Stoughton police officer charged with murder of teenager accused of sexual abuse

A former Stoughton police officer was arrested Wednesday in connection with the death of Sandra Birchmore. He is accused of sexually soliciting her when she was a teenager.

The FBI's Boston Division announced Wednesday morning the arrest of Matthew Farwell in connection with the woman's death three years ago. The agency said more details would be released at a 1:45 p.m. news conference in Boston.

Norfolk County investigators had previously stated that Birchmore committed suicide.

In an indictment unsealed Wednesday, federal prosecutors accused Farwell of strangling Birchmore, who was pregnant with his child, on Feb. 1, 2021, and then staging her Canton apartment to make it look like a suicide.

Farwell is charged with a federal crime because, prosecutors say, he killed Birchmore to “prevent her from passing on information about the commission or possible commission of federal crimes.”

David Traub, a spokesman for the Norfolk County District Attorney's Office, said the “investigation into the Birchmore case remains open and active,” but the prosecutor's office “cannot comment in detail on ongoing investigations.”

“We look forward to assisting and assisting federal authorities in their prosecution of this criminal case,” Traub wrote, adding that two state police officers assigned to the prosecutor's office assisted in Farwell's arrest in Revere.

Birchmore, 23, first met Farwell in 2010 through the Youth Explorer program when she was 13.

Farwell reportedly began an inappropriate physical relationship with Birchmore at the age of 15, which is considered rape of a minor under Massachusetts law.

Farwell, 36, was a police detective, former president of the patrol officers' union and a married father, according to The Boston Globe. He was 26 when the abuse began, according to prosecutors.

Matthew Farwell's twin brother William Farwell and Officer Robert C. Devine were the other two Stoughton officers named in an internal investigation report commissioned by the Stoughton Police Department.

The investigation found evidence that William Farwell had “multiple inappropriate physical altercations” with Birchmore and sent explicit messages and photos to the girl while on duty, Stoughton Police Chief Donna McNamara said.

“The investigation revealed that Matthew took advantage of Miss Birchmore when she was young,” McNamara said.

Birchmore was found dead in 2021 and had told friends she was pregnant with Matthew Farwell's child, according to the Globe. Matthew Farwell denied the baby was his.

“Matthew ended the relationship on February 1, 2021, according to Farwell, when he went to her apartment to end the relationship and got into a pretty ugly argument,” McNamara said. “Birchwell was found dead days later.”

McNamara has been department head since 2017.

All three men have since resigned, and Matthew Farwell was later disbarred by the state Police Department's Board of Supervisors. The board is seeking to disbar William Farwell and suspend or revoke Devine, the Globe reported.

“Sandra never received even a hint of justice during her lifetime, and we will not stop doing our duty to deliver justice, and she will not be forgotten after she is gone,” McNamara said previously. “Every good and decent police officer should be aware of and angry about the injustices that were done to Sandra Birchmore. Sandra idolized police officers and what policing in America stood for, and because of that, she was a victim.”