see the truth and the truth will come out," said Barbara Wright, Sandra's cousin. "I think there is a lot to be learned from this trial."
Birchmore's family friend, Jean Falletti, said Sandra "was very happy to be a mom."
"That was the best thing she ever could have asked for," Falletti said outside court. "That was her one true love."
Farwell's lawyer Kimberly Stevens gave the opening statement for the defense.
"Matthew Farwell is a man who had an affair," Stevens said, wrapping her arm around Farwell's shoulder. "He's human. Matthew Farwell did not kill Sandra Birchmore. He did not."
Stevens began by saying Birchmore searched "what color is the suicide ribbon?" on the day she died, and sent texts to Farwell that suggested she was struggling. She said Birchmore was also having financial difficulties with less than $3 in her bank account.
"That's a window into her mental state as this is all happening," Stevens said. "Sandra Birchmore had spent Thanksgiving alone, Christmas alone with no family."
Stevens said it took 3-and-a-half years for the government to look at the case.
"There was no evidence of a struggle," Stevens said.
She said Farwell met voluntarily with law enforcement during the investigation.
"I went there to break up with her," Farwell said, according to Stevens. "I told her that's not my baby. The timeline doesn't work."
The defense closed by telling jurors they must acquit Farwell.
"Matt Farwell broke up with Sandra Birchmore and said, 'it's not my baby,' and in an impulsive act of despair, she took her own life,'" Stevens said.
"The prosecution needs to establish here that Matthew Farwell did in fact kill Sandra Birchmore, that he did it intentionally, he knew that he was trying to cover something up, that she was a witness to this illicit relationship that they had," WBZ legal analyst Jennifer Roman said.
The trial is taking place at the Moakley Courthouse in Boston. Because it is a federal case, no cameras are allowed inside court and the trial won't be livestreamed.
Jury selection finished Friday morning, with 10 men and six women seated. They were excused for the day around noon after opening statements.
Judge Denise Casper said she expects the trial to last about five weeks. Jurors will be back in court for the start of testimony on Tuesday.
