BOSTON — In 2010, Sandra Birchmore was a 12-year-old law enforcement fanatic enrolled in a police youth program in Stoughton, Massachusetts. A decade later, she was pregnant and dead — and the feds say it was one of the cops she idolized who groomed, abused and murdered her.

That disgraced officer, Matthew Farwell, is now finally slated to face trial over five years after her Feb. 1, 2021, killing — which was originally ruled a suicide.

But federal prosecutors say Farwell killed her and staged her death to look like she took her own life.

Jury selection has been underway this week in a Boston federal courthouse, with opening statements slated to begin Friday.

In the 10 years leading up to her alleged killing, federal prosecutors say Birchmore suffered prolonged sexual abuse beginning when she was just 15 from Farwell, a married man who allegedly used his authority to groom and sexually exploit the underage girl.

But by the time she was a 23-year-old woman, Farwell feared he was “losing control” over Birchmore, and when she claimed to be pregnant with his child, he allegedly strangled her in her Canton apartment, then staged the scene to make it appear that she’d killed herself, according to prosecutors.

And he allegedly did it all just hours before his own wife gave birth.

While both Birchmore and Farwell believed he was the dad, DNA testing after the deaths concluded he was not, according to the Boston Globe.

Farwell, now 40, was not the only cop accused of abusing Birchmore. His brother, fellow officer William Farwell, along with the director of the Stoughton police’s youth program, Robert Devine, were both accused by her family of sexually abusing her over the years.

All three officers have denied the allegations — though each resigned in 2022 as investigations were opened into their conduct.

Farwell, who faces one count of killing a witness or victim and one count of killing an unborn baby, is the only of the three who was criminally charged. However, the trio are all defendants in a wrongful death lawsuit by Birchmore’s aunt, which is currently on hold until the criminal trial wraps.

William, Farwell’s twin brother, is one of 68 people named on the prosecution’s witness list for the trial, which is expected to last between five and six weeks.

Farwell, who has been behind bars since his arrest, wasn’t officially charged with Birchmore’s murder until Aug. 28, 2024, as local authorities initially ruled her death a suicide.

Below is the full and fraught timeline leading to that moment:

2010 — Birchmore joins the Stoughton Police youth program

In March 2010, a 12-year-old Sandra Birchmore, infatuated with law enforcement, applied to join the Stoughton Police’s youth program, known as “Explorers,” according to an arrest affidavit.

Raised by her mother and grandmother, Birchmore grew up in a difficult household in Stoughton and dreamed of joining the police when she grew up.

That spring she enrolled in the Explorers program.

2012 — Farwell joins on as Explorers volunteer

Officer Farwell joined the Stoughton Police Department in March 2012, after serving with the Wellesley Police since 2008.

He signed on as an instructor for Stoughton’s Explorers program — which he had participated in himself as a teenager, the Boston Globe reported.

2013 — Farwell allegedly first assaults Birchmore

On April 10, 2013, the 27-year-old Farwell allegedly had sex with Birchmore when she was just 15, according to prosecutors. In Massachusetts, the age of consent is 16.

Investigators were able to pinpoint that date from skin-crawling text messages Farwell and Birchmore exchanged years later in 2020, in which she talked about how nervous she was the first time they had sex.

“Me too it was such a big day,” Farwell wrote, joking about how “If I pushed I absolutely could’ve f****d you without condoms from day one,” according to the affidavit.

The month after first having sex with Birchmore, Farwell married his wife.

“Farwell began to groom Birchmore when she was a child. This grooming culminated in Farwell raping Birchmore in April 2013, when she was only 15 years old,” prosecutors alleged.

2016 — Major changes for Birchmore and the Stoughton Police

Birchmore remained in the Explorers throughout high school. After graduating in 2015, she served two months in the US Army Reserve, before starting at Massasoit Community College in nearby Brockton, according to the Boston Globe.

The next year in May, her mother died at just 52, and the following month her grandmother died at 89.

Meanwhile, the Stoughton Police Department closed down its Explorers program after an internal probe found that its director, Officer Robert Devine, lied during an internal probe over allegations of harassment from a woman he was allegedly having an affair with. The program officially closed later that year over flagging interest.

The next year, William, also a former teenage Explorer’s member, joined the Stoughton Police.

2019 — Relationship continues as Birchmore sets her eyes on joining police

In 2019, Birchmore took and passed a Massachusetts civil service exam and became eligible to begin the process of becoming a police officer. That year, vile text messages appear to show that she and Farwell were still having sex — and that the police officer fantasized about her being underage when they did.

“Farwell and Birchmore exchanged text messages in which they discussed role-playing during their next sexual encounter. Farwell asked Birchmore how old she was going to pretend to be during that encounter. When Birchmore responded ’14,’ Farwell replied with a smiley face emoji,” prosecutors said.  

“In another conversation between Farwell and Birchmore on February 21, 2020, Farwell described pinning Birchmore down during sex and asked her: ‘Will you say Matt stop I’m 13 I’m not ready for this omfg please stop,’” the affidavit continued.

Farwell also allegedly asked her to pretend he was an older brother coming into her bedroom to have sex at night. Other records indicated that he enjoyed choking Birchmore during sex, according to prosecutors.

2020 — Farwell begins “losing control” as Birchmore becomes pregnant

In October, 2020, Birchmore drafted a text message to Farwell’s wife disclosing that he’d been cheating “before you guys were even married,” but apparently did not send it.

That month, Birchmore learned Farwell’s wife was pregnant with their third child, and she began to threaten to reveal the affair unless Farwell impregnated her. Farwell agreed, but text messages from October and November showed Farwell was becoming resistant to the deal as Birchmore began saying she wanted him to be part of the child’s life.

On December 28, Birchmore told Farwell by text message that she was pregnant. The two immediately began to fight, and text messages from the next day seemed to suggest Birchmore was afraid Farwell was going to hurt her when they met to discuss the child, according to prosecutors.

But she reportedly told friends she was “over the moon” about the pregnancy, even as she confided that Farwell had been violent with her on numerous occasions.

February 2021 — Birchmore is found dead after Farwell visits her apartment

On February 1 at 5:33 p.m., Birchmore was seen on surveillance footage entering her apartment building elevator.

At 9:14 p.m., Farwell was caught on the same camera entering the elevator dressed in a hoodie and medical facemask. At 9:43 p.m., he was seen leaving the building, and his wife gave birth hours later.

Birchmore’s body was discovered after co-workers called in a wellness check on February 4. She appeared to have hung herself from a doorknob, and was wearing the same clothes she was seen in before Farwell arrived.

Her phone was also found next to her, and prosecutors said its last recorded movement was on February 1 at 9:40 p.m. — just minutes before Farwell left the apartment.

“Based on my review of the frequency of Birchmore’s phone use over weeks, months, and years leading up to her death, her failure to access her phone is inconsistent with her usual habits when alive and awake,” the affidavit read.

Farwell was interviewed by police two days after Birchmore’s body was found. He acknowledged going over to the apartment, but said it was to deny being the father of her child and to end the relationship, according to the Globe.

He was placed on administrative leave by the end of the month, and medical examiners ruled Birchmore’s death a suicide that May.

2022 — Farwells and Devine accused of heinous misconduct by Stoughton Police

Farwell resigned from the Stoughton Police on April 1, 2022. His brother, William, was put on leave days later and resigned by August while denying any allegations connected to Birchmore. Officer Devine that month also announced plans to retire, while also denying any inappropriate connection to Birchmore.

The next month, the Stoughton police released the results of a 19-month internal investigation which found the Farwells and Devine had “inappropriate” relationships with Birchmore, violated “human decency,” and “should never have the privilege of serving any community as a police officer” again.

By December, members of Birchmore’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Farwells, Devine, the town of Stoughton, and the police department. That suit was put on hold last year to let the criminal case play out.

2024 — Birchmore’s death ruled homicide and Farwell is indicted

In March, Dr. Michael Baden — formerly the chief medical examiner for New York City — released the results of an autopsy he performed on Birchmore, which found that she most likely died by strangulation, and not by hanging.

He found that she’d fractured a U-shaped bone in her neck, that breaks “rarely, if at all, in suicidal hanging” but does in nearly “half of homicidal strangulation of women.”

On August 28, Farwell was indicted by the feds for Birchmore’s killing.

He’s been held at the Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls, Rhode Island, according to a report by The Herald News.

2025 — Feds hit Farwell with additional charge, opt out of seeking the death penalty

In October 2025, federal prosecutors hit Farwell with a second charge tied to the death of Birchmore’s unborn baby.

Then in December, then-US Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the Department of Justice wouldn’t be pursuing the death penalty against Farwell.

He faces life in prison if convicted.

Farwell pleaded not guilty and has maintained that Birchmore killed herself.