Sandra Birchmore

‘FARWELL killed Birchmore': Read the feds' Sandra Birchmore indictment

Read the U.S. Attorney's Office for Massachusetts' full indictment against Matthew Farwell, for a single count of killing a witness or victim, below

NBC Universal, Inc.

Federal investigators have made explosive new allegations in the death Sandra Birchmore, a woman whose death in Canton, Massachusetts, in 2021 was initially ruled a suicide.

In an indictment filed this week in Boston's federal court, the U.S. Attorney's Office for Massachusetts alleges that Matthew Farwell, who was at the time a detective in Stoughton, killed Birchmore, a 23-year-old who was pregnant at the time. The indictment says he was the child's father, and that they'd had sexual contact since before she turned 16 — she was in the Stoughton Police Department's youth Explorer program since she was 13.

WATCH ANYTIME FOR FREE

icon

Stream NBC10 Boston news for free, 24/7, wherever you are.

"On or about February 1, 2021, FARWELL killed Birchmore by strangulation," the indictment reads. "Shortly thereafter, FARWELL staged Birchmore's Canton, Massachusetts apartment to make it appear as if Birchmore had committed suicide."

Read the full indictment, for a single count of killing a witness or victim, below.

Editor's note: the allegations in the indictment may not be suitable for all readers.

Critical new information helped lead to a new federal charge alleging that Stoughton Police Officer Matthew Farwell killed Sandra Birchmore, whom he'd had a sexual relationship with as a child, and whose death in Canton in 2021 was initially ruled a suicide. "Sandra Birchmore survived years of grooming, statutory rape and then sexual violence, all at the hands of Matthew Farwell, who was employed throughout the relationship as an officer and then detective for the Stoughton Police Department," acting U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy said at this news conference.
Contact Us