BOSTON — A Massachusetts police officer allegedly misled Sandra Birchmore into feeling safe before killing her to conceal their affair, according to prosecutor Torey Cummings during opening statements at the start of Officer Matthew Farwell’s federal trial on October 9, 2026. The jury was shown Birchmore's final text messages.
Birchmore, 23, reportedly texted Farwell, her then-boyfriend, that she was pregnant, to which he allegedly responded, "You are truly the worst person on the face of Earth." Cummings claimed that in the days leading up to Birchmore’s murder on February 1, 2021, Farwell, who was married and allegedly began abusing Birchmore when she was 15, changed his demeanor toward her.
“He lulled her into feeling safe so that he could kill her,” Cummings stated. Farwell, who appeared in court wearing a grey suit, allegedly asked Birchmore for a key to her apartment and examined her closet and bathroom, which Birchmore described as "weird" in a text to a friend on January 24, 2021, nine days before her death.
On the evening of the alleged murder, Farwell texted Birchmore at 9:07 p.m., asking if he could come by. Birchmore replied at 9:10 p.m., indicating that her door was open. Surveillance footage reportedly showed Farwell entering Birchmore’s Canton apartment building at 9:14 p.m., wearing a blue mask. He left about an hour later.
Cummings alleged that Farwell strangled Birchmore with a duffel bag strap and staged her body to appear as if she had died by suicide, placing her in a seated position by the closet door.
“Eight days later, her dead body would be hung from that closet doorknob,” Cummings said. Prosecutors claimed that Farwell killed Birchmore the day before his wife gave birth to their third child to prevent her from revealing their affair. DNA testing later showed that Farwell was not the father of Birchmore's unborn child, despite their belief that he was.
Birchmore and Farwell met in 2012 when she joined the Stoughton Police Department’s “Explorers” program, where Farwell was a volunteer instructor. Cummings alleged that he groomed her under the guise of tutoring.
The prosecutor claimed that Farwell first raped Birchmore when she was 15, stating, “She was a 15-year-old child. That’s statutory rape and that’s a crime.” Text messages presented to the jury included Farwell expressing that the day he first had sex with Birchmore was the best day of his life and sharing his sexual fantasies with her.
As an adult, Birchmore reportedly became jealous of Farwell’s wife and threatened to reveal their affair unless he agreed to have a child with her. After learning she was pregnant in December 2020, Birchmore began preparing for the baby, purchasing items such as a car seat and stroller.
Cummings noted that Birchmore had resumed taking her antidepressant medications, indicating her desire to live for herself and her baby.
Farwell’s defense attorney, Kimberly Stevens, argued that Birchmore took her own life, citing her mental health struggles. Stevens referenced Birchmore's online searches related to suicide, suggesting they reflected her mental state.
“Matthew Farwell was a man who had an affair… Matthew Farwell did not kill Sandra Birchmore,” Stevens asserted. Farwell, who has been incarcerated since his 2024 arrest, has pleaded not guilty and faces life in prison if convicted of killing a witness or victim and causing the death of an unborn child. The first witness in the case is expected to be called on Tuesday.