Jurors in Matthew Farwell’s federal murder trial are expected to hear from the government’s first witnesses Tuesday morning.
Farwell, 40, a former Stoughton Police Officer, is accused of killing Sandra Birchmore, 23, and causing the death of her unborn child in February 2021.
The trial started on Friday with opening statements.
You can read the latest Herald coverage of the case, here:
Matthew Farwell’s defense says federal prosecutors acted in “bad faither,” in new filing
The Norfolk District Attorney’s Office declined to prosecute Farwell after a State Police investigation and Medical Examiner found that Birchmore’s death was a suicide, but a federal grand jury indicted Farwell on a charge of killing a witness/victim in 2024. Farwell says that Birchmore killed herself but federal prosecutors alleged the ex-cop killed her then staged the crime scene to make it look like a suicide.
Following along with live updates here:
2:06 p.m. Stevens, when asking Porter about the police response the day Birchmore’s body was found, referred to the officers’ efforts as professional and got an objection from the prosecution for the commentary.
1:59 p.m. The jury is back in and Porter is back on the stand. Stevens is continuing cross-examination.
1:56 p.m. Court is back in session after a lunch break and parties are again doing arguments at sidebar.
12:50 p.m. On cross, Porter said that there were apartments above, below, and to the left of Birchmore’s apartment. She said that her rent was $1,561 a month.
12:45 p.m. Farwell is whispering to Daley while Stevens crosses Porter.
2:40 p.m. Porter said Tina Thompson called and shared the manner and cause of death of Birchmore. The caller also shared that Birchmore had a relationship with a Stoughton Police Officer. Porter said she brought that information to the Canton Police.
Judge Casper told jurors before this bit of testimony that it was allowed on a very specific basis, saying it “will go to the government’s contention about the completeness of the police investigation,” and can’t be considered for any other reason.
12:36 p.m. Instead of physically going to sidebar, the parties all put on headphones with attached microphones and white noise is played to prevent the jury and other parties from hearing what is said. Casper called it “whisper tech.”
12:34 p.m. Fogarty asked Porter to relay a conversation she had with a woman who called the property group on Feb. 5, the day after Birchmore was found. But before Porter could answer, the defense objected, arguing it was hearsay. The parties are now as sidebar.
12:31 p.m. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Fogarty is playing a video of Birchmore coming into her building on the last night she was seen alive. She whips her hood off when she gets inside, holding an ice scraper for a car, and wears a down jacket, long socks, teal leggings, and her hair is in a high bun.
12:28 p.m. “I did not go in with him,” Porter said, when she let a Canton Police Officer into Birchmore’s apartment. “I had a bad gut feeling about the situation for no reason.”
12:21 p.m. The property manager of Birchmore’s Canton apartment Erin Porter is on the stand. Jurors are seeing aerial photos of the complex and Birchmore’s lease.
12:14 p.m. When Carson met with the FBI in September 2024, she told investigators that she stayed away from news about the case so as not to interfere with her own memories. But Daley said Carson joined the “Justice for Sandra Birchmore” Facebook group in June 2024.
“I hardly ever go on that page,” she said.
12:03 p.m. Carson said that Birchmore took a lot of days off, referring to her an an email as the “sickest employee” she’d ever had. Carson said she was being “snarky” in the email to HR.
When asked if Birchmore was a good employee, Carson said, “She was not as effective as I would have liked, however she was very caring with the children.”
11:58 a.m. On cross, Carson said that Birchmore spent a lot of time on her phone, something she had to talk to Birchmore about.
11:52 a.m. After Birchmore didn’t show up to work two days in a row, the school called in a wellness check and later that day they were told she’d killed herself.
“It didn’t make sense to me because she was so excited to have that baby,” Carson said. “It didn’t fit with her character or even that last day I saw her.”
She reached out to the MSP the next day to speak with them about some concerns she had and conversations she’d had with Birchmore.
11:48 a.m. “She told anyone she came into contact with that she was having a baby,” including students and staff, Carson said, to the point that the then-vice principal had to tell her it was too much information to share. “Third graders didn’t necessarily need to hear about her boyfriend and her pregnancy.”
11:43 a.m. Birchmore told Carson about being pregnant right before winter break.
“I noticed that she was looking really excited, and she kinda came rushing into my office that day and told me she was pregnant,” Carson said.
Carson knew that Birchmore was a single woman and asked if the pregnancy a good thing. Birchmore reported that it was, that the father was in a committed relationship, children were involved, but that he would leave his situation after she had her baby.
Carson expressed doubt about whether that would actually happen, and Birchmore replied, “I’m going to have that baby, I’ve been trying to have that baby, she expressed that she wanted a baby and someone to love.”
11:38 a.m. Birchmore’s boss at a Sharon elementary school Cheryl Carson said during her interview, “She was very sweet. She had talked to me a lot about her background.”
Birchmore listed a mental health councilor as a reference, “that was a first and only,” Carson said. Birchmore had told Carson that the councilor knew her very well. Carson called the councilor and the other references and hired Birchmore.
11:24 a.m. On redirect, Cheever said that the Mass State Police never interviewed her and that the first law enforcement agency to talk to her about Birchmore’s case was the FBI.
10:43 a.m. Defense attorney Joanne Daley is trying to establish how well Cheever actually knew Birchmore, getting Cheever to say she didn’t remember the victim’s birthday day, or her mother and grandmother’s names, and that they hadn’t talked for several months before her death.When talking to the FBI, Cheever reported that Birchmore was “a lot” after she gave birth to her child.
“Everything felt like a lot at that time,” Cheever said.
10:21 a.m. The defense is trying to bring up Farwell’s twin brother William, another Stoughton Police officer the defense said had a relationship with Birchmore, during Cheever’s cross examination. The government objected and the parties are now speaking at sidebar.
10:07 a.m. A video of Farwell entering Birchmore’s apartment building wearing a mask and a hood on the night of her death was played in courtroom. Cheever said that she never saw Farwell wearing a mask when they worked together, even though it was department protocol to wear one in the station during the pandemic.
10:03 a.m. Cheever heard about Birchmore’s death, apparently by suicide, in a group chat with other police officers.
“I was upset, beside myself because I didn’t believe it,” Cheever said. “She never expressed to me that she was suicidal.”
9:59 a.m. A few months later, Cheever ran into Birchmore at a Walgreen’s parking lot.
“She was really upbeat and easy going, she was so excited to talk about the things she had going on,” Cheever said. “I just remember feeling so proud of her.”
9:54 a.m. In May 2020, Cheever said she responded to Birchmore’s family home, after Birchmore had a fight with her aunt and expressed wanting to hurt herself. Cheever said based on her training and knowing Birchmore “very well” for seven years, she didn’t believe that Birchmore was suicidal that day.
But because of the nature of the call, Birchmore had to be transported to the hospital for a mental health evaluation. She was released, Cheever said.
9:42 a.m. Cheever said she didn’t know that Birchmore was getting tutored individually by Farwell at the local library.
“I would have asked questions,” Cheever said, if she knew about the tutoring. “I would have ask why she was hanging out with someone who was older… It wouldn’t seem to me that it would be appropriate.”
9:31 a.m. A photo of Sandra Birchmore, wearing a red flannel shirt, has been published to the jury. Cheever said she met Birchmore in 2013 when she was 15 years old and she was a part of the department Explorer’s Program.
9:27 a.m. Stoughton Police Detective Heather Cheever, a government witness, is on the stand.
9:25 a.m. The jury is in the courtroom. There are 10 men and six women on the jury.
9:07 a.m. Court is in a brief recess.
9:02 a.m. A sketch artist is working with charcoal to draw a picture of Farwell sitting at the defense table.
8:55 a.m. Jurors may see photos of Birchmore from the alleged crime scene and Casper is walking the parties through instructions she’ll give ahead of those exhibits.
8:53 a.m. Casper said she was also considering a motion to allow the prosecution to call women who allegedly had affairs with Farwell to the stand.
8:51 a.m. Judge Denise Casper said, per a motion from the prosecution, that she would read an instruction reminding jurors that the defense’s opening statements were not evidence and that any instruction on the law that was included in those statements doesn’t govern their deliberations, only her instructions can do that.
8:41 a.m. Because Farwell is being tried in federal courts, no cameras or recorders are allowed in the courtroom. Media has to arrive early to get a seat, with only eight available for reporters in the main courtroom.
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