Former Stoughton officer on trial for killing pregnant mistress and faking suicide

The murder trial of former Stoughton Police Officer Matthew Farwell began after a brief hearing, with opening statements and witness testimony slated to follow. Federal investigators arrested Farwell in August 2024, linking him to the 2021 death of Sandra Birchmore, who was eight to ten weeks pregnant at the time. Prosecutors allege Farwell groomed Birchmore since she was a teenager, continued a sexual relationship into her adulthood, and killed her to silence her after she announced her pregnancy, subsequently staging the scene as a suicide.

DNA testing excluded Farwell as the unborn child's father, though he believed he was the father based on text messages. The trial features testimony from Stoughton Detective Heather Cheever and a local elementary school official, while Farwell maintains a not-guilty plea and remains jailed.