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- [00:02]
Katie Ring
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.
- [00:37]
Narrator
This is Crime House.
- [00:40]
Katie Ring
It was looking like Matthew Farwell was going to walk free. Sandra Birchmore's death was ruled a suicide by both the Canton PD and the Massachusetts State State Police, despite the facts that they had a motive, video surveillance placing him at the crime scene at the time of death, witness testimony that he was extremely angry about the baby and had been threatening her, and text messages proving that he had groomed her, took her virginity when she was 15, which was really just statutory rape. He psychologically and physically abused her and pressured her into his sick fantasies, including asking her to pretend like he was her brother, sneaking into her room to rape her, and asking her to say she was 13 and didn't want to have sex because she was too young. But Sandra's family refused to to give up. They were sure Matthew Farwell killed Sandra and luckily, a snowball of events would lead to renewed hope that Sandra's killer might finally face justice.
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Narrator
Farwell strangled Birchmore, who was pregnant, in her Canton apartment four years ago, and made it look like a suicide.
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Investigator/Expert
DNA tests show that the former police.
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Katie Ring
Detective who's accused of killing her did.
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Investigator/Expert
Not father her unborn child.
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Narrator
The Judge Judge also set a deadline for January 20 if the Department of Justice wants to seek the death penalty.
- [02:27]
Katie Ring
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, Nightwatch 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.
- [03:07]
Plus on Apple Podcasts.
- [03:09]
For video, check out our YouTube channel Rimehouse Daily or or on Spotify by searching Night Watch True Crime Cases Daily in the Search tab. This episode discusses active criminal cases and 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.
- [03:40]
Foreign.
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Sponsor/Advertisement Voice
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- [04:08]
Katie Ring
Foreign. Welcome back to our final episode of our five part series on the death of Sandra Birchmore. In episode one we talked about Sandra's life, all of the hardships that she faced from a young age, how she met Officer Matthew Farwell, the man who wormed his way into her life, groomed her and took advantage of her for years. And then we dug into the suspicious and curious circumstances surrounding her death. In episode two we went over the investigation into her death by the Canton police and the Massachusetts State Police, its crossover with the Karen Reed trial and both departments final conclusions that her death was a suicide. In episode three we went over the internal affairs investigation which exposed 32,000 texts between Sandra and Matthew that if we are giving MSP the benefit of the doubt, weren't actually discovered, or if we are speculating, we're just conveniently left out of the Massachusetts State Police report altogether, along with 50,000 pages of data pulled from texts, Facebook messages and other data that expose the fact that two other Stoughton police officers were also taking advantage of Sandra. In episode four we introduced you to the three officers who were supposed to be mentoring Sandra through the Police Explorers Program, but instead abused their position of power as well as her trust, respect for police officers and yearning for a father figure to groom and take advantage of her. And tonight we will be wrapping it all up with a quest for justice and a small taste of victory. So let's get into it. After Sandra's death in February 2021, her family was desperate to get her manner of death changed from suicide to homicide so they could reopen the investigation. Her family knew she didn't take her own life and believed without a single doubt that that officer Matthew Farwell murdered her and used his police experience to stage it as a suicide. One thing I've learned through my work is that attention is the most effective way to get justice. And one thing I am so thankful to my community for is that with one post, we are able to spread awareness to millions of people. A Facebook page called justice for Sandra Birchmore was starting to make some waves and bring publicity to the case. But even with all the attention on it, Michael Morrissey and the Norfolk District Attorney's Office didn't budge and wouldn't reopen the investigation. There was a lot of evidence that Matthew Farwell was the killer, but it didn't seem like Matthew would be charged with any crimes at all. Not Sanders murder, not even the clear statutory rape and larceny that were spelled out loud and clear in their over 32,000 texts. But even with this indisputable digital evidence, they claim they couldn't take it to court because Sandra wasn't alive and there to testify. But Sandra's loved ones didn't accept that answer, and they decided to take matters into their own hands. They filed a wrongful death lawsuit, citing Stoughton Police Department, the town of Stoughton, and three former officers, Matthew Farwell, William Farwell, and Robert Devine, as the defendants, and hired Dr. Michael Baden. He is one of the leading experts on criminal pathology and has a major track record of determining the manner of death in prominent murder cases. In addition to being a former chief medical examiner in New York City, Vaughden had testified in the O.J. simpson trial, served on a U.S. house committee that reinvestigated the assassinations of JFK and Martin Luther King Jr. And performed autopsies for George Floyd and Michael Brown at the request of their families. If anyone's going to determine whether Sandra killed herself or was murdered, it's Dr. Baden. He reviewed the available evidence, and to him, the answer was clear. In Baden's letter, he wrote, Ms. Burchmore did not die of a suicidal hanging. The cause of Ms. Birchmore's death is strangulation, and the manner of death is homicide. And that Birchmore fractured her right hyoid bone, a small U shaped bone in her neck. Such an injury occurs rarely, if at all, in suicidal hanging and does occur in half of homicidal strangulations of women. He also had a lot to say about how the Massachusetts Chief Medical Examiner's Office handled Sandra's case. And let's just say it did not put them in a good light. Despite the fact that Sandra was pregnant, the examiner never tested the fetal DNA to determine the who the father of Sandra's baby was. And even though state police collected evidence from Sandra's body for a rape kit, it was never actually tested. Dr. Baden's findings brought a ton of publicity to the case and got the attention of Donna McNamara, the Stoughton PD chief of police. McNamara had ordered the internal affairs investigation into Robert Devine and the Farwell brothers and led the charge to make sure they could never work as police officers again. And now she's horrified by what she's reading in Dr. Baden's report. She said, quote, I was profoundly disturbed and troubled by what I read. The findings certainly warrant further examination. At the highest level, Sandra received not so much as a sliver of justice during her life, and we will not cease in our efforts to ensure our duty to administer justice. This was amazing news for Sandra's family. Nothing will bring her back. But now they're getting important allies on their side to get the answers they need. And there was actually something even bigger going on behind the scenes. It turns out the FBI had been quietly investigating Sandra's case. It's pretty rare for federal agents to become involved in a case like this, but between Sandra's death and the attention from the Karen Reed trial, the FBI is also looking into potential police misconduct. Both cases happened in Canton, and there were allegations that officers in both cases were protecting their own instead of seeking justice. And the FBI agents on the case were trying to rectify that. When they opened their investigation, the federal officers started following leads the state hadn't bothered with. One of the first interviews they conducted was with the employee of the Stoughton PD who Matthew had intimidated after Sandra's friend called and revealed that Sandra was having sex with Matthew. But this lead had never been followed up on in the original investigation. In fact, the DA didn't even seem to know that that call had ever happened. The more they looked into Matthew's text with Sandra, the more inconsistencies they found. It's clear that he had sex with Sandra more than two or three times in the past year, which is what he had told state police. And Matthew also exaggerated when he said Sandra had been institutionalized a few times. The one time she had gone to the hospital for a mental health check was after a fight with a family member. And she wasn't even admitted because she was not determined to be suicidal. And Matthew had actually texted her to say, I wasn't worried. I know you are fine. Sandra's mental health, in fact, became a huge focus for the FBI during the initial investigation. The state police and chief medical examiner used Sandra's difficult childhood and her use of antidepressants as supporting evidence, despite the fact that Sandra's family and friends insisted that being Pregnant and having a new job had put her in a better place mentally than ever. But now the FBI was taking their claims seriously. And when federal agents talked to Sandra's long term therapist, she told them that she had screened Sandra just a few days before she died. And Sandra didn't show any signs of depression or suicidal ideation. However, all of that evidence was circumstantial. But it turned out they also had forensics on their side. The FBI's medical expert, Dr. Bill Smock, agreed with Dr. Baden. Sandra was murdered. Not only that, but they found evidence that looked very bad for Matthew Farwell.
- [13:42]
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- [14:12]
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- [14:44]
Katie Ring
FBI's medical expert, Dr. Bill Smock, believes that Sandra Birchmore was murdered. In his report, Dr. Smock recognized that the damage to Sandra's pink flamingo necklace that she had been wearing around her neck when she died and then later fell to the floor when her body was moved was consistent with evidence of a struggle. This contradicts the observations of Matthew Dunn, the state trooper who led the state's investigation. He'd said he couldn't identify any signs of trauma on sandra's body. But Dr. Smock saw something different. Sandra had died from being strangled with a duffel bag strap. And when Dr. Smock examined photos of Sandra's body, he identified an imprint of the duffel bag strap's buckle on her chest. According to him, it suggested blunt force trauma from an assault. The final piece, fittingly for Sandra, was on her phone. But it wasn't any kind of communication. It was from her health app. Matthew Farwell had told investigators he last saw Sandra standing in the kitchen when he left around 9:45 the night she died. But the health app's Last recording was eight steps at 9:45. Minutes before Matthew left. If his story is to be believed, Sandra's phone somehow got from the kitchen to the bedroom without logging any steps before she died by suicide. But the most likely explanation is that she was murdered by Matthew Farwell. The FBI built their case against Matthew, but they couldn't move forward without getting on the same page as the state level authorities. If the state and federal agencies don't agree on the manner of death, this could make for an uphill battle in court. So on August 16, 2024, Dr. Smock and FBI investigators traveled to the state medical examiner's office in Boston. They were hoping to convince the medical examiner, Dr. Mindy Hull, along with the state police and Dr. Hull's predecessor, that they'd been wrong to designate Sandra's death as a suicide. Over the course of a three hour meeting, the FBI's team presented their case, highlighting the new evidence that had been missed in the original investigation. But the state's medical examiner said they believed they hadn't made any mistakes, and they refuse to change their ruling. It's a tough situation for the federal authorities to be in. If they try to take Matthew to court, his lawyers will surely use the state's findings against them. But in the end, they decided to try anyways. The morning of August 28, 2024, started like any other for Matthew Farwell. After he left the police department to avoid any repercussions from the internal affairs investigation, he used his paid leave to start his own trucking business. He got into his truck, intending to haul gravel as part of his new trucking company, and left his house before the sun came up. It was also the last day of his son's summer vacation from elementary school, and Matthew wanted to spend some time with him, so he got his son to tag along. Matthew pulled up outside a Sally Beauty supply in a strip mall parking lot to make his delivery. But he never made it inside because as soon as he arrived, federal SWAT agents swarmed the truck. Matthew slowly climbed out with his hands up and laid face down on the ground while the agents handcuffed him. Unfortunately, Matthew's son had to witness all of this, but two agents sat with him and tried to console him. As his dad was taken into custody, a federal grand jury indicted Matthew on a single count of killing a witness or victim. Which sounds kind of weird at first, but it means that the federal government is asserting that Matthew killed Sandra to keep her quiet about other potential federal crimes he'd committed, like civil rights violations and wire fraud. And the stakes are high. With a Charge like this, if found guilty, Matthew's facing a minimum of life in prison with the potential for the death penalty. After he was brought into custody, a federal agent called Sandra's cousin Angelique to tell her the news. Later, Angelique says, I couldn't believe. Believe it. I still can't believe it, that we actually might get justice. But there's still a long road to travel before that happens. After Matthew's arrest, he's taken to a federal courthouse in South Boston, where he pleaded not guilty. That afternoon, federal prosecutors argued that he should be denied bail. But in the end, they didn't need to worry because Matthew waved his detention release hearing, meaning he'll stay in federal custody at least until his trial. As of this recording, he's being held in a facility in Rhode Island. Throughout all of this, Matthew's wife hasn't made any comments about the case. She scrubbed any mention of herself or her children from social media. So regardless of how she feels about the accusations against her husband, it's pretty clear that she wants to stay out of it. As for Matthew, his trial is set for October 5, 2026, and there's still a ton of new information coming out at this point. During the initial state police investigation into Sandra's death, Matthew refused to give a DNA sample to test whether or not he was the father. Despite the fact that they could have gotten his DNA through other methods, the state police decided to drop the matter. But they still had a sample of the baby's DNA. And once he was in custody, federal officials went through with the paternity test, and they discovered that Matthew was not the father. Could you imagine doing all of that and the baby wasn't even yours? I'm not sure if authorities have discovered who the father is, but since William and Matthew are twins, I'm guessing it's not William either. It could have potentially been Robert Devine, but in the end, it doesn't really matter. Sandra was adamant that the baby was Matthew's, and based on Matthew's actions, it certainly seems like he believed it too. However, it remains to be seen how this will impact proceedings of Matthew's trial, especially because just recently, he was hit with another charge. On October 28, 2025, the U.S. attorney's office charged Matthew Matthew with one count of causing the death of an unborn child. This also carries a minimum sentence of life in prison. When Matthew's trial finally comes, it will be interesting to see if it has any impact on the Massachusetts suicide ruling. If Matthew is convicted of murder in federal court, it might take the difference in getting them to admit they didn't address all of the evidence, but for now, the ruling is the same. Robert Devine had decertification proceedings in June and July of this year, and the heavily redacted videos of the hearing were released on October 19. Of course, he is blaming Sandra and said that she was propositioning him and that she said Matt and Billy liked it. But in the same breath, he denied knowing that the brothers were having any kind of relations with her. The final decision on whether he can keep his license to work in law enforcement is still to come. Personally, I will be very concerned if he does, because men like him are the very last kind of people we need working in law enforcement and pretending to protect people when they were just really grooming kids and passing this poor girl around like she was nothing. In the meantime, the justice for Sandra Birchmore movement is still growing and we will continue to bring attention to her case. I'm hoping all of this attention that Sandra's case has gotten will help keep something like this from happening again. Because sadly, there are way too many instances of people like Sandra not getting the justice they deserve and a long history of abuse in the same program that started this all.
- [23:14]
Hi, I'm here to pick up my son, Milo.
- [23:16]
There's no Milo here who picked up my son from school.
- [23:20]
Peacock Advertiser
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- [23:24]
Fictional Character
I'm gonna need the name of everyone that could have a connection.
- [23:27]
Katie Ring
You don't understand. It was just the five of us.
- [23:29]
Investigator/Expert
So this was all planned.
- [23:30]
Katie Ring
What are you gonna do? I will do whatever it takes to get my son back.
- [23:35]
Fictional Character
I honestly didn't see this coming. These nice people killing each other.
- [23:39]
Peacock Advertiser
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- [23:43]
Investigator/Expert
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- [24:16]
Katie Ring
Sandra Birchmore was a young, vulnerable girl with a difficult home life. She badly needed stability and hoped to find it in the police department. Tragically, that trust was used to manipulate and abuse her. And Sandra's abuse isn't an isolated incident in Stoughton or nationally. Sexual abuse by police officers Is a continuing problem across the United States. Sandra's case is just one of almost 200 reported sexual abuse cases within just the Police Explorers program since its inception. In 1996, a St. Petersburg police officer died by suicide after it was revealed that he had molested a 16 year old girl in the Police Explorers program. In his suicide note, he wrote, I'm not the only person who's having sex with a minor at the police department. They really need to tighten up the rules. Ultimately, an Investigation found that 11 officers in the area had sexually abused members of the Police explorers program. In 2004, Brownwood, Texas police sergeant Vince Arias was accused of sexually abusing a 15 year old girl. Despite this, he was allowed to continue running the Police explorers program until 2007 when it was revealed he had molested another teenage girl. Considering that some experts estimate that between 70 to 90% of child sexual abuse cases go under unreported, it's likely that there are far more incidents within the Police Explorers program we might never learn about. The fact that victims aren't believed is hard enough, but the fact that they have to report their police abuser to other policemen that won't believe them is even more terrifying. These issues aren't just confined to the Police Explorers program. Police sexual violence is so prevalent. One study found that over a 10 year period, a police officer was caught committing sexual abuse or misconduct every five days. Sadly, the inherent power imbalance between police and civilians, particularly children, can be a breeding ground for sexual abuse. And although of course the vast majority of police officers aren't committing this kind of abuse, Preventing another case like Sandra's is going to take comprehensive reform that keeps people like Robert Devine out of positions of power. Robert is currently carrying on with his law practice and denies that anything happened between him and Sandra while she was a minor. He's never been charged with a crime, even in Sandra's case. But we know that he still caused issues with other young girls under his career as the head of the Stouton's Police Explorers program by flirting and pushing the boundaries of his role with them. He also allowed Matthew and William Farwell to volunteer as Police Explorer instructors and help them get jobs at the department. Even with all the red flags against them. Robert, Matthew and William all groomed Sandra as a young girl and carried on sexual relationships with her up until she died. Even though Sandra believes she entered into those relationships willingly, Their grooming normalized those behaviors for her and she was absolutely a victim here. Laura Palumbo, the communications director at the National Sexual Violence Resource center says this is common for victims of sexual abuse. This is how she describes the problem. Quote it is this ongoing process of of really confusing and shifting the way someone sees the world. They have lost their ability to differentiate between what behaviors are healthy and what behaviors are abusive. Ultimately, Matthew Farwell's alleged actions are horrific and despicable, but his crimes are emblematic of a larger problem about what policing is and what it should be. Chief Donna McNamara spoke to this when Matthew was arrested. She said every good and decent police officer should be aware of and angry about the injustices inflicted upon Sandra Birchmore. Sandra idolized police officers and what policing stood for in America, and she was victimized as a result. Sandra Birchmore should be alive now. She should have been able to live the life she wanted. But ultimately it wasn't just one one person that killed her. It was an entire system. And it's important to make sure justice is fully pursued in her case and the countless others like hers. And hopefully someday we'll be able to stop it from ever happening again. 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 CrimeHouseDaily and follow us on social media rimehouse24.7 for real time updates. Because the pursuit of justice never stops.
- [29:42]
Podcast Host
Looking for your next crime house? Listen, don't miss Crimes of with Sabrina Deanna Roga and Corinne Vien. Crimes of is a weekly series that explores a new theme theme each season from Crimes of the Paranormal, unsolved murders, mysterious disappearances, and more. Their first season is Crimes of Infamy, the true stories behind Hollywood's most iconic horror villains. And coming up next is Crimes of the Paranormal, real life cases where the line between the living and the dead gets seriously blurry. Listen to Crimes of every Tuesday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you listen to your podcasts.