Jurors listen as prosecutor, Farwell attorney tell very different stories about Birchmore's death

A federal prosecutor on Friday delivered their closing statement in the case against Matthew Farwell, telling jurors he killed Sandra Birchmore to "end any possibility she would expose him." Farwell’s defense attorney, in turn, countered by raising doubts about the government's case.

"They cannot reach the burden of proof," defense attorney Kimberly Stevens told jurors. “Why? Because Matthew didn't kill her."

Friday’s closing arguments capped five weeks of testimony in the high-profile case, which now heads to jury deliberations. Prosecutors argue Farwell, a former Stoughton police detective strangled and killed Sandra Birchmore in her Canton apartment and then staged the scene to look like a suicide by hanging.

Defense attorneys, meanwhile, have argued that Birchmore, who was pregnant, did take her own life because she was distraught Farwell ended their relationship.

The state’s medical examiner initially ruled Birchmore’s death a suicide, but revised her determination after federal authorities got involved in the case.

Much of the trial focused on dueling expert testimony about Birchmore’s injuries, including a break in a small U-shaped neck bone, which prosecutors say shows she died by strangulation not suicide.

Another key issue during the trial was Birchmore’s mental health, with Farwell’s defense team arguing that Birchmore struggled emotionally and a history of self-harm.

Farwell, 41, faces two federal charges: killing a witness or victim and causing the death of an unborn child. If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.

In the government's closing argument, prosecutor Brian Fogerty told jurors that Matthew Farwell didn't go to Sandra Birchmore's apartment on Feb. 1, 2021 to end their relationship.

"He went to clean up the mess that he created for himself years earlier — a mess that could bring serious charges and destroy his life," Fogerty told jurors. "He cleaned up the mess by taking Sandra’s life.”

Prosecutors allege Farwell killed Birchmore to keep her from telling authorities Farwell had sexually abused her when she was 15 years old. They met when she was a member of Stoughton Police Department’s youth explorers program where Farwell volunteered as an instructor.

Birchmore was eight to 10 weeks pregnant at the time of her death and believed the child was Farwell’s. DNA testing conducted years later would find another man was the biological father of the fetus.

Throughout the trial, prosecutors relied on a trove of 40,000 text messages, largely between Farwell and Birchmore, who met when she joined the police youth program at 13 years old. Prosecutors say the texts show Farwell had sex with Birchmore when she was a minor. The two continued a long-running affair that involved Farwell, a married police detective, texting Birchmore about violent sexual fantasies involving choking.

In the months before her death, according to text messages, Birchmore pressed Farwell to get her pregnant and threatened to tell his wife about the affair. After getting pregnant in late 2020, Birchmore told Farwell that he was the father and wanted him to sign the birth certificate. According to one of Birchmore’s friends, Farwell responded angrily and pushed her to the ground during a fight.

A turning point, according to prosecutors, happened on Jan. 20, 2021. That’s when someone called the Stoughton Police Department and disclosed the relationship between Birchmore and Farwell to a police dispatcher. Prosecutors allege after the call, which Farwell told the dispatcher to never discuss again according to testimony, he decided to kill Birchmore to prevent her from exposing their relationship.

“The defendant knew that Sandra wouldn’t stay quiet,” Forgety told jurors Friday. “She was telling people about their relationship and the information actually got to the Stoughton Police Department. And he knew that.”

Twelve days later, on Feb. 1, 2021, prosecutors allege Farwell strangled Birchmore in her Canton apartment. Police later found Birchmore’s body on the floor of her bedroom with a duffel bag strap around her neck. The strap was tied to the doorknob of her closet.

Testifying for the government, Dr. William Smock, a forensic medical expert, reviewed Birchmore’s autopsy and found she died by “homicidal strangulation” and that her death scene was staged to look like a suicide. Smock said Birchmore’s hyoid bone in her neck had fractured inward, which he said happens during strangulation.

Referencing Smock’s testimony, Fogerty told jurors that none of the medical experts hired by the defense could point to a single instance “where a young person like Sandra … had suffered a fracture from a seated hanging position like the one she was found in.”

In her closing for Farwell’s defense, Kimberly Stevens challenged the government’s conclusions and reminded jurors that the government must prove Farwell’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Similar to the prosecution, Farwell’s defense team relied heavily on the voluminous text history between Birchmore and Farwell. On Friday, Stevens highlighted messages that – along with Birchmore’s journal entries and web searches – purport to show a young woman who had mental health struggles and a history of self-harm.

One of those searches was for the color of a suicide ribbon. “What better insight into a person’s mind and thinking that they would search for such a thing?” said Stevens.

Stevens said Birchmore killed herself after Farwell went to her apartment on Feb 1. 2021 and told her that he wasn’t the father of her baby and that their relationship was over.

Stevens told jurors to “examine what was in Miss Birchmore’s head and in heart and in her life at the moment that Matt broke up with her and return a verdict of not guilty because he is not guilty.”

During the trial, the defense also presented witnesses who challenged Smock’s testimony about hyoid fractures. Stevens reiterated those concerns on Friday.

The case is now in the hands of the jury of eight men and four women. Their deliberations will resume at 9 a.m. Monday.