Prosecutors in Sandra Birchmore case say they have DNA evidence they intend to use

Federal prosecutors say they intend to introduce DNA evidence in their case against Matthew Farwell, a former Stoughton police detective accused of killing Sandra Birchmore.

Farwell has been indicted on federal charges in the death of 23-year-old Birchmore, who was found dead in her Canton, Massachusetts, apartment in February 2021. She was three months pregnant. Farwell is accused of strangling her and then staging her body and apartment to make the death appear as if she committed suicide.

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In a joint initial status report dated Thursday, federal prosecutors noted that there has been DNA testing done in the case and they intend to introduce expert testimony regarding it. The notice, which also provided updates on discovery requests, pretrial motions and other procedural concerns, did not specify what the DNA evidence contained.

"The government intends to notice expert testimony regarding DNA testing in this case and has provided the results of preliminary DNA testing to counsel in its September 25, 2024 discovery production," the filing reads.

Federal prosecutors have alleged that Farwell groomed Birchmore from the time she was a teen after the two met in the Stoughton Police Explorers Academy program. Their sexual relationship, prosecutors allege, started when Birchmore was 15 and continued until her death. Investigators believe Farwell killed Birchmore after she became pregnant with his child.

Resources for victims of sexual assault are available through the National Sexual Violence Resources Center and the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 800-656-4673, and Massachusetts provides this list of statewide and resources for sexual assault survivors.

When Birchmore the state medical examiner's office ruled the death a suicide.

An internal investigation by the Stoughton Police Department found in 2022 that Farwell and two other Stoughton officers had inappropriate sexual relationships with Birchmore, though Farwell's was the only one alleged to have started when she was underage.

The Norfolk County District Attorney's Office didn't bring charges against Farwell or the other two officers — both have denied wrongdoing, and they are not facing charges in federal court.

The department turned the results of the investigation over to prosecutors. Investigators said at the time that there was no foul play in Birchmore’s death.

All three officers resigned before they were interviewed as part of the Stoughton police investigation, police said. County prosecutors eventually handed over the investigation to the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office; their probe was still ongoing.

But the U.S. Attorney's Office says it reviewed existing evidence and uncovered new evidence that led to Farwell's grand jury indictment on a charge of killing a witness or victim.

In the indictment against Farwell, federal prosecutors allege that he killed Birchmore with the intention of covering up possible federal crimes.

Evidence for the theory that Birchmore was killed was first brought forward in a legal proceeding earlier this year.

In June, Stoughton Police Chief Donna McNamara wrote a statement to the Stoughton community on a report that left her "profoundly disturbed and troubled" from a pathologist hired by Birchmore's family as part of a civil lawsuit.

While NBC10 Boston has not reviewed the report, The Boston Globe reported that, in it, a former New York City chief medical examiner found that Birchmore's death was a homicide, not a suicide. Without mentioning its findings, McNamara said that the report warranted further high-level examination.