STOUGHTON – Former Stoughton, Massachusetts police detective Matthew Farwell is accused of killing 23-year-old Sandra Burchmore in 2021 while she was pregnant with what he said was her child.
According to a grand jury indictment filed Tuesday in federal court, Farwell strangled Burchmore to death in her Canton apartment and then staged the scene to make it look like she had committed suicide. Burchmore’s death had been ruled a suicide by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, with no foul play involved.
Former Stoughton Police Officer Matthew Farwell indicted
According to the indictment, Farwell “engaged in sexual intercourse and other sexual acts with Birchmore” before he turned 16. In 2012, Birchmore attended the Stoughton Police Explorer Academy, a youth program for children interested in careers in law enforcement, and Farwell was a volunteer instructor at the academy.
Federal prosecutors allege that Farwell “used his power and access to seduce, sexually exploit and ultimately sexually abuse Ms. Burchmore when she was 15 years old, and continued to have sexual relations with her after she became an adult.” He was 27 at the time of the assaults.
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“Farwell engaged in sexual conduct with Burchmore during a shift when he was supposed to be performing his duties as a Stoughton Police Officer,” the indictment states.
According to the indictment, Birchmore told Farwell he was the child’s father after learning she was pregnant in December 2020. On or about Jan. 20, 2021, a friend of Birchmore called the Stoughton Police Department to report that Farwell had been having sexual intercourse with Birchmore.
Police department officers notified Farwell about the call, and Burchmore was found dead a few days later, on Feb. 4, 2021, according to the indictment.
“When it became clear to him that he could not control Sandra Birchmore, Farwell allegedly silenced her permanently,” Acting U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Joshua Levy said at a press conference. “He allegedly tried to cover his tracks in order to literally get away with murder, and to this day, he has pretty much gotten away with it.”
Sandra Birchmore’s death was not a suicide, according to the indictment.
The affidavit filed by FBI Special Agent Cheney Castulita details the victim’s final days and says evidence suggests Farwell “had been planning to murder Birchmore.”
Burchmore texted someone to say she had asked for the keys to Farwell’s apartment the week before his death, telling the other person it was “really weird” that Farwell had come over and looked inside her closet and bathroom.
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According to the affidavit, officers found Burchmore dead, with the strap from a duffel bag around her neck and chained to the door of the closet Farwell was examining. The affidavit also said that a doctor interviewed by federal prosecutors provided findings that “cast doubt on previous findings that Ms. Burchmore’s death was a suicide and further support that Ms. Burchmore’s death was a homicide.”
“We believe that Matthew Farwell’s actions, as described in today’s indictment, were depraved conduct and a flagrant betrayal of his oath and the public trust,” said Assistant Special Agent in Charge Steven Kelleher of the Boston FBI. “Let us be clear: Matthew Farwell’s gun and badge do not authorize him to violate the Constitution.”
“A horrific injustice”
Stoughton Police Chief Donna McNamara said the department is working with the FBI on the investigation.
“The alleged murder of Sandra is a horrific act of injustice,” she said in a statement. “The allegations against the suspect, a former Stoughton police officer, are not only the worst act of professional misconduct I have seen in my nearly 30-year career as a law enforcement officer, but the worst act of human indecency.”
Canton police and state police with the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office initially investigated Burchmore’s death as a suicide, apparently due to a lack of surveillance video and text messages that would have shown Farwell at the crime scene.
Outside the federal courthouse on Wednesday, a group held signs saying they believe Norfolk County investigators should be held accountable. “These charges should have been made a long time ago. It shouldn’t have gone on this long,” protester Allison Taggart said.
Levy would not comment on the investigation so far. “This case is about what happened to Sandra Birchmore, how Matthew Farwell treated her, how he violated her rights and ultimately killed her. That’s what this case is about. It’s not about what’s going on in other state agencies,” Levy said.
A spokesman for Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey said Wednesday that the Birchmore case remains “open and ongoing.”
“This work has included working with local police, the state attorney general and the FBI, as each agency has its own resources and jurisdiction. Two state police troopers assigned to the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office were in command of the operation when the arrests were made in Revere,” spokesman David Traub said. “We look forward to assisting and cooperating with federal authorities as they pursue this prosecution.”
Matthew Farwell arrested in Libya
SWAT teams arrested Farwell, who was driving a gravel truck, at a shopping plaza in Revere on Wednesday morning. If convicted of murder of a witness or victim, Farwell faces life in prison. Levy said the case also includes the death penalty.
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“Whether or not to seek the death penalty in federal cases is decided at the highest levels of the Department of Justice,” he said. “A decision has not yet been made whether to seek the death penalty in this case, and that process continues, but I cannot comment beyond that.”
Farwell pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in federal court on Wednesday and was held without bail. A detention hearing is scheduled for Sept. 10.
Other officers involved in the Sandra Birchmore case
Former police officers Farwell, his twin brother William Farwell, and Robert Devine Violated department policy They were arrested in 2022 after a 19-month investigation, and investigators said the trio had exhibited a “highly disturbing pattern of behavior” toward Birchmore.
No other Stoughton police officers are named in the new indictment, with Levy saying only that it is an “ongoing case.”
The Boston Globe reported in June that Burchmore’s family had filed a civil lawsuit against Stoughton police, the town and three former officers. A pathologist hired by the family said Burchmore’s death was a homicide caused by strangulation.
In response, Chief McNamara “I was deeply shaken He said he was “troubled” by the findings and that “certainly further investigation at the highest levels is needed.”
