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Federal jury convicts former Massachusetts detective of killing pregnant Sandra Birchmore

Prosecutors say Matthew Farwell staged the 2021 death as a suicide to silence her about abuse, while his lawyers say she killed herself.

The John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse in Boston in 2024
The John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse in Boston in 2024. Photo: 4300streetcar, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
8 news outlets reported this
Liberal2 outletsThe staged suicide and the first investigation's handlingCenter3 outletsThe verdict, the family's reaction and what followsConservative3 outletsProsecutors' account of abuse and a staged suicide
ABRAnews EditorialPublished 1 min read
Overview

A federal jury in Boston convicted Matthew Farwell, a former Stoughton, Massachusetts, police detective, on Tuesday, Nov. 10, of killing Sandra Birchmore, a pregnant 23-year-old. He was found guilty of killing a witness or victim and of causing the death of an unborn child. Prosecutors said he strangled her on Feb. 1, 2021, and staged the scene to look like suicide, to stop her from revealing that he had sexually abused her starting at 15.

Massachusetts State Police first concluded she killed herself. The began looking into the case in 2023. Farwell's lawyers acknowledged an affair but said it began when she was 16.

They said he did not kill her and that she took her own life after he went to break up with her. Jurors told the judge on Monday they were deadlocked, then reached a verdict on Tuesday. The conviction carries a mandatory life sentence, and Fox News reports sentencing is set for Feb. 3.

Newsweek reports that Birchmore's family thanked the FBI and criticized state police and the . The district attorney's office said its ability to prosecute was "constrained."

Key figures
  • about 40,000 textsmessages between Farwell and Birchmore found by the FBIThe Independent
  • about 50 witnesses and 500 exhibitsin the nearly monthlong federal trialThe Independent
  • 12 daysbetween a tipster's call to Stoughton police and Birchmore's death, per APThe Seattle Times
  • 15 minuteshow long investigators interviewed Farwell in a parking lot, federal investigators saidThe Seattle Times

Three sides of the story

2Liberal3Center3Conservative

8 news outlets reported this

Tap a color or swipe sideways to switch sides.

Liberal2 outlets

The staged suicide and the first investigation's handling

The Independent runs a wire report, also carried by The Seattle Times, that opens with a former police detective convicted of murdering a pregnant woman "to keep her from revealing" that he abused her at 15. It gives much space to the first investigation. State police quickly concluded suicide, federal prosecutors said officers didn't follow leads, and federal investigators called the local probe rushed and compromised.

It details the 15-minute parking-lot interview, no notes, no DNA sample, and a phone examined only after texts were deleted. It also covers the roughly 40,000 texts, the phone data and Dr. William Smock's testimony that she was strangled. It gives the defense case, that the affair began when she was 16 and she killed herself, and the defense expert who dismissed the homicide finding.

Center3 outlets

The verdict, the family's reaction and what follows

Newsweek leads with the guilty verdict and the reversal from an initial suicide ruling. It notes the jury's Monday deadlock and the sentencing set for February. It then turns to the family, which thanked the FBI and criticized state police, the Norfolk district attorney and a prosecutor, and to the district attorney's answer that its ability to prosecute "was constrained."

It also covers the pending wrongful-death lawsuit. The Seattle Times runs the AP report, adding FBI Boston chief Ted Docks saying "No badge, no title, no position places anyone above the law," and cousin Ray Cosgrove saying Sandra "mattered before anyone outside her family knew her name." NewsNation's headline says the jury found Farwell guilty of murder, and says federal prosecutors alleged he staged a suicide to conceal their relationship.

Conservative3 outlets

Prosecutors' account of abuse and a staged suicide

Fox News opens with the verdict and prosecutors' account that Farwell groomed Birchmore from her teenage years. It quotes U.S. Attorney Leah Foley calling the evidence "both shocking and clear" and describing the Explorer program that was meant to mentor children. It also quotes cousin Ray Cosgrove on the future the family lost, including a baby boy.

The New York Post calls Farwell a "disgraced ex-cop" and lays out the prosecution's account. It reports prosecutors' claim that he killed her the day before his wife delivered their third child. It also reports that dispatcher James Fitton said Farwell told him to "never talk about this again."

The Post also gives the defense claim of suicide after a breakup. The Epoch Times headline reports the guilty finding for her murder and her unborn child's, with a photo of Foley at a press conference.

Where outlets disagree
All sources: 9 articles from 8 outlets

Liberal (3)

Center (3)

Conservative (3)

FBI

The Federal Bureau of Investigation: the main federal police and counterintelligence agency, part of the Justice Department.

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District attorney and US attorney

A district attorney is the local prosecutor, usually elected, who brings charges under state law. A US attorney is the federal prosecutor for a district, appointed by the president, who brings federal charges.

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County

A division of a state, the main unit of local government. Counties run local courts, the sheriff and the count of votes in elections.

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