Birchmore was a a 23-year-old Massachusetts woman whose death was initially ruled a suicide but is now the subject of a federal homicide case. The federal murder trial of former Stoughton police detective Matthew Farwell has brought renewed attention to the life and death of Sandra Birchmore.
1. She dreamed of becoming a police officer.
Birchmore developed an interest in law enforcement at a young age. In 2010, when she was 12, she joined the Stoughton Police Department’s Explorers Program, a youth initiative introducing teenagers to policing careers.
Family members and friends testified that she was thrilled after learning she was pregnant. The second witness in Farwell’s trial was Cheryl Carlson, the former assistant principal of the school. She said that although Birchmore is wonderful with children, she spends too much time on her phone and is frequently absent due to illness.
Birchmore reportedly told colleagues that the baby’s father was a police officer.
On the trial’s opening day, jurors heard testimony from Stoughton detective Heather Cheever, who mentored Birchmore through the department’s youth programme. Other witnesses recalled Birchmore being excited about her future and her pregnancy. Prosecutors have argued the relationship continued for years, even after Birchmore became an adult. Farwell has denied the criminal allegations and has pleaded not guilty in federal court. One of the central issues in the trial is Birchmore’s state of mind before her death.
Because she had never expressed suicidal thoughts, cheever testified she never believed Birchmore had taken her own life.
