On January 20, 2021, Sandra Birchmore's friend called the Stoughton Police Department and reported Matthew Farwell's relationship with Sandra. The department employee who took the call told Farwell. Eleven days later, Sandra was dead.

That is the institutional failure at the center of this case — and everything that follows flows from it. Sandra was making plans. She believed Farwell was coming around. She had contacted lawyers. Prosecutors say she was building a child-support strategy and was prepared to disclose that Farwell had been involved with her since she was underage — since she was a fifteen-year-old enrolled in the department's Police Explorers youth program and he was a twenty-seven-year-old instructor. For a married detective whose wife was also pregnant, Sandra represented an existential threat to his career, his marriage, and his freedom.

According to prosecutors, Farwell told three separate people what he was thinking. He said if Sandra did not end the pregnancy, he would "take care of the problem himself." He told another he needed to "put crazy back in the bag." He told a third that "the problem was going to take care of itself." Those are not the words of a man managing a personal situation. Those are, according to prosecutors, the words of someone building toward a decision.

At 9:27 PM on February 1, Farwell entered Sandra's Canton apartment building. At 9:56 PM, he left. Sandra's phone recorded its final movements while he was still inside. She was found three days later wearing the same clothes. Her death was ruled something other than homicide for years — despite the forensic record prosecutors have now assembled.

Farwell's DNA was found on the duffel bag strap prosecutors say was used to strangle her. His sperm cells were in her underwear, contradicting his stated timeline. Sandra's right clavicle showed an injury sustained while she was alive, matching the buckle behind her head — evidence prosecutors say proves the position in which she was found was staged. A broken pink flamingo necklace she regularly wore was found tangled in her hair on the bedroom floor. And at a private gathering after Sandra's death, an inebriated Farwell reportedly demonstrated how she supposedly died — describing details that had not been publicly released.

DNA testing confirmed Farwell was not the biological father of Sandra's unborn son. Both he and Sandra believed he was. Prosecutors say that belief is what drove him to act — and that the institution Sandra trusted to protect her is the one that ensured she never had the chance to protect herself.

Farwell has pled not guilty. His defense asserts Sandra took her own life.

Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/

Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/

Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod

X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePod

This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.

#SandraBirchmore #MatthewFarwell #StoughtonPolice #JusticeForSandra #HiddenKillers #TrueCrime #PoliceMisconduct #FederalCase #CantonMA #ForensicEvidence