Today's DOJ Press Conference transcript on the arrest of a fired Stoughton Police officer

Sandra Birchmore was found dead in her Canton home on Feb 4, 2021

DOJ Press Conference

Joshua S. Levy

Acting US Attorney

District of Massachusetts

Good afternoon. On February 4, 2021, Sandra Birchmore was found dead in her Canton, Massachusetts apartment. The charges filed today in federal court allege that she was murdered by Matthew Farwell three days earlier. At the time of her death, Sandra Birchmore was a 23-year-old woman with her entire life ahead of her, and she was pregnant with her first child. We allege that Sandra Birchmore survived years of grooming, statutory rape, and then sexual violence—all at the hands of Matthew Farwell, who was employed throughout their relationship as an officer, and then detective, for the Stoughton Police Department. And when it became clear to Mr. Farwell that he could no longer control Sandra Birchmore, he allegedly silenced her.

Permanently.

This morning, Matthew Farwell was arrested on a federal grand jury indictment charging him with one count of killing a witness or victim. Specifically, Mr. Farwell is charged with violating

Title 18 United States Code 1512 for killing Sandra Birchmore with the intent of preventing her from communicating information about his possible commission of federal crimes.

How did this all unfold? What happened here? Well, back in 2010, a 12-year-old Sandra Birchmore applied to join the Stoughton Police Department’s Explorers Program, which introduces teens to policing. Officer Matthew Farwell was an instructor in that program, and as alleged in court documents, he befriended Sandra Birchmore. Contacted her online, went to the library with her, became friends on Facebook—essentially, groomed her. And then he committed statutory rape by having sex with her when he was a 27-year-old police officer, and she was just 15 years old.

Mr. Farwell continued to have a sexual relationship with Sandra Birchmore until her death 8 years later, allegedly meeting her for sex regularly when he was on-duty and being paid by the Stoughton Police Department. Now in the weeks leading up to Sandra Birchmore’s death in February 2021, she found out that she was expecting a baby, and she told Mr. Farwell that he was the father. According to court documents, Miss Birchmore was very excited about becoming a mother. Buying baby clothes and other items, taking precautions to ensure the health of her new child.

Sandra Birchmore had good friends, she had a good job, she had dreams of becoming a nurse, and she had a child on the way. But Mr. Farwell did not share in that excitement. It’s alleged that Mr. Farwell reacted quite negatively to the news that Sandra Birchmore was pregnant with his child. And he acted angrily, it is alleged, when Sandra Birchmore began making requests of Mr. Farwell around doctor’s appointments, and ultrasounds, and what information would be on the birth certificate. Mr. Farwell was losing control in late 2020/early 2021, and the information that Sandra Birchmore possessed about his illegal conduct was in danger of slipping out.

In fact, word started to get out about their relationship. Less than two weeks before she was found dead, someone called the Stoughton Police Department and disclosed that Matthew Farwell had had a relationship with Sandra Birchmore. And when Mr. Farwell learned about that—that call—he became visibly angry. Mr. Farwell, it is alleged in these court papers; started to lose his patience, lose his temper…and the 6’4” Mr. Farwell started to be physically violent with 4’10” Sandra Birchmore.

Sandra Birchmore told her friends that Mr. Farwell had pushed her, and shoved her, and put her in a chokehold. She was scared. And during that same time Mr. Farwell was allegedly planning Sandra Birchmore’s murder. For the first time he requested a key to her apartment, and she told friends that he was oddly inspecting the apartment and looking at the closet, including the closet that she was found dead in front of. And then it all came to a head-on February 1, 2021.

Mr. Farwell went over to her apartment that evening, and he strangled

Sandra Birchmore to death. That’s the allegation in this case. And he used his knowledge and experience as a law enforcement officer to stage her death to look like a suicide. He allegedly attempted to cover his tracks to literally try and get away with murder. And he almost did, until today.

Back in 2021, with the information that was available, Sandra Birchmore’s death was ruled a suicide, or deemed a suicide. But over the last year or so, the FBI and our office have been working exhaustively with our state partners. We’ve uncovered critical new information, and examined the existing information, all of which led to this federal grand jury indictment. If convicted on this charge, Mr. Farwell faces a minimum of life imprisonment.

Giving voice to the voiceless. Ensuring that no one is above the law. Protecting the vulnerable people of Massachusetts. That’s the highest calling of people in law enforcement, and this case represents those principles. And every day across Massachusetts, thousands of police officers—federal, state and local law enforcement—put their lives on the line to protect the people of Massachusetts. Mr. Farwell violated those principles, and now he faces very grave consequences.

It is disheartening to have to charge law enforcement officers, especially with crimes this serious. But it’s our job at the Department of Justice to investigate potential crimes without fear, and without favor. We do in this office what we’ve been doing for decades with our federal partners like the FBI: we follow the facts regardless of where they lead, and we apply the law and the principles of federal prosecution—full stop.

We are not influenced by social media chatter. We are not influenced by politics. We’re influenced by the facts and the law. Our mission is to do our level best to do justice in every case, and our mission today is to do justice for Sandra Birchmore.

I want to note that we are sharing the information and the evidence that we developed in this case with the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office, with the Massachusetts State Police, and with the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office; so they can assess whether state charges may be warranted in this situation. I want to thank those three agencies, and I also want to thank the Stoughton Police Department for their assistance in our investigation.

Lastly, I want to commend the women and the men of the FBI Boston and Lakeville for their incredible work on this case. This was a dogged investigation, and as you look at the court papers you’ll see exactly how much work has gone into this matter. A huge credit to them, and I particularly want the members of my office—the office I’m proud to lead. The victim witness advocates; the paralegals; the chief of our Human Trafficking and Civil Rights Unit, Liz Riley;

Assistant United States Attorneys Torey Cummings and Brian Fogerty—this case doesn’t happen without their passion for justice. They deserve the credit, not me. And now I want to turn it over to Steve Kelleher, the Assistant Special Agent in charge of FBI Boston.