The FBI has arrested a former Massachusetts police officer on charges he seduced a teenage girl, continued to have sex with her after she became an adult, and then murdered her in her apartment, making it look like a suicide when she told him she was pregnant with his child.
According to a federal indictment, Matthew Farwell, 38, killed Sandra Birchmore, 23, to prevent authorities from learning more about his sex crimes. Farwell is accused of strangling Sandra Birchmore to death in early 2021 after she told him she was pregnant and that he was the father. He was arrested Wednesday at a shopping plaza in Revere.
Farwell served as an officer with the Stoughton Police Department in South Boston for 10 years from 2012 to 2022. It was not immediately clear why he left the department.
According to an indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, Burchmore had been involved in the Police Explorers program since she was 12 years old. As a Police Explorers volunteer, Farwell used his authority and access to seduce and sexually exploit Burchmore beginning when she was 15, then sexually abused her, and continued to engage in sexual acts with her after she became an adult, court documents say.
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Former Stoughton, Massachusetts police officer Matthew Farwell pleaded not guilty on Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024, to charges of murdering a woman he allegedly sexually exploited when she was a minor. (Stoughton Police Department via The Associated Press)
“Farwell engaged in sexual conduct with Burchmore during a shift when he was supposed to be performing his duties as a Stoughton Police Officer,” the indictment states.
“Farwell committed this murder, at least in part, to prevent Burchmore from disclosing to authorities information that he had committed or may have committed one or more crimes, including coercion, enticement, deprivation of rights in the name of the law and a wire fraud scheme that was ongoing at the time,” FBI Special Agent Cheney Castourita wrote in the affidavit.
“Farwell's murder of Birchmore was the culmination of years of abusive conduct by Farwell targeted at Birchmore.”
FBI Deputy Special Agent in Charge Steven Kelleher, left, and Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy hold a press conference regarding the arrest and indictment of former Stoughton Police Officer Matthew Farwell, who is suspected in the murder of Sandra Birchmore, Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024, at the U.S. Attorney's Office in Boston. (Pat Greenhouse/The Boston Globe via The Associated Press)
According to the indictment, in late 2020, Burchmore realized she was pregnant and told Farwell.
At a press conference Wednesday, FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Steven Kelleher said Birchmore was excited when she found out she was pregnant and texted Farwell a poster she had made celebrating the pregnancy. Kelleher said Birchmore had also contacted friends about baby clothes and a photographer about baby photos.
“Matthew Farwell's guns and badge did not give him the authority to violate the Constitution or the right to sexually exploit, abuse and rape a child and then murder her and her unborn child in order to cover up his alleged crimes,” Kelleher said, calling the charges against Farwell “depraved.”
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Kelleher said investigators believe Farwell faked the apartment to make it look like he committed suicide.
The following month, a friend of Burchmore's called the Stoughton Police Department to report that Farwell had been having sex with Burchmore. According to the indictment, Farwell allegedly strangled Burchmore to death on or about Feb. 1, 2021, and then used police knowledge to make it look like a suicide in Burchmore's apartment.
On August 21, 2023, a Mansfield woman protested at the Norfolk District Attorney's Office in Canton, holding posters with a photo of Sandra Birchmore, demanding further investigation into the young woman's death. (Mark Jarrett Chavos/The Enterprise/USA Today Network)
According to court documents, Farwell was on the job when he sexually abused Burchmore, who was a minor, and falsely reported certain hours worked to conceal his misconduct.
“Farwell continued to sexually abuse Burchmore after she reached adulthood and carried on an extramarital sexual relationship with her until he murdered her on Feb. 1, 2021,” Castulita wrote.
Stoughton Police Chief Donna McNamara said Wednesday that police were working with other agencies, including the FBI, on the investigation.
“The day after Sandra Birchmore was found dead in her Canton apartment, I ordered a lengthy and thorough internal investigation and my instructions were clear that all avenues should be exhausted,” McNamara said in a statement. “Sandra's alleged murder is a horrific act of misconduct. … The allegations against the suspect, a former Stoughton police officer, are not only the worst act of professional misconduct I have seen in my nearly 30-year career in law enforcement, but also the worst act of human indecency.”
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Farwell made his initial appearance in federal court in Boston on Wednesday and pleaded not guilty. He was handcuffed and escorted out of the room. A detention hearing is scheduled for Sept. 10, with another hearing scheduled for Oct. 17.
If convicted of murdering a witness and the victim, Farwell faces a minimum sentence of life in prison. Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy declined to comment Wednesday on whether federal authorities would seek the death penalty if Farwell is convicted, saying that decision would be made by the Justice Department, according to the Associated Press.
Massachusetts outlawed the death penalty.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
