Ex-officer convicted of killing Sandra Birchmore to keep Massachusetts woman quiet about sex abuse

Matthew Farwell, a former Stoughton, Massachusetts police officer, was convicted on November 10, 2026, of murdering Sandra Birchmore and her unborn child. The jury found him guilty in federal court in South Boston after four weeks of testimony from 50 witnesses. Farwell faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole scheduled for February 3, 2027.

Birchmore was 23 years old when she died on February 1, 2021, shortly after a tipster reported their improper relationship to her police department. Prosecutors claim Farwell murdered Birchmore to prevent her from revealing his sexual abuse of her when she was 15 and to cover up evidence by staging the scene as a suicide. The case was originally investigated by Massachusetts State Police, who concluded it was a suicide; however, the FBI re-opened the investigation two years later, determining it was a homicide.

The trial highlighted issues with local authorities' handling of the initial investigation, leading federal prosecutors to criticize their failure to properly follow leads and close the case prematurely. Farwell had known Birchmore since she was 13 as part of the Stoughton Police Department's youth explorers program.