Matthew Farwell indicted on new charge in connection with killing of Sandra Birchmore
Matthew Farwell, the former Stoughton police officer accused of killing a woman he began sexually abusing when she was a teen, was indicted on a new federal charge Tuesday in connection with the death of the woman's baby.
Farwell is accused of killing Sandra Birchmore in her Canton apartment in February 2021, then staging the apartment to look like a suicide. He was indicted last August and has been detained ever since.
Birchmore was eight to 10 weeks pregnant and carrying a boy when she died, prosecutors revealed for the first time Tuesday. She believed Farwell was the father, according to prosecutors, but DNA testing ruled him out, The Boston Globe reported .
The former police officer was already charged with a single count of killing a witness or victim. He now faces an additional charge of protection of unborn children, court records show.
"Whoever engages in conduct that ... thereby causes the death of, or bodily injury to, a child, who is in utero at the time the conduct takes place, is guilty of a separate offense under this section," the specific U.S. code for the charge reads.
Farwell could receive the death penalty if convicted of killing a witness or victim. Federal prosecutors must file notice of whether they intend to pursue the death penalty against him by Jan. 20. His trial is scheduled to begin next October.
Farwell first encountered Birchmore after she joined a program run by the Stoughton Police to teach young people about law enforcement careers, where he was a volunteer and later an instructor.
Birchmore was 12 years old when she signed up in 2010. Prosecutors say he began sexually abusing her at 15, below the age of consent in Massachusetts.
Federal prosecutors say Farwell killed Birchmore to prevent her from divulging information about other federal crimes. Those crimes, according to an affidavit filed in support of detaining Farwell, are coercing the 15-year-old Birchmore to have sex with him, statutory rape and fraud.
The fraud occurred when Farwell had sex with Birchmore on duty, then claimed to have been performing police work during those hours, according to the filing.
More news about the Sandra Birchmore case
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