SANDRA BIRCHMORE: MA vs. Matthew Farwell for 2021 murder and cover-up *TRIAL IN PROGRESS*

I used to start a fair amount of case threads but life has me not doing so in quite awhile. The title will likely need more info, date, etc. and an intro.

I don't know enough yet to have an opinion but keep running into this case. Of course it jump started due to being the same area as Karen Read with LE involvement and yet nothing about them is similar. Night and day different.

An issue I have with cases of suicides or drownings, some various things like that is when they rule such accidental or suicide when it cannot be known. Not saying they aren't right in a lot of cases but short of solid proof it is such, I think they should in many cases be ruled undetermined.

It seems this one is heating up and I think a thread should be started but a mod may have to tweak my title and intro.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Opening statements delivered in Matthew Farwell trial; jury sent home for day

Opening statements were delivered Friday in the trial of former Stoughton police officer Matthew Farwell, who is accused of killing Sandra Birchmore in 2021 to hide a sexual relationship that began when she was a minor.

www.wcvb.com

Opening statements delivered in Matthew Farwell trial in Sandra Birchmore's death​

Opening statements in the trial of former Stoughton Police Officer Matthew Farwell were delivered Friday before the jury was sent home for the day.

The former Stoughton officer is accused of strangling Sandra Birchmore in 2021 and staging her death to look like a suicide.

"I'm really happy this day has finally come. Waited a long time," Birchmore's cousin said Friday.

Prosecutors allege that Farwell initiated a sexual relationship with Birchmore in 2012 and accuse him of killing her after she told him about her pregnancy and threatened to expose their relationship. Farwell is accused of killing a witness or victim and causing the death of Birchmore's unborn child.

Judge Denise Casper gave both sides one final chance to rule out any jurors before 10 men and six women were seated. Twelve of the 16 jurors will be chosen to deliberate the case.

"He killed her so that she couldn't talk about what he had done with her and to her," Assistant U.S. Attorney Torey Cummings told the jury in her opening statement. "The evidence will show that the defendant murdered Sandra by strangling her."

Defense Attorney Kimberly Stevens argued a very different theory, the suicide theory, which was the Medical Examiner's original determination.

"Matthew Farwell is a man who has had an affair. He's made some regrettable mistakes. He's human. Matthew Farwell did not kill Sandra Birchmore. He did not," Stevens said.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Jurors see photos, video from Sandra Birchmore's apartment in trial of Matthew Farwell

Testimony began Tuesday in the trial of former Stoughton police officer Matthew Farwell, who is accused of killing Sandra Birchmore in 2021 to hide a sexual relationship that began when she was a minor.

www.wcvb.com

Photos, videos from Sandra Birchmore's apartment shown as testimony begins in Matthew Farwell's trial​

Jurors saw surveillance video from Sandra Birchmore's apartment building and photos of her body during the first day of testimony in the trial of Matthew Farwell, the former Stoughton police officer who is accused of killing her in 2021 to hide a sexual relationship that began when she was a minor.

The first witness called in the case was Detective Heather Cheever, of the Stoughton Police Department. She knew Birchmore, who was in the department's Explorers program as a minor.

Cheever testified that she had heard Birchmore was pregnant before her death, which was originally described as a suicide. She also testified that she recognized Farwell in surveillance video leaving Birchmore's apartment building wearing a mask, but noted he had told her that he never believed in COVID-19.

Prosecutors allege that Farwell initiated a sexual relationship with Birchmore in 2012 and accuse him of killing her after she told him about her pregnancy and threatened to expose their relationship. Farwell is accused of killing a witness or victim and causing the death of Birchmore's unborn child. The prosecution alleges that he staged her death to look like a suicide.

Cheryl Carlson, an assistant principal who hired Birchmore to work as an instructional assistant in Sharon Public Schools, was the second witness called to testify. She said that Birchmore's death "didn't make sense" because she was excited about her pregnancy.

The third witness called to the stand on Tuesday was Erin Porter, the property manager at Canton Woods, who helped officers with the wellness check that led to the discovery of Birchmore's body on Feb. 4, 2021. She said Birchmore's apartment was locked when they arrived.

Porter testified that she saw someone in the lobby of Birchmore's building on Feb. 1, 2021, and called law enforcement. Video evidence from the lobby's camera was shown to the jury.

After the lunch break, Canton School Resource Officer Ensley Cotard testified that he was asked to conduct the well-being check in Birchmore's apartment. Photos of Birchmore's body were introduced into evidence during his testimony.

Cotard testified that Birchmore's death appeared to be a suicide, but said he didn't find a suicide note.

Carlos Verissimo, maintenance supervisor at Canton Woods, testified about the layout of the building where Birchmore lived and identified her in videos from the property's surveillance.

Late in the afternoon, state police homicide investigator Trooper Matthew Dunne began his testimony. He was assigned to the Norfolk County State Police Detective Unit and was one of the lead state investigators during the initial state-level inquiry into the death. From court records, we know he was one of the troopers who initially interviewed Farwell about Birchmore's death.

 

[Kimster]

 

[Kimster]

 

[Cousin Dupree]

I wonder if this will make leads into the Karen Read case cover up.

 

[Kimster]

I wonder if this will make leads into the Karen Read case cover up.

In what way? You lost me.

 

[Cousin Dupree]

In what way? You lost me.

It's believed, by a lot of people, that her boyfriend was killed inside the house and taken outside. It was a cop's house and a bunch of cops at the party.

One of the jurors on the second trial said that he hoped they'd find out what really happened.

If Read's family wasn't wealthy, and she had a public defender, she'd probably be in jail.

IMO, there is a far reaching cover up in her boyfriend's death.

The Birchmore case just shows that A LOT of corruption exists in that department.

 

[Guess Who]

It's believed, by a lot of people, that her boyfriend was killed inside the house and taken outside. It was a cop's house and a bunch of cops at the party.

One of the jurors on the second trial said that he hoped they'd find out what really happened.

If Read's family wasn't wealthy, and she had a public defender, she'd probably be in jail.

IMO, there is a far reaching cover up in her boyfriend's death.

The Birchmore case just shows that A LOT of corruption exists in that department.

I've believed for a very long time that power breeds corruption. These cases prove my belief.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Friend testifies she urged police to investigate Farwell the day after Birchmore died

Testimony in the Matthew Farwell murder trial on Thursday focused on what Sandra Birchmore’s closest friend says she knew about their relationship.

turnto10.com

Friend testifies she urged police to investigate Farwell the day after Birchmore died
Testimony in the Matthew Farwell murder trial on Thursday focused on what Sandra Birchmore’s closest friend says she knew about their relationship and on how investigators initially handled evidence from Farwell’s phone.

Some of the details presented in court were graphic.


That friend told jurors she went to Canton police the day after Birchmore’s death urging them to investigate Farwell, who is from Easton.

A state police forensics investigator acknowledged that they found no messages between Birchmore and Farwell on his phone, but federal investigators later found thousands.

Lesley Davis, one of Birchmore's best friends, testified that she told Canton police to investigate Farwell after learning Birchmore died.

Davis met Birchmore as a teen and said that Birchmore told her about her relationship with Farwell almost immediately, saying he "paid a lot of attention to her" and would "always text her and wonder where she is."

She told jurors that Birchmore shared that they had sex in his police vehicle. She recalled Birchmore describing that sometimes it was rough and involved choking.

According to Davis, Birchmore was "very enamored with Farwell."

Davis said Birchmore talked often about being a mom and that her pregnancy was "the happiest time in her life."

She spoke to Birchmore by phone on Feb. 1, 2021, the night she died, and said everything seemed normal.

When she learned that Birchmore died, she said she was in disbelief because she thought there could be someone involved.

That statement was objected and struck.

She said, "Right away I thought Matthew " but didn't finish her thought because of another objection.

She said she went to Canton police the day after Birchmore died because she remembered a recent argument between Birchmore and Farwell where Birchmore told him he pushed her to the ground when she tried to get him to sign the birth certificate for her child. (DNA testing later determined Farwell was not the father.)

She spoke with law enforcement "so they didn't miss any evidence."

There was an explosive moment from Stoughton Police Officer Kuhn, who worked with Farwell and knew Birchmore when she was in the Stoughton Police Explorers program, when the defense asked, "When you walked into the courtroom, you said to someone with the government, 'I can't wait to crush this (expletive)."

He replied, "Yes."

Massachusetts State Police digital forensic investigator Nicholas Gaurino said that he found no messages between Birchmore and Farwell on Farwell's phone, so they returned it to him.

The feds later found thousands of messages.