Massachusetts ex-detective Matthew Farwell accused of killing Sandra Birchmore, who was pregnant

A former Massachusetts police detective accused of strangling a girl who had lately informed him she was pregnant together with his little one after which staging the scene to seem as a suicide has been charged in her 2021 demise, federal prosecutors stated Wednesday.

They allege that Matthew Farwell killed Sandra Birchmore years after he started grooming and sexually abusing her as a youth within the Stoughton Police Explorers Academy. Farwell was an teacher in this system designed to foster an curiosity in police work and labored for the Stoughton Police Division from 2012 to 2022.

Farwell, 38, started having intercourse, together with whereas on responsibility, with Birchmore when she was 15, appearing U.S. Lawyer Joshua Levy stated at a information convention Wednesday.

She “survived years of grooming, statutory rape after which sexual violence, all by the hands of Matthew Farwell,” Levy stated.

Farwell befriended her, contacted her on-line and went to the library along with her earlier than he started committing statutory rape, Levy stated.

Prosecutors stated Farwell killed Birchmore, 23, on Feb. 1, 2021, in her Canton, Massachusetts, condo when he may not management her and as phrase started to get out that he had been having intercourse along with her for years.

“He allegedly silenced her completely,” Levy stated.

Authorities initially dominated Birchmore’s demise a suicide.

Farwell has been charged with one depend of killing a witness or sufferer. The FBI arrested him in Revere, Massachusetts, on Wednesday.

A lawyer for Farwell didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.

In October 2020, Birchmore informed Farwell she needed to have a child and he agreed to attempt to impregnate her if she stayed silent about his previous conduct and their relationship, in accordance with a movement prosecutors filed arguing for pretrial detention.

Birchmore needed to have a toddler and was enthusiastic about her being pregnant, however Farwell was not, and his conduct grew extra erratic and harmful, Levy stated.

Birchmore informed Farwell the kid was his and commenced asking him about docs’ appointments, ultrasounds and what info could be on the delivery certificates.

‘Shedding management’

A month earlier than Birchmore was killed, one in all her associates informed Stoughton police that Farwell had been having intercourse with Birchmore, the indictment stated.

“Mr. Farwell was shedding management in late 2020, early 2021, and the knowledge that Sandra Birchmore possessed about his unlawful conduct was at risk of slipping out. In actual fact, phrase began to get out about their relationship lower than two weeks earlier than she was discovered lifeless,” Levy stated.

After the buddy got here ahead, 6-foot-4 Farwell allegedly turned violent with 4-foot-10 Birchmore. He pushed her and put her in a chokehold, Levy stated.

Prosecutors stated Farwell killed Birchmore hours earlier than his spouse delivered their third little one. Birchmore was strangled as a blizzard approached the Boston area, which prosecutors stated would give Farwell cowl for Birchmore’s absence from work for days.

Farwell hid proof in Birchmore’s demise, in accordance with prosecutors, by telling her to delete proof on her cellphone that that they had intercourse earlier than she was 16, repositioning her lifeless physique and staging her condo to seem like the scene of a suicide, the movement stated.

He additionally lied to detectives with the Massachusetts State Police, the company that originally investigated Birchmore’s demise, by telling investigators their sexual relationship started in 2020, not seven years earlier, and by saying he solely had intercourse along with her a couple of occasions, prosecutors stated. He additionally allowed solely “restricted consent” to look his cellphone, the detention movement stated.

Troubling allegations

Birchmore’s alleged sexual abuse as part of the police Explorers membership was included in a Marshall Challenge investigation, revealed in partnership with NBC Information in Could, about abuse allegations in legislation enforcement Explorer posts throughout the nation. This system, created by the Boy Scouts of America, goals to show teenagers and younger adults about policing.