Crime · Norfolk County
Ex-Stoughton Detective Accused of Murdering Pregnant Woman in 2021
Former Stoughton Police detective Matthew Farwell, 40, is on federal trial charged with murdering Sandra Birchmore, 23, in her Massachusetts home on Feb. 1, 2021, and staging the death as suicide. Prosecutors allege Farwell killed Birchmore—who was about eight weeks pregnant—to prevent exposure of a sexual relationship that began when she was 15. The original state police investigation, conducted by troopers working in the Norfolk County district attorney's office, concluded suicide without examining Farwell for injuries or collecting DNA. Defense attorneys say Birchmore died by suicide amid personal struggles and that Farwell went to her apartment to break up with her.