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Hi, it's Katie. I'm excited to let you know that you can watch video episodes of Crime House Daily Night Watch on Spotify. It's the same gripping true crime stories you've been getting here now with added videos and photos that give you even more depth and detail into each case. Search Night Watch on Spotify and hit follow so you never miss an episode. Foreign. This is Crime House. Welcome to episode four of our five part deep dive on the Sandra Birchmore case. Last episode we covered the internal affairs investigation that was launched after the Stouton Police Chief Donna McNamara found out that one of her officers had been grooming Sandra Birchmore for years after she joined their Police Explorers program when she was just 12 years old. On top of that, many people are suspicious about his role in Sandra's death after she told him that she was pregnant with his baby. Tonight we are going back in time to understand just how deep the rot in this department goes and how the officers were able to get away with their behavior unchecked for so long. Let's get into it. We've never had an inside look at the Police Youth program where Sandra met her mentors and her future abusers until now. So why is it that this is a federal case with federal charges rather than a state case? One of the most damning pieces of evidence against Farwell is certain surveillance video. Now this was taken at Birchmore's apartment complex. The video captured several moments of February 1, 2021, the day authorities believe Farwell murdered Sandra Birchmore. Hi, I'm Katie Ring, a true crime analyst, self defense instructor and fierce advocate for victims. And this is Crime House Daily, your essential true crime companion. Every weekday morning and night here at Crime House Daily, we dig into the true crime stories making headlines right now, where justice is unfolding, arrests are happening and new evidence is emerging. Every morning, First Watch gets you up to speed on the biggest cases. Every night, Night Watch takes you deeper. If you want to follow a case from the first 911 call to the final verdict, this is the place for you. Follow Crime House Daily. Wherever you get your podcasts, leave a review and for ad free listening, subscribe to Crime House plus on Apple Podcasts. For video, check out our YouTube channel Rimehouse Daily or on Spotify by searching Night Watch True Crime Cases Daily in the Search tab. This episode discusses active criminal cases in breaking news. The information we share is based on what's publicly available at the time of recording and may change as new evidence comes to light. We aim to inform, not to decide guilt or innocence. So everyone mentioned is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. This episode is brought to you by cars.com on cars.com you can shop over 2 million cars. That means over 2 million new car possibilities. Like making space for your growing family. Becoming the type of person who takes spontaneous weeks, weekend camping trips, or upgrading your commute wherever life takes you next. Or whoever you're looking to be. There's a car for that on cars.com visit cars.com to discover your next possibility. When Chief McNamara launched her internal affairs investigation of the Stouton Police Department, I'm sure she thought I would just uncover more information about the nature of Officer Matthew Farwell and and Sandra Birchmore's relationship. But the outside investigators found even more evidence of corruption within the department. It turns out that two other officers who Sandra also originally met through the Explorers program were also having relations with her. And tonight we're starting off by taking a closer look at the Police Explorers program. The Police Explorers program began in 1973 as an offshoot of the Boy Scouts of America. Both boys and girls are allowed to participate in the program, and they receive mentorship and support from their local police department. On the exterior, this sounds like a great idea. It's a program that can build trust and relationships between officers in the community, give kids structure and purpose, and keep them out of trouble. But there is a dark underbelly to the program. Since its creation, there have been almost 200 reports of sexual abuse within the Police Explorers program, with most of the victims being teenage girls. And these are just the reported cases. Could you imagine how scary it would be for kids and families to have to report their abuse to the exact people who are perpetrating it? Besides simply not being believed, it can be dangerous to be on the bad side of cops in your town. Because of these reported cases, officers involved in the program are forbidden from socializing with any participants outside of the program itself. But the organization structure puts oversight in the hands of local departments. And even when incidents of sexual abuse occur, the organization has never cut ties with those departments. The officers in charge of each chapter of Police Explorers are supposed to reinforce the boundaries between their departments and the children in the program. However, many times, those officers are the abusers themselves. And that's exactly what happened in the case of Sandra Birchmore and Officer Robert Devine. Robert Devine grew up one town over from Stoughton in Canton, Massachusetts. As one of six kids, he had to work hard to stand out. And he does this by following his dream of Becoming a police officer. After serving in the Coast Guard, he transfers from his hometown department to Stoughton in 1996 and starts working his way up the ladder. After just a few years, he achieves the rank of lieutenant. And that's how he meets his wife, Lisa. Lisa had just graduated from Curry College with a degree in criminal justice. Her dream is to become a police officer, and she signs up for the academy right after she graduates. Her squad leader is none other than Robert Devine. Robert charms her, and the two of them fall in love, get married, and have a daughter. It seems like Robert is getting everything he ever wanted and more. Robert cares deeply about his community, and he focuses a lot of his energy on helping Stoughton's youth population. By the early 2000s, he's taken over the department's Police Explorers program as an instructor. And according to members of the program, he completely changes how it was run, making it more like the military. A lot of kids are grateful for the structure the program gives them, especially younger boys. Robert is someone that they look up to, the perfect example to follow. And he's not just working with the kids in the Police Explorers. Around the same time, Robert also starts a youth open gym program where students can play basketball and hang out at the gym during the summer. He also serves as a school resource officer for a few years and helps found the Strengthening Families program, which Sandra and her mother Denise participated in. By the time Sandra joins the Police Explorers in 2012, Robert is the Deputy Chief of Stoughton PD and had been running the program for over a decade. In an advertisement published in the Stoughton Journal, Robert says, quote, we believe in your kids and wish to give them a positive foundation from which to build future success. But for all the good Robert is perceived to be doing in the community, particularly with the Police Explorers, some people are uncomfortable with how close he's becoming with the participants, especially the teenage girls, including a young girl named Ashley Bell. Ashley Bell is a few years older than Sandra Birchmore, and like Sandra, she enrolled in the Police Explorers when she was just 12 and also participates in Robert's open gym program. Ashley developed a harmless adolescent crush on Robert. She thought he was so cool and that he looked like Jon Bon Jovi. Before anyone turns to victim blaming a teenager, it is normal for kids to develop crushes on older people. In fact, it's even part of development and learning about attraction. But it's never the child's fault when an adult crosses the line. It's always the adult's responsibility to maintain boundaries. And protect that child's trust. For the people who have a hard time understanding this simple concept and how it is inappropriate to return affections or start a relationship with a minor. That's why we have laws. So Ashley has this huge crush on Robert, and she is crushed when she finds out that Robert has a fiance. She bursts into tears at the gym one day and Robert tries to console her, but the way he does it is troubling to say the least. Robert pulls Ashley into a storage closet where no one can see them. He grabs her hips, picks her up, sits her on a desk, looks deep into her eyes and says, you're a knockout when you're 18. We're gonna go out together. I'm gonna take you out on a date. Then he kisses her on the forehead and gives her a big hug before he helps her down. Needless to say, this is extremely inappropriate, But Ashley doesn't know that. Like a normal teen girl with a crush, the encounter with Robert makes her feel special. To show him how she feels, she writes Robert a love letter and drops it off for him at the station. Thankfully, Ashley's mom overhears her daughter telling a friend about the letter and immediately drives to the police station. She storms into Robert's office and screams, where's the letter? Robert denies any knowledge of a letter, but she spots a crumpled up piece of paper in his trash. And when Robert sees that she spotted the letter, they both lunge for the trash can. Mama Bear is faster and she opens the letter and recognizes her daughter's handwriting. Then she proceeds to threaten him, saying, let me tell you something, you go near my kid again, I'm going to shoot you with your own gun. Normally, I would advise against threatening to shoot a police officer with his own gun, but Divine was not about to report this because he would be snitching on himself. Thankfully, Robert never sexually abuses Ashley, but the incident still does its damage. And Ashley says that she cringes every time she thinks about how she had a crush on that guy and is angry that he indulged in and instigated her instead of being a grown up and telling her that it was inappropriate. But Ashley isn't the only girl who attracts Robert's attention. He has a reputation for being a little too flirty with the young girls in the program, and even his colleagues notice it. But despite the fact that most people know he was inappropriate with these kids, he receives zero consequences. This episode is brought to you by PayPal. PayPal helps you make the most of your money. You can earn 20% cash back when you pay in four with PayPal from now through December 8th. No fees, no interest. Act now to get this limited time offer. Save the offer in the app to get 20% cash back when you pay in 4 from now through December 8th. PayPal expires 12. 8 See paypal.com promoterm subject to approval. Learn more at paypal.com payinfor paypal inc. Nmls910457 shopping is hard. I can never find anything in my size. I don't even know my size. I buy my clothes the same place I buy my groceries. There's a better way. Make it easy with Stitch Fix. Just share your size, style, budget and done. Your personal stylist sends pieces picked just for you. That was easy. Stitch Fix Online Personal styling for everyone. Free shipping and returns. No subscription required. Get started today@stitch fix.com on the outside, Robert Devine seems like an upstanding member of his community and is someone a lot of people look up to. But he's also hiding a dark side. After his inappropriate interaction with Ashley Bell, one of Robert's co workers sees him alone in his office with another girl who appears to be a member of the Police Explorers Program, and she's described as scantily clad, meaning it's possible he did physically prey on other victims. Internal affairs catches wind of it, and Robert's co worker even personally confronts him to say whatever happened in his office, it doesn't look good. But even after this, Robert is allowed to keep running the Police Explorers Program. He maintains a close relationship with a lot of his mentees, including Sandra Birchmore. And there are two other members of the program who really look up to Robert. Aside from being their mentor, he's a friend and eventually their boss and partner. Those two boys are Matthew and William Barwell. We've gone over Matthew's predatory involvement with Sandra Birchmore and mentioned last episode that William was involved with her as well. But now let's get into their background. More Twins Matthew Farwell and William Farwell Jr. Or Billy, were born in October 1985 to their parents, William Sr. And Eleanor Farwell. Ever since they were young, both boys struggled with discipline and were constantly causing trouble. In middle school. Matthew is a fixture in the principal's office, and William has to transfer high schools three times. Their parents think the Police Explorers Program could be a great opportunity to expose them to positive role models, discipline, structure and keep them out of trouble. Matthew and William sign up in the late 90s and eagerly throw themselves into the program Robert eventually makes teenage Matthew deputy chief of the program, and William is lieutenant. The boys fall in love with policing, especially the roleplay elements the program offers. A 2002 newspaper story shows Matthew conducting a traffic stop, holding a fake gun to Robert's head. The article quotes Matthew as saying, my favorite part is when we practice what we've learned. That seems true for William as well. When he's 16, he buys a Crown Victoria car, the same model used for Stoughton PD patrol cars, and buys a police light to go on it. One day, the brothers are driving around town when another driver cuts them off. William flashes the lights and the car pulls over. William will later deny ever getting out of the car, but an actual Stoughton police officer happens to be driving by. He thinks it was a fellow cop conducting a traffic stop until he sees how young William is. But William never gets in trouble for impersonating a police officer. All he gets is counseling from Robert Devine. Unfortunately, that's not enough to get him or his brother fully on the straight and narrow. Despite their enthusiasm for the Police Explorers program, the same can't be said for their schooling. Matthew and William both drop out around 11th grade. All they care about is one thing, the same dream. Sandra Birchmore will later fall short of becoming officers with the Stoughton pd. But unlike Sandra, Robert is fully invested in seeing the Farwell boys realize their goal. He offers them positions as volunteer instructors for the Police Explorers program and helps them get their GEDs. But not everyone is so willing to give them a second chance. The incident with the traffic stop had ruffled a lot of feathers. They won't be allowed into the Stoughton pd, even with Robert's backing. So Robert recommends that they join the military instead. Both William and Matthew enlist in the Army. But William's discipline problems don't go away. He's discharged after going awol. Matthew, on the other hand, works his way up to sergeant and spends six months in Afghanistan as an explosives disposal expert. Matthew's military experiences serves him well, and after he's discharged from the army, Matthew becomes an officer with the Wellesley Police Department, about 20 miles away from Stoughton. Robert writes him a letter of recommendation to help him land the job. A few years later, Matthew applies to transfer to the Stoughton pd. But his reputation still precedes him. And when he cancels his interview at the last minute, the chief at the time, Paul Shastini, doesn't want to hire him. But Robert sticks up for Matthew and promises that he's changed. Robert's word carries a lot of weight, and Matthew's transfer is approved. In 2012, 27 year old Matthew achieves his dream of becoming an officer with the Stoughton pd. Almost immediately, he starts volunteering his time with the Police Explorers program. And that's when he meets Sandra Birchmore. But while Matthew is able to worm his way into the Stoughton pd, his brother William has a harder time with it. William tries to follow in his brother's footsteps, but his application to the Stoughton PD is rejected, partly because he'd been kicked out of the Army. So just like when he was a teenager, William shifts gears again and joins the National Guard. Like his brother, he becomes an explosives disposal expert. And this time he does better for himself, even standing out for his work in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing. Through it all, William never stops thinking of his dream to join Stoughton pd. He frequently comes back to volunteer with the Police Explorers, bringing along explosive disposal vests and robots to show off to the kids. And in 2017, William's application at Stoughton PD is finally approved again. Robert Devine plays a major role in convincing the chief to hire him. After the Farwells join Robert on the force, he speaks out about how impressed he is with their accomplishments. Robert says he's amazed at the growth they've shown ever since they joined the very first Police Explorers class. He says that he's proud that he's played a small part in their success. But behind their shining facades, all three men have major red flags about their behavior, to say the least. And yet they're all allowed to continue in positions of power, especially where kids are involved. That created the perfect breeding ground for Sandra Birchmore's abuse. And soon enough, all three men will be involved in it. This episode is brought to you by Netflix from the creator of Homeland. Claire Danes and Matthew Rhys star in the new Netflix series the Beast in Me as ruthless rivals whose shared darkness will set them on a collision course with fatal consequences. The Beast in Me is a riveting psychological cat and mouse story about guilt, justice, and doubt. You will not want to miss this. The Beast in Me is now playing only on Netflix with new, gentler scented Clorox Disinfecting wipes clean. Finally smells as good as it feels on everything from lamps to ceiling fans. Even on your kid's toy shark. Oh, ouch. Clorox Disinfecting Wipes now available in Ooh, Crisp Lemon. Find it on Amazon. Clorox Clean feels good. Una silla de masajes puede pares IR extravagante ocho configuraciones differentes intensidad justable. Como los acientos del anteros con masaje di solo parese extravagante. By 2018, when Sandra Birchmore is 21 years old, she's not shy about sharing details of her sex life with her friends. After graduating from community college and failing to find work with the police department, Sandra starts driving for Uber. She often brings her friend Haley along for the ride, feeling safer when she has another woman with her. Haley remembers a lot about these long drives with Sandra. Her friend talks a lot about her relationship with Matthew Farwell, calling him her boyfriend even though Matthew is married. One time they even drive past Matthew's house. And Matthew isn't the only person Sandra talks about. She also told Hailey, her best friend, someone she can talk about anything with was Matthew's brother, William Barwell. William is aware of his brother's relationship with Sandra, but he also becomes close with her. Shortly after joining the Stoughton police force, Sandra and William had met a few times while he was a guest instructor for the Police Explorers, but they hadn't seen each other in a few years until they run into each other while he was on patrol. Sandra tells him she was looking to join the army and asked if he had any contacts. He makes a few calls for her and Sandra gets in, although unfortunately her asthma ends that dream for her. But Sandra and William, who is also married, remain close after that, even after one day in 2018 when William pulls up to a local soccer field while Sandra and Matthew are having sex in Matthew's car. Despite the supposed best friend nature of their relationship, William's obsession with Sandra quickly turns dark. They start having sex too, and William wants Sandra to record any sex she has with other people, including his brother, and send it to him. In return, William sends videos he recorded of himself and a woman who's presumably his wife having sex. Sadly, Matthew and William aren't the only ones in Stoughton PD seeking Sandra out. She also starts having sex regularly with Robert Devine. At this point, Robert's reputation isn't what it used to be. A few years prior, it was revealed that he had begun an affair with a woman named Tiffany Overstreet. After trying to break off the affair, Robert claims Tiffany was just crazy and started harassing him and threatening to expose their relationship to ruin his career. So Robert and his wife filed a restraining order against her. A month later, the entire department gets a text from Robert's phone and it's explicit photos of him and Tiffany together. Robert claims that Tiffany hacked his phone and sent the photos to the office to expose him. But Tiffany says she never had that access to Robert's phone and that she was not the one to send it. Considering Robert's reputation, I wouldn't be shocked if he accidentally sent them himself. Tiffany was arrested for violating the restraining order. But during the ensuing investigation, it was revealed that Robert had flagrantly ignored his own order by continuing to have sex with her. Robert argued that he'd only done it to prevent Tiffany from committing suicide, but the chief didn't care. His deputy had used department resources to get a woman arrested when she shouldn't have been. The charges against Tiffany were dropped, and the chief wanted to fire Robert. But the city didn't want to face a lawsuit they might not win. So instead, they placed Robert on a 60 day unpaid suspension and demoted him from deputy chief all the way down to the rank of patrolman. When Robert returned from his two month suspension, the chief wasn't there. He'd resigned in disgust that the city had let Robert continue on the force after his affair with Tiffany was exposed. Robert knows he has to be careful, Especially when he starts having sex with Sandra Birchmore, Someone he'd mentored when she was only a child. To secretly message each other, Robert creates a fake Facebook account under the name Marty Riggs, A reference to Mel Gibson's loose cannon cop character from Lethal Weapon. Robert and Sandra would exchange nude photos and coordinate hookups, including in his patrol car while he was on duty. According to Sandra's friend Haley, Sandra was messaging Robert constantly, almost every day. Four years. Robert, William and Matthew, who'd all met and begun grooming her as a teenager, Abuse the relationships they have with Sandra and continue having sex with her. According to Sandra's family's attorney, they, quote, passed her around like a toy. Sandra was vulnerable. Matthew exploited that vulnerability and groomed her, Then got his twin brother and mentor to abuse her as well. They should have provided her with the support and stability she needed, but instead, they focused on their own desires. And as soon as Sandra started to take back control, she died under extremely suspicious circumstances. And all three of them had close contact with her before her death. As we've already discussed, Matthew went to Sandra's apartment the night she died and was there during the time of her death. And recently it's been revealed that that Robert spoke to Sandra on the day she died, using his Marty Riggs account to coordinate a hookup. And even though Matthew escaped accountability in the immediate aftermath of Sandra's death, the department's internal affairs team was onto him, and soon they learned what William and Robert had done as well. All these men ever wanted was to be police officers, but by the time the investigation was over, none of them would be ever again. And that was just the start of it. What did you think of tonight's case? Drop your thoughts and theories in the comments. See you next time. If you haven't already, subscribe to our YouTube channel Rimehouse Daily and follow us on social media Rimehouse24.7 for real time updates. Because the pursuit of justice never stops. Looking for your next crime house? 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