For the final time, jurors in former Stoughton Police officer Matthew Farwell’s federal murder trial saw graphic photos of an alleged crime scene and Sandra Birchmore’s autopsy Wednesday.
They also heard a heated exchange between one of the prosecutors and a retired medical examiner called by the defense that extended past the court’s usual hours.
The day of testimony ended with the defense resting and centered on the heart of the case: Did Birchmore hang herself or did Farwell strangle her then stage her body to make it look like suicide?
Prosecutors alleged that Farwell killed the pregnant 23-year-old in February 2021, after she told him he was the father of her baby. They say he did it in an effort to cover up his wrongdoing – namely that he’d allegedly started a sexual relationship with Birchmore when she was 15. But Farwell’s defense contends that Birchmore hanged herself after Farwell went to her apartment to say he wasn’t the father and to end their relationship.
Dr. Thomas A. Andrew, a forensic pathologist and the former Chief Medical Examiner for New Hampshire, took the stand to refute testimony given by one of the prosecution’s key witnesses, Dr. William Smock, who said that Birchmore’s injuries pointed to homicide rather than suicide.
While autopsy and scene photos flashed on the screen, Andrew took jurors through injuries he said were consistent with decomposition. Andrew explained abrasions on her neck were likely from the rough nylon-canvas duffle bag strap that was used as the ligature.
While the images were shown to the jury and a large flat screen pointed at the gallery, one of Birchmore’s family members kept her head down. A friend of the victim started to cry and spent most of that testimony with her face down, too, shaking her head at times.
An impression on Birchmore’s chest, that Andrew said might be the size and shape of the strap’s clasp, can’t lead to any conclusions.
“The mark in and of itself is silent on cause or manner,” he testified. “I wasn’t there, it’s not on video tape. One can only speculate how that particular mark was made in that particular area, at that particular time.”
The fracture of Birchmore’s hyoid bone, the tiny neck bone break Smock had said pointed to a strangulation, could be consistent with a partially suspended hanging, Andrew said.
Birchmore had been found in her Canton apartment, seated and partially reclined, with a ligature around her neck attached to her closet doorknob.
“Fully suspended hangings, we rarely see,” he said, “partially suspended hangings are common,” and of those some are seated.
Andrew said that according to the scientific literature, people under 30 years old (who are more likely to have unfused, flexible hyoid bones) have their hyoid bones fractured in partial hangings. But when asked to cite a specific case, he said he couldn’t.
The doctor also noted that there wasn’t a sign of a struggle at the apartment or defensive wounds on Birchmore’s body, if there had, the doctor said investigators might have noted dragging marks in the carpet or wounds on Birchmore’s hands.
In addition to reviewing information from scene photos, police materials, and the autopsy report, Andrew said he also had information about Birchmore’s mental health history.
He noted a 2017 suicide note and a past overdose attempt.
“When evaluating suicidality, past behavior does confer risk through life, particularly in youth suicide in that most youth suicides, as opposed to older adults, are impulsive acts,” Andrew said.
The medical examiner who performed Birchmore’s autopsy, Dr. Maria Capo Martinez, initially ruled the death a suicide but revised it to “undetermined” earlier this year, after receiving more case information from federal investigators.
Andrew explained to jurors that undetermined is used “when there is insufficient evidence to come down on one side or another of an issue in a definitive manner.”
“It is not good practice to just take a guess, so you put undetermined when you don’t have enough information to figure out one or another,” he said, testifying that he thought suicide was more likely in this case.
When Assistant United States Attorney Elizabeth Riley got up to cross-examine the doctor, it was already nearing 4 p.m., the usual stop time for proceedings, and quickly, the back-and-forth grew tense.
She asked him why he was saying, for the first time, that suicide was more likely, pointing to a 30-plus-page report he’d written in preparation for his testimony that she said didn’t mention that finding.
“I’ve been saying that for quite a long time,” he said, asking to take a look at the report.
Riley added a quick question about getting paid for the testimony, as many expert witnesses are.
“I wasn’t paid by you,” he quipped.
While he read through the report, Riley sat down and waited.
The questioning eventually resumed, with Riley, arms crossed, pointing out that she didn’t see that language.
“I can’t rule out suicide,” he said.
She also asked him about the first time he’d examined the ligature found on Birchmore’s neck. He replied that he’d been looking at photographs of it for quite some time, but eventually said he’d only seen it in person earlier that day, when showing its texture to the jury.
“There was no need to inspect it before today,” he said. “It didn’t change squat.”
Farwell’s DNA on the ligature also didn’t seem of much importance to the doctor.
Farwell had been in the apartment many times, as had his fraternal twin brother William Farwell, who Andrew at first mistakenly said would have shared a DNA profile with the defendant.
“In the end, it’s kind of a wash,” he said.
Andrew was the defense’s last witness. Court is off Thursday and closing arguments are expected on Friday.
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