The jury weighing whether Matthew Farwell killed Sandra Birchmore asked to continue deliberating into the evening Friday, but they will return on Monday to continue weighing the ex-cop’s fate.
Chief U.S. District Judge Denise J. Casper informed prosecutors and defense counsel around 5 p.m. that the 12-person panel requested to stay late as it inched toward a potential verdict.
However, after opening deliberations lasted roughly three hours following explosive closing arguments Friday, Casper excused the jury for the weekend, noting that staying past 6 p.m. would have been “very problematic” due to courthouse logistics.
The jury — eight men and four women — began deliberating around 2:30 p.m., capping a 17-day trial featuring testimony from about 50 witnesses and hundreds of evidence exhibits.
Prosecutors allege Farwell killed the pregnant 23-year-old Sandra Birchmore in February 2021 after she told him he was the father of her unborn baby, staging her death as a suicide in her Canton apartment to cover up a sexual relationship he began when she was 15.
Farwell’s defense contends Birchmore hanged herself after Farwell went to her apartment to end their relationship and tell her he wasn’t the father.
“You know, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the defendant murdered Sandra Birchmore; he strangled her, and then he staged her,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Riley told jurors, concluding the government’s rebuttal argument.
Inside a packed courtroom, prominent figures watched closely: former U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy, who oversaw the federal indictment; Stoughton Police Chief Donna McNamara, currently on paid administrative leave; and FBI Special Agent Heidi Kelsch, who led the probe into the former Stoughton police officer.
Before jurors were brought in Friday morning, Farwell’s defense attorney Joanne Daley objected to the government’s slideshow, arguing slides titled “Steps not taken” and “CPAC takes the bait” improperly vouched for federal agents over local law enforcement.
Casper overruled the objection, holding that issues regarding the investigation were fair game.
The medical examiner’s office had previously revised Birchmore’s cause and manner of death from suicide to “undetermined” following federal findings.
Presenting the government’s main closing, prosecutor Brian A. Fogerty noted Farwell visited Birchmore’s apartment on the snowy night of Feb. 1, 2021 — the eve of a planned C-section for Farwell’s wife.
“He was there to save himself,” Fogerty argued. “Not to end things with Sandra Birchmore but to end her and to end any possibility that she would expose him.”
Fogerty argued that Farwell groomed and sexually assaulted Birchmore starting when she was 15, and that a Jan. 20, 2021 call to Stoughton dispatch from Birchmore’s friend reporting the relationship blew up Farwell’s cover.
Surveillance captured Farwell leaving Birchmore’s apartment building three minutes after her phone detected its final movement 12 days after the call, Feb. 1.
Defense attorney Kimberly Stevens painted Birchmore as a depressed young woman battling lifelong adversities who constructed a fantasy world around marrying Farwell.
“Sandra just needed one person to be there for her. To help her. And she didn’t have that,” Stevens argued, “and Matthew Farwell’s life and wife were a dream and a fantasy for her.”
Stevens criticized prosecutors for presenting a “select few” text messages out of 40,000 to depict consensual adult activity as salacious, arguing Birchmore killed herself to “make the pain stop” after Farwell broke up with her.
Riley countered in the government’s final rebuttal, pointing out Birchmore spent her final day searching for baby names and chatting with friends.
“When all hope is lost, when nothing remains, do you pick up your phone? You do if you’re Sandra Birchmore,” Riley said. “She had no idea that would be the last day of her life.”
Deliberations are set to resume Monday at 9 a.m.
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