Reported by us | Stoughton

Former Stoughton officer convicted in Sandra Birchmore's death faces life at Feb. 3 sentencing

A federal jury convicted Matthew Farwell on both counts, which carry at least life in prison, and he returns to court for sentencing Feb. 3, 2027.

By the South Shore 360 Public Safety Desk | Published Nov. 14, 2026 | Updated Nov. 14, 2026, 7:15 p.m. ET | Last verified Nov. 14, 2026, 7:12 p.m. ET

STOUGHTON, Mass. Updated 7:15 p.m. Nov. 14, 2026.

A federal jury in Boston convicted former Stoughton police officer Matthew Farwell on Tuesday, Nov. 10, of killing Sandra Birchmore and causing the death of her unborn son, and he faces sentencing Feb. 3, 2027.

Farwell, 41, of Easton, was convicted on both counts of the superseding indictment, one count of killing a witness or victim and one count of causing the death of an unborn child, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts said. The first charge carries a mandatory sentence of death or life in prison and the second carries no less than life in prison, the office said.

Birchmore joined the Stoughton Police Department's Police Explorers program in 2010, when she was 12, and Farwell was an instructor in the program after the department hired him in 2012, according to the indictment. Prosecutors said he killed her on Feb. 1, 2021, because he feared she would expose that he had sexually exploited her when she was a minor and had met her for sex while on duty as a Stoughton officer.

What the jury heard

Birchmore learned in late 2020 that she was pregnant, and both she and Farwell believed he was the father, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. A paternity test after her death showed that another man was the father, The Associated Press reported. Witnesses testified that she told close friends Farwell became violent with her when they discussed the pregnancy.

On Jan. 20, 2021, a caller to the Stoughton Police Department referred to Farwell's sexual relationship with Birchmore. Evidence at trial showed Farwell became angry when he learned of the call, told the police dispatcher not to discuss it with anyone and then sent Birchmore angry text messages, according to the office.

Twelve days later, shortly after 9 p.m. on Feb. 1, 2021, Farwell texted Birchmore asking whether he could stop by her apartment in Canton, and she answered that her door would be open. It was the last text message she sent, the office said. Surveillance video showed Farwell entering her building at about 9:14 p.m. and leaving at about 9:43 p.m., and a forensic examination found her phone's last recorded movement at 9:40 p.m., while he was still inside the building.

Prosecutors said Farwell strangled Birchmore and staged her apartment to look like a suicide by hanging. Birchmore, who was 23, was carrying a male child of 8 to 10 weeks' gestational age, according to the superseding indictment.

Kimberly Stevens and Joanne Daley represented Farwell at trial, Boston.com reported. His lawyers acknowledged the relationship but said it began when Birchmore was 16, and they argued that she had threatened suicide before and that he did not kill her, The Associated Press reported. The AP described a trial of nearly a month with about 50 witnesses and 500 exhibits.

From a ruled suicide to a federal case

Canton police found Birchmore's body during a well-being check on Feb. 4, 2021, and in early May 2021 a state medical examiner ruled her death a suicide, according to an FBI agent's sworn affidavit filed in the case. The medical examiner's office has since changed the manner of death to undetermined, the AP reported. Farwell resigned from the Stoughton Police Department on April 1, 2022, the affidavit says.

In October 2023, several witnesses contacted federal authorities with information about Birchmore's death, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. The FBI began looking into the case that year partly at the urging of Brian Holmes, a former Stoughton deputy police chief who had led an internal affairs investigation into Farwell based on the tip the department received before Birchmore died, 95.9 WATD and the AP reported. On March 21, 2024, the state Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission permanently revoked Farwell's law enforcement certification under a voluntary decertification agreement, according to the commission's order.

Farwell was arrested Aug. 28, 2024, on an indictment charging him with killing a witness or victim. The Stoughton Police Department and the Norfolk District Attorney's Office were among the agencies that assisted the investigation, the U.S. Attorney's Office said at the time. A grand jury added the unborn child charge in a superseding indictment returned Oct. 28, 2025.

The Norfolk District Attorney's Office said in a statement after the verdict that it respects the jury's decision and will have no further comment, according to Boston.com. The office said that its ability to prosecute was constrained by the medical examiner's suicide finding and that it had referred the case to the attorney general's office for further review.

Birchmore's family

Ray Cosgrove, Birchmore's cousin, said the family was grateful to those who pursued answers but that no verdict could bring back Birchmore or her unborn son, the AP reported. "Sandra mattered before anyone outside her family knew her name," Cosgrove said.

Another cousin, Angelique Pirozzi, thanked federal prosecutors for pursuing the case when Norfolk County prosecutors would not, NBC Boston reported. "If not for Matt Farwell, Sandra would be seeing her son off to kindergarten next year," Pirozzi said.

Reaction in Stoughton and Norfolk County

Stoughton Police Chief Donna McNamara, who is on administrative leave, welcomed the verdict and said she believes the internal affairs investigation Holmes led was pivotal, Boston 25 News reported. "We are committed, I know the department is committed to continuing that rebuilding of trust," McNamara said.

Stoughton's acting police chief, James O'Connor, said in a statement the department posted on Facebook, which Boston.com and Boston 25 News printed, that he fully supports the jury's decision. "What happened to Sandra is a profound betrayal of the trust every police officer is sworn to uphold," O'Connor said. "He no longer wears this badge, and he does not represent the men and women of the Stoughton Police Department." He added, "Our department has an obligation to confront what went wrong, and we will continue to do so."

Djuna Perkins, the incoming Norfolk district attorney, said she wants a review of the case, Boston 25 News reported. "I want to know what went wrong here and why," Perkins said, adding that she wants to share the results with the public "to the extent possible." Perkins told Boston 25 News she plans to open an investigative grand jury into the Stoughton Police Explorers program and to audit the district attorney's office "from top to bottom," and she said she would bring charges if the evidence supports them.

Holmes, now Kingston's police chief, was Stoughton's deputy police chief while Farwell served there. He said in a statement to 95.9 WATD that Farwell "violated the laws of human decency and the jury spoke to that."

Sentencing and the prosecutors

Farwell returns to court for sentencing Feb. 3, 2027, before U.S. District Court Chief Judge Denise J. Casper, who set the date. Birchmore's family and friends will have the chance to address the court at the hearing, Boston 25 News reported. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elizabeth Riley, Torey B. Cummings and Brian A. Fogerty of the Human Trafficking and Civil Rights Unit prosecuted the case.

"This verdict holds Matthew Farwell responsible for killing this young woman and her unborn child in a calculated attempt to silence her," said Ted E. Docks, special agent in charge of the FBI's Boston Division.

U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley said she hopes Birchmore is remembered "not by the tragedies that led to this case, but rather by the memories of a young woman who had a bright future," one who "was excited about her impending motherhood and the prospect of becoming a nurse."

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