FBI arrests former Stoughton police officer for alleged murder of Sandra Birchmore

The FBI’s Boston SWAT team has arrested former Stoughton police officer Matthew Farwell and charged him with the suspected murder of Sandra Birchmore, a woman with whom he allegedly had sexual intercourse since she was a minor.

“The FBI Boston SWAT team arrested former Stoughton Police Officer Matthew Farwell for the suspected murder of Sandra Birchmore. We took him into custody without incident,” the agency tweeted on X just before noon. The post added that additional information would be announced at 1:45 p.m. in federal court in Boston.

According to a brief indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Boston, prosecutors allege Farwell strangled Birchmore to death on or about February 1, 2021.

Birchmore, of Canton, was born in 1997, and in March 2010, at age 12, she applied to attend the Police Explorer’s Academy, a youth program run by SPD where Farwell taught. She participated in the program for about four years.

Prosecutors allege that Farwell began raping the girl before she was 16 years old.

Birchmore found out she was pregnant in December 2020 and told Farwell he was the child’s father. The following month, one of Birchmore’s friends called police to report what Farwell had allegedly done, but according to the indictment, a police officer tipped off Farwell about the complaint.

Birchmore died less than two weeks later. Prosecutors allege in the indictment that Farwell staged Birchmore’s apartment to make it look like she had committed suicide.

According to the indictment, Farwell worked for the SPD between March 2012 and April 2022. Since joining the department, he has served as an instructor for the Police Explorers program.

Stoughton Police Chief Donna McNamara said in April 2022 that the department first heard about the allegations in February 2021 and placed Farwell on administrative leave that month, “the most stringent action the city was legally allowed to take at that time,” as she launched an internal investigation. Farwell submitted his resignation in April of that year.

This is an evolving story.

Originally published: August 28, 2024 at 12:27 pm