ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Eight steps on Sandra Birchmore’s phone at 9:40 p.m. Three minutes later, prosecutors say the building’s security footage shows Matthew Farwell leaving. That short stretch of time is one of the details federal prosecutors are asking jurors to weigh in the death of a pregnant 23-year-old woman.
The government alleges Farwell killed Sandra on February 1, 2021, and staged the apartment to suggest suicide. His defense says she took her own life. Phone step data can establish what a device recorded; interpreting what happened to the person holding it takes additional evidence. Jennifer Coffindaffer and Tony Brueski examine where that distinction matters and why the opposing medical explanations will be crucial.
The timeline also raises an older question: how did officers from a police youth program become such a significant part of Sandra’s life? A Stoughton Police investigation identified misconduct involving Matthew Farwell, William Farwell and former deputy chief Robert Devine. The findings described serious breaches of trust. Devine was later decertified by Massachusetts police regulators, following findings that included his use of a Facebook alias to contact Sandra. He disputes wrongdoing, and neither Devine nor William Farwell is a defendant in Matthew’s federal murder case.
The federal charges against Matthew are specific: killing a witness or victim and causing the death of a child in utero. Prosecutors must prove their allegations in court, regardless of what an internal investigation concluded about other officers. Listen as Coffindaffer and Brueski trace the evidence jurors will see and the accountability questions that remain outside this courtroom.
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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.
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