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MURDERED: Sandra Birchmore
00:48:42
In 2021, 23-year-old Sandra Birchmore was found dead in her apartment. And what Massachusetts investigators quickly called a suicide slowly revealed itself to be something much more sinister. Because out of the woodwork came friends, family, and co-workers with stories that Sandra had told them about her life. Stories of grooming, sexual abuse, and years of misconduct at the hands of several Stoughton Police officers… which began when she was barely a teenager. Three officers later resigned from the department. With a 2026 federal trial pending, the whole state has been left to wonder whether Sandra’s death was truly a suicide – as state police continue to maintain – or the end result of something much darker.
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- [00:01]
Ashley Flowers
Have you ever experienced something truly unexplainable? A moment that felt almost like a vivid dream, leaving you with a lingering sense of wonder, leaving you questioning everything you thought you knew? Perhaps it was a fleeting glimpse of something extraordinary, a chilling whisper in the dead of night. Or an undeniable premonition that comes to life. I'm Yvette Gentile. And I'm her sister, Racha Pecorero. Each week on our podcast so Supernatural, we partner with the one and only Ashley Flowers, host of the number one true crime podcast Crime Junkie, to take you on a journey of the world's most mystical mysteries. Ready to explore the unknown? Join us every Friday for a new episode of so Supernatural, available wherever you listen to podcasts. With no fees or minimums on checking accounts, it's no wonder the Capital One bank guy is so passionate about banking with Capital One. If he were here, he wouldn't just tell you about no fees or minimums. He'd also talk about how most Capital One cafes are open seven days a week to assist you with your banking needs. Yep, even on weekends it's pretty much all he talks about. Like in a good way. What's in your wallet? Terms apply. See capitalone.com bank capital1na member FDIC making decisions shouldn't feel mysterious with the State Farm Personal Price Plan, you can personalize your plan to help create an affordable price for you so you can continue cracking all of life's big cases. Talk to a State Farm agent to uncover how you can choose to bundle and save like a good neighbor. State Farm is there. Prices are based on rating plans that vary by state. Coverage options are selected by the customer. Availability, amount of discounts and savings and eligibility vary by state.
- [01:56]
Brit Prawat
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- [02:25]
Ashley Flowers
Hi Crime Junkies. Before we jump in today, I just wanted to give you a quick reminder that the Crime Junkie Holiday Merch store is closing soon. So this is your last chance to grab any holiday merch for your Crime Junkie besties or for yourself. So if you've had your eye on something again. This is your final shot before these limited items are gone for good. Just head to crimejunkie.com to grab your merch now. All right, I'm not going to take up any more time. Let's just jump right into today's episode.
- [02:54]
Chief Donna McNamara
What I'm about to brief you on is something deeply troubling to me as a human being and as a police chief. On February 4, 2021, 23 year old Sandra Birchmore was found deceased in her apartment in Canton. What I am here to talk about today is her life and how she was failed by, manipulated by and used by people of authority that she admired and trusted right up until her final days. Ms. Perchmore was a vulnerable person who had one constant in her life since childhood. Her unwavering admiration of police officers, of those serving the military, people in uniform, people with oaths and duties to protect and serve. The admiration led her to form relationships with men who were willing to take advantage of her. I stand before you today as a civil servant who is heartbroken and incensed by what has transpired and who pledges that this chapter in the Stoughton Police Department and the town of Stoughton is over. It must never repeat. The revolving door is closed.
- [04:23]
Ashley Flowers
There are so many stories we tell that involve corruption, coverups or just downright incompetence or negligence that it makes me sometimes lose complete faith in the system. A system that is put in place to protect us. And doing this show for as long as I have, I have seen a lot more bad than good. I mean, the problems are systemic. And at times I've caught myself thinking, what is the point? Like we might as well just give up because the problems are so big and have been there for so long that maybe I'm the delusional one. And this is just how the world is evil and the evil is so deeply rooted that we are never going to win or make a difference. But then, when I often need it the most, I get a glimpse of the good ones. The people who are fighting from the inside to make things better and fair and just. People who believe in right and wrong and know that no one is above the law. And those people give me hope all over again to keep fighting myself. And I felt all of those feelings when covering today's story. Despair that an entire agency could look the other way when so much evidence was at their fingertips suggesting a boy in blue might have killed a young woman to protect his reputation. And then this fire to kick ass and take names and get behind the other people. People like Donna McNamara, the chief of the Stoughton Police Department, who you just heard at the top. She didn't just sit back and let it be. She found her own way to expose the truth. And she lit a spark that other good people out there doing the right thing fanned into a flame to get justice for Sandra Birchmore. So let me tell you how that happened. February 4, 2021. 23 year old Sandra Birchmore was found dead in her Canton, Massachusetts apartment. Police discovered her body while responding to a welfare check requested by someone at the school where she worked because she hadn't shown up in days. Now, Sandra was found in a seated position on the floor by her bedroom closet with this duffel bag strap wrapped, wrapped tightly around her neck and fixed to the handle of the closet door. The Massachusetts State Police didn't note any signs of forced entry to her apartment. The door was actually locked, and they had to get a key from the property manager just to get in. And once they were inside, they didn't see any signs of a struggle at all in the bedroom or anywhere else in the apartment. The walls didn't have any indentations or scuff marks, and there were no drag marks on the floor or anything like that, Even though the apartment was cluttered with baby Items still in B.O. boxes for the child that Sandra was eight to ten weeks pregnant with. Nothing seemed to be knocked over or moved. And surveillance footage from her apartment complex's lobby shows Sandra coming and going alone on Monday, February 1, which is the last day she appears on camera and the day that officials believe she died. So the suicide determination came quickly, Even before the medical examiner's official ruling. All the Canton PD reports discussed this case as a suicide. And the Massachusetts State Police seemed to agree, Because I'm sure the more they learned about Sandra, like, it just began to confirm their theory because she grew up struggling, dad wasn't in the picture. Mom had chronic health challenges, oftentimes not being able to work. So they struggled to make ends meet. And from a young age, Sandra sort of took on the role of caretaker. And then in 2016, when Sandra was just 19 years old, her mom died of a stroke. And then just weeks later, her grandmother passed away too. According to an unnamed source in a Boston Globe article. After these back to back tragedies, Sandra began expressing suicidal thoughts in her journal entries. And she tried living with other family members after this, but she never really had that stable home base. And there was an instance like eight or nine months before her death, where Sandra got in a fight with the family member that she was living with and stormed out. That person called 911 concerned that Sandra might be at risk of hurting herself. Now, at the time of her death, she was about two and a half months pregnant with what investigators would quickly find out was a married man's baby. So it must have all just been too much. How sad. And when a pathologist from the Office of the Chief Medical examiner agrees and rules this case a suicide, that's that. And there are is a world where it would have ended right there. But not this one. Not this time.
- [09:37]
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- [10:07]
Brit Prawat
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- [11:16]
Ashley Flowers
You see, even though Canton PD was the agency originally called and Massachusetts State Police eventually took over, the Stoughton Police Department opened an internal affairs investigation the day after Sandra was found.
- [11:29]
Brit Prawat
And where in relation to all this.
- [11:30]
Ashley Flowers
Is Stoughton this is just a town over from Canton. But the reason they're in the mix is because of who Sandra's baby daddy allegedly was. You see, Chief Donna McNamara heard from the Massachusetts State Police that one of her officers, a man named Matthew Farwell, may have been having an affair with Sandra. And that would have violated department policies because, I mean, put him married with kids aside. Matthew Farwell was an officer who worked with their police Explorers program. And Sandra in her youth was an explorer. And Bert, I know you know all about the program because it came up in our live show. But for the newbies out there, do you want to give them the lowdown?
- [12:11]
Brit Prawat
Yeah, this will be very surface level. But the Explorers program is basically like this extracurricular program run by local law enforcement agencies that's open to anyone from what age range is were like 6th grade to 20 year olds. And it's kids who are interested in joining law enforcement one day. Yeah, it's like a junior police academy. They wear little uniforms, learn about investigations, do write alongs, apparently sometimes search for evidence. Yeah, usually the program is led by like actual officers from the local department. So the kids who sign up get really close to them, which can be a really great thing in some cases, potentially really dangerous.
- [12:52]
Ashley Flowers
You are correct.
- [12:53]
Brit Prawat
Okay, so I was about to ask if the state police knew about this, but if they're the ones who told the chief in Stoughton, then they had to have.
- [12:59]
Ashley Flowers
Yeah, they did. And they were looking into it too. Despite many files that refer to Sandra's death as a suicide, it does seem like they were still doing some legwork, like checking boxes, making sure they didn't miss anything big, like the affair with a married officer. They even talked to him, collected his and Sandra's phone data. And in their interview with him, which takes place on February 6th in a school parking lot, for some reason, Matthew admits that he was at Sandra's apartment that night.
- [13:30]
Brit Prawat
I'm sorry, what?
- [13:32]
Ashley Flowers
Yeah. So remember the surveillance video that showed her apartment lobby? Right. Yes.
- [13:36]
Brit Prawat
She's coming, going by herself.
- [13:38]
Ashley Flowers
Well, it didn't just show her coming and going. And just a quick FYI, the footage was found to be 13 minutes off. So the times I'm going to be telling you have been adjusted for accuracy. But basically, Sandra gets home early from school because they had closed for a snow day on the 1st. A few hours later, after 5pm, she's caught on camera again picking up a food delivery. And then at 5:31pm, she's seen one last time stepping outside briefly to brush the snow off her car and then heading back upstairs. And that's it for Sandra. But they did look at the rest of the footage to see if there was anyone else suspicious on it. And the maintenance supervisor at the apartment building tells officers that he recognizes everybody who enters the lobby that night, except for one person, a tall, burly man wearing boots, jeans, a black jacket with a hood up, and what looks like a Covid mask, which almost entirely covers his face. Now, he entered the building at 9:14pm and then left at 9:43. And the police report notes that the man wasn't wearing gloves and appeared to be white.
- [14:42]
Brit Prawat
And that's Matthew.
- [14:44]
Ashley Flowers
I mean, we know now that it was Matthew because he is admitting it to police on the 6th. But at the time, it's a little hard to tell what they knew because this part of the police report is pretty heavily redacted. All I know is that one of the building workers says that they had seen this guy with Sandra before, but they didn't know who he was. And the leasing manager starts giving them at that point some information about a police officer that Sandra had been in a relationship with and how there was something that he was unhappy about that Sandra was nervous about. But honestly, it truly is almost impossible to make sense of this person's account with all of the redactions to the file. Right.
- [15:21]
Brit Prawat
You're kind of just like, barely able to kind of almost connect dots.
- [15:25]
Ashley Flowers
Right. So they were probably suspicious, but now they like, no, no, it was him. Right. And his story seems to again confirm their original hypothesis, because he says that he met Sandra in the Explore program. She was 13 when she joined. He was 24. But he says that, like, nothing untoward happened. Matthew says that he knew Sandra had a troubled life and he felt bad for her, so he would, like, keep tabs on her over the years. But according to him, the relationship didn't become sexual until early 2020, when Sandra would have been 21. And that only happened because he says he got drunk one night and, quote, ended up meeting up with her and having sex. And then he says that they had sex two or three more times after that, with the last time being in October of 2020.
- [16:10]
Brit Prawat
So does he say that they were, like, dating? Like, how did he classify the relationship? Were they together? Like, had they been.
- [16:17]
Ashley Flowers
Well, so like I said, so he's married with two kids at that time. So at least on his end, this was very much not a public, like, relationship situation. But he goes on to say that in December of 2020, Sandra told him that she was pregnant and that he was the father. Now, in his interview, Matthew says that that wasn't possible and that the timeline didn't make any sense and just basically adamantly denies that he was the father of Sandra's unborn child.
- [16:43]
Brit Prawat
Okay, so then cut to the chase, Matthew. Why are you at her apartment the day she died?
- [16:47]
Ashley Flowers
Yeah, so he says that that night he asked Sandra if he could come over because he wanted to end things with her once and for all. He says that he hadn't seen her in about a week because he'd been trying to distance himself. But that was before he learned that Sandra was now telling people that he was the father of her child. So he went over that night and said that he told Sandra, quote, she was crazy and that there was no way he could be the father of her baby based on her timeline, and that he was just done with her. He said that the two of them kind of got into this pretty nasty argument. Not anything like yelling or physical, but just, like, really tense. And before he left, he told her it was really over and he was blocking her on everything, which he did. And Matthew says Sandra was definitely upset, but that she didn't say anything about wanting to hurt herself. And he told police that she was very much alive and standing in the kitchen when he walked out. Now, they asked him to take a polygraph and submit to a DNA test, presumably to verify his claim about the baby not being his. But none of those things end up happening because Matthew gets an attorney who steps in. And this attorney, Patrick Hanley, actually writes a letter to an MSP sergeant saying that these requests don't make any sense for the investigation of a witness, which is what MSP had said Matthew was. I actually have a quote from Patrick. It says, I advise my client to decline these requests and the request for further interview that accompanied them. I did so because they are far outside the norm for mere witnesses in an investigation. I was a prosecutor for 14 years and participated in hundreds of interviews with state police detectives like yourself. I cannot recall one seeking a polygraph interview, and I can only recall seeking DNA of persons that the investigators and I considered targets. Mr. Farwell has already provided highly personal information. In my opinion, providing DNA is a step too far, end quote. The lawyer also underscores that Matthew had nothing to do with Sandra's death, that he never encouraged her to harm herself or believed that she might. And according to him, Sandra's death by suicide was a complete shock to Matthew. The thing Matthew does comply with is turning over his phone. But he warns that he deleted all the communications with Sandra.
- [19:01]
Brit Prawat
Okay, that's fishy, right? Like, they see that, that's at least us, right?
- [19:05]
Ashley Flowers
They don't say. We just have a report that is very black and white. And I even brought this one. So it just says, On February 9, 2021, Matthew Farwell consented to a data extraction of his personal iPhone 11, which was then extracted by Trooper Nick Guarino. On April 26, 2021, I received Matthew's work cell phone from Stoughton Police Department through Matthew's attorney. Consent was given for a data extraction which was performed by Trooper Nick Guarino. I analyzed both of these phones and did not find any communication with Sandra Bergmore. Matt had said in a previous interview that he had deleted all communications with Sandra. So there's no like, oh, we think this was weird or not.
- [19:48]
Brit Prawat
Well, didn't see anything, Right?
- [19:51]
Ashley Flowers
So Trooper Nicorino went through this. We know this. But another state police sergeant had started combing through Sandra's laptop that was collected from her apartment.
- [20:01]
Brit Prawat
The other end of the communication, right?
- [20:02]
Ashley Flowers
And so he finds in that thousands of text messages between Sandra and Matthew in the 12 months or so before her death. Now, the state police write that the text messages make it clear that Matthew and Sandra were in a sexual relationship. But they concluded that there was nothing threatening at all. So they must just be assuming that he deleted the messages to hide the affair. Nothing murdery here. So case closed, right? Wrong. Cause Stoughton PD was running their internal affairs investigation alongside this one. And in reviewing over 32,000 messages between Sandra and Matthew in the 14 months leading up to her death, they see a far more disturbing picture of Sandra's case. Here's the typical holiday pattern. You tell yourself you'll be thoughtful, panic at the last minute, buy a gift card. Well, this year, skip the panic and give an aura frame. Enjoy unlimited free photo and video uploads. Simply download the Aura app, connect to WI Fi and start adding memories in seconds. Every GIF can be personalized with a custom message. Even that appears when it's first turned on. A thoughtful little touch for any occasion. My aura frame is in my kitchen and it's been like our water cooler. When people come over, we all crowd around it and reminisce. And Josie has her favorite pictures that pop up that she tries to recreate in real time. And for a limited time, save on the perfect gift by visiting auraframes.com to get $35 off Aura's best selling Carver Matte frames named number one by Wirecutter. And you get that by using promo code crimejunkie at checkout. That's a U R A frames.com promo code crimejunkie, all one word. This deal is exclusive to listeners, and Frames sell out fast. So order yours now to get it in time for the holidays. And don't forget, support the show by mentioning us at checkout. Terms and conditions apply. So the chief of Stoughton PD Donna McNamara, opened that internal affairs investigation into Matthew Farwell the day after Sandra was found because she had heard from MSP about Matthew potentially having an illicit affair with Sandra, violating department policies. So she put Matthew on paid leave starting February 24th. And again, just to be 100% clear, her internal investigation was only meant to look into Matthew's misconduct, not Sandra's death.
- [22:30]
Brit Prawat
Right.
- [22:31]
Ashley Flowers
Chief McNamara and MSP had an understanding that MSP basically still maintained the jurisdiction over any criminal activity, even, like, anything that comes up in the internal investigation. And if the chief found any criminal culpability, she would basically pass all of that off to msp. So, like, sure, fine, whatever. That's the deal.
- [22:48]
Brit Prawat
She's not looking for it, but if she sees it, she'll hand it over.
- [22:51]
Ashley Flowers
Yeah, I'm not going to take it. So her team starts looking at the phone data and the laptop that was previously analyzed by State Police Trooper Nick Garino. And these messages, which appear in federal and court documents, don't only suggest that Sandra and Matthew's sexual relationship began way before he originally said, but also that Matthew had disturbing sexual fantasies involving violence against women, choking, incest, pedophilia, necrophilia, and rape. And I want everyone to hear some of these messages so you guys can get an idea of the tone of the communication between Sandra and Matthew. I'm going to have a voice actor reading them because they are really disturbing. So fair warning to people who are listening and like, forgive me if I don't want to look you in the eye and say, feel him inside me. But I think this shows the full extent of Matthew's behavior. So in a couple of exchanges, Matthew and Sandra talk about the beginning of their sexual relationship.
- [23:52]
Voice Actor 1
What was the first day you said, omg, I want this guy to be my first. I want to feel him inside me?
- [23:58]
Voice Actor 2
Yeah. So 2012, I finally decided that I was going to try and find a way to F you and just wasn't sure how. I had butterflies so bad the day you took my virginity.
- [24:09]
Voice Actor 1
Me, too. It was such a big day.
- [24:11]
Voice Actor 2
It was April 10, 2013. Best day of my Life.
- [24:15]
Voice Actor 1
Me too.
- [24:17]
Brit Prawat
So the sexual relationship actually began seven years before Matthew told police that it began.
- [24:24]
Ashley Flowers
Yes. And he actually even says that he wishes they'd done it sooner.
- [24:30]
Voice Actor 1
I wish it had been a year sooner. After helping you study at the library.
- [24:34]
Voice Actor 2
I didn't even make you wait a year after that.
- [24:36]
Voice Actor 1
I absolutely would have you in 12.
- [24:39]
Voice Actor 2
In 12.
- [24:41]
Voice Actor 1
2012.
- [24:42]
Brit Prawat
And in 2012, Sandra would have been.
- [24:45]
Ashley Flowers
Like, what she was like 14 or 15. And he knows that this would have been bad for anyone else to find out. So he asked her to get rid of their messages.
- [24:55]
Voice Actor 1
Clear that part out, baby.
- [24:57]
Voice Actor 2
I did.
- [24:58]
Voice Actor 1
Good girl.
- [25:00]
Ashley Flowers
Again, I know how disturbing these are, but I really think it's important for our listeners to understand the power that Matthew knew he had over Sandra, mentally and physically. By the way, because Sandra was 4 10, Matthew was 6 4. So in one exchange he says, LOL.
- [25:19]
Voice Actor 1
If I pushed, I absolutely could have you without condoms from day one.
- [25:24]
Voice Actor 2
I was kind of scared to say no in the beginning, not knowing how you'd take it. So, yeah, you would have got no condoms.
- [25:31]
Ashley Flowers
Other messages from Matthew revealed even more disturbing desires.
- [25:37]
Voice Actor 1
Maybe I'll choke you a little. I'll grab your throat and say. You won't say a word to anyone. Will you say, Matt, stop. I'm 13. I'm not ready for this. OMFG. Please stop.
- [25:49]
Ashley Flowers
According to sources cited in the Boston Globe, in the year leading up to her death, there are at least 20 times that Matthew texted Sandra about grabbing her throat, squeezing her throat, or choking her during sex. In another exchange, Sandra asked, do you.
- [26:05]
Voice Actor 2
Want me to just take what you do or try and say no? I know being told no is your favorite.
- [26:12]
Voice Actor 1
Say no.
- [26:13]
Ashley Flowers
Now, of course, all of these messages are from 2019 onward, so we have no way of knowing what Sandra and Matthew's communication was like before that. But In December of 2020, things took a notable turn. That's when Sandra texted Matthew about her pregnancy. She sent him a photo of a colorful poster that she had made with the words, congrats, we're going to be parents. And this is how he responded.
- [26:40]
Voice Actor 1
I literally have nothing to say right now. How could you express that in text when I said, I don't appreciate it.
- [26:46]
Voice Actor 2
I'm mad you're acting how you are over a choice we both made.
- [26:51]
Voice Actor 1
I'm mad you act like you gave anyone a choice. You are truly the worst person on the face of the earth.
- [26:57]
Ashley Flowers
Matthew also asked how far along Sandra was.
- [27:02]
Voice Actor 2
Regardless of how far we're keeping it but three and a half weeks, which means I Conceived this month.
- [27:09]
Voice Actor 1
Okay, well, we need to talk, then.
- [27:11]
Voice Actor 2
No. S. That's obvious.
- [27:14]
Ashley Flowers
And on December 29, 2020, they did talk. This conversation was in person, so we have no way of knowing exactly how it went. But afterward, Sandra texts Matthew.
- [27:26]
Voice Actor 2
It made me really uncomfortable and stressed out and scared when you were next to me, because I thought you were going to hit me after you said what you said and took things out of my hand. That's why I was crying. I know you wouldn't, but it still scared me.
- [27:41]
Ashley Flowers
So, clearly, he's not happy about the pregnancy.
- [27:44]
Brit Prawat
I mean, yeah, it's a lot harder to hide from your wife than just an affair.
- [27:49]
Voice Actor 2
What?
- [27:50]
Ashley Flowers
And at an especially bad time, because I didn't mention this yet, but when Matthew left Sandra's apartment that night of February 1st, guess where he went? The delivery room. Because his wife was in labor with their third baby. So, yeah, he's about to have a new baby with his wife, and Sandra is telling him she's pregnant, too. Now, maybe he would have found some way to keep this under wraps, but on January 20th, Matthew found out that Sandra had been telling people about their affair. Apparently, he had been under the impression that it was, like, their little secret, but it was far from it in Sandra's circles. And apparently, leading up to her death, this friend, who we're going to call Jill, tried to use that to her advantage. Jill said that her and Sandra got into an argument about some money that Sandra owed her. And Jill told Sandra that if she didn't start to pay up, she was going to go file a police report, which she did. On January 20, just weeks before Sandra's death. When Stoughton PD told Jill that this was a civil matter, Jill got upset. And in her anger, she, over the phone, basically said, well, like, you can tell whatever police officer, detective, that Sandra's in a sexual relationship with that he can tell her to pay back the money.
- [29:05]
Brit Prawat
And how did the officer on the phone respond to that?
- [29:08]
Ashley Flowers
They went straight to Matthew, and they're like, what's this about? And according to investigative files, Matthew got really rattled and told that person, quote, not to speak about this to anyone and to never talk about it again, end quote. And whoever he told that to must have kept their code of silence, since we know the Internal affairs investigation did not start then.
- [29:31]
Brit Prawat
Right.
- [29:32]
Ashley Flowers
But that day, after Matthew was approaching, approached about the affair, he texted Sandra.
- [29:38]
Voice Actor 1
Dude, your friend called my job. Sandra. Wtf? You also told me that no one knew about us yet. She claimed we are.
- [29:47]
Voice Actor 2
It's literally nothing.
- [29:49]
Voice Actor 1
It's not nothing. She called my job. That's insane. Like you have no idea how bad what she did is. I literally can't believe this is even real life. Like what else do I have to worry about now? Which other friend will do something tomorrow?
- [30:03]
Ashley Flowers
And what's so weird is after this interaction, Matthew just out of nowhere completely changes his tune and starts to speak really positively to Sandra about their whole situation. And Sandra actually texted her friend about it.
- [30:21]
Voice Actor 2
So the father came by last night. It was like a complete 360 change.
- [30:26]
Brit Prawat
180.
- [30:27]
Voice Actor 2
Yeah. LOL. Good or bad? Good, but unexpected. So it kind of threw me off and made me a little uncomfortable. But that's because of how things were going. But it was like a complete 180.
- [30:41]
Ashley Flowers
From where we were at on this same night. Along with having a heart to heart, Matthew also asked Sandra for a key to her apartment and the code to her building's entrance. But even with him seemingly doing everything right, like saying the perfect things, there were moments where Sandra felt uneasy. Like something wasn't quite right. The day of that 180 degree change conversation on January 24th, Sandra texted a friend about something weird last night.
- [31:13]
Voice Actor 2
He opened my closet door for something and then he went in my bathroom looking at my bathroom. And then I have a dolly in my living room that he asked why I had. It was just really odd. He started looking around. I don't know, it was really weird.
- [31:28]
Ashley Flowers
Then on January 29, Sandra reminded Matthew what the code to enter her apartment complex was. And Matthew asked her to confirm that it was a general code for the entire building, not just like a personal code for Sandra. And that basically brings us to February.
- [31:44]
Brit Prawat
1St, the day that Sandra dies.
- [31:46]
Ashley Flowers
Yes. Matthew texted Sandra at around 9pm asking if he could come by for a second. She responded that she would leave her door open for him. And that was the last known message that Sandra would ever send.
- [32:01]
Brit Prawat
I guess I'm confused right now. Like MSP had these messages from Sandra's laptop, right? Like, are they just ignoring them?
- [32:11]
Ashley Flowers
It's really bizarre. So listen, I'm just gonna read you exactly what they say about the laptop messages in the report. Keep in mind again lottery actions here. But it says this. Over the next several weeks, I analyzed data from Sandra's laptop. In particular, I was investigating any criminal conduct related to Sandra's death. And something redacted here. Sandra's laptop gave me access to approximately 12 months of iMessages, social media contact and other documents, slash databases. Matt and Sandra had texted thousands of times over the Year, as well as communication with many other friends and family of Sandra. It was clear, based on texts with Matt, that he and Sandra had a sexual relationship, as he told us in his previous interview. Then there's this big redacted chunk followed by this. All of these conversations were flagged in the forensics report of her laptop. Sandra communicated often with friends and family. It appeared Sandra had sexual relationships with other men in the months leading up to her death. There were no threats of harm by any of these individuals, including Matt. End quote.
- [33:14]
Brit Prawat
That's. That's it.
- [33:16]
Ashley Flowers
That's literally the last sentence on the last page of the MSP report that we received no threats of harm. So no criminal culpability.
- [33:26]
Brit Prawat
But clearly there is a crime here, right?
- [33:30]
Ashley Flowers
Well, put possible murder aside, okay? Chief McNamara can't look into that. Right, because that's not her jurisdiction. But, yeah, the sexual abuse of an explorer within the department she now is chief of, move out the way like she is charging full steam ahead. Because here's the thing. Along with now being sure that Matthew abused a minor in the program, other witnesses come forward and say that Sandra told them he wasn't the only one, according to people who knew Sandra. And I want to preface this by saying much of this information is unconfirmed, but they say that Matthew Farwell wasn't the only Stoughton Police Department employee who Sandra had a sexual relationship with. She also had one with William Farwell, Matthew's twin brother.
- [34:22]
Brit Prawat
What? When, how, and did. Did the brothers know about each other's relationships?
- [34:27]
Ashley Flowers
So William is also an officer with the Stoughton Police Department. They also met through the Explorers program because he was a guest instructor. So when they talk to him, he admits it. But, like, bad case of deja vu, he says that he had, quote, been with Sandra sexually maybe two to three times, and the last of which was sometime in December of 2020.
- [34:51]
Brit Prawat
But that was when she was also seeing Matthew, apparently.
- [34:55]
Ashley Flowers
So clearly there is something bigger happening here. So Chief McNamara's agency hires multiple PIs and outside consultants, and over the course of nearly 19 months, they go down every rabbit hole you can think of. And guess what? It didn't even end there. Implicated in the internal affairs investigation was another man named Robert Devine, who was a former deputy chief of the Stoughton Police Department and the officer in charge of the Explorers Program. Robert is actually the man that brought Matthew and his twin brother into the program as guest instructors. In interviews, Robert first claims to have no knowledge of the Farwell brothers relationships with Sandra, but then he later clarifies that Sandra did bring it up to him as a consenting adult, and Robert didn't believe her. According to Robert, while he and Sandra were never formally in touch, she would often seek him out while he was on duty, offering coffee, hanging around to talk, and showing what he described as an obsession with police officers. He said this happened about once a week.
- [36:01]
Brit Prawat
So, you know, she's just obsessed with them. What, what could they have done? What could they possibly do?
- [36:06]
Ashley Flowers
Ashley, It's a gross implication to me that, like, she was the problem all because she wanted to be a police officer, because she really did love that program. I mean, Sandra joined the explorers program in 2010 when she was 13 years old. And apparently she was drawn to police officers from a very young age age. They represented everything she wanted. Safety, stability, the things that she didn't have growing up. Family members have said that Sandra deeply respected police, even idolized them. According to reporting from Boston magazine, she joined the Explorers program not only to fulfill her dreams of becoming an officer herself, but also to find the mentorship and direction that she craved. But instead, she was preyed upon. Chief McNamara's investigation found that Sandra and Robert had been formally in touch and communicating by Facebook messenger from 2020 up until her death. According to the report, Robert explains this by, quote, outrageously making claims about accounts being hacked in McNamara's investigation. Multiple witness interviewed also described a pattern of inappropriate conduct within the Explorer program, including hugging, kissing, even encounters in a closet involving Robert and the Farwell brothers, as well as comments like, come back and see me after you turn 18. One witness recalls Sandra talking about the stress officers were under and the way that they looked for outlets. In the end, McNamara recommends that Robert, William and Matthew all have their police certifications revoked and be entered into the National Decertification index. And there is at least one other officer from another department found to be complicit as well.
- [37:52]
Brit Prawat
I mean, so what, now the men just get like a slap on the wrist?
- [37:56]
Ashley Flowers
Well, they actually all resign before any sort of action can even be taken, of course. And in September 2022, Chief McNamara holds a press conference about her investigation where she publicly addresses the entire situation for the first time.
- [38:15]
Chief Donna McNamara
What I'm about to brief you on is something deeply troubling to me as a human being and as a police chief. On February 4, 2021, 23 year old Sandra Birchmore was found deceased in her apartment in Canton. What I am here to talk about today is her life and how she was failed by, manipulated by, and used by people of authority that she admired and trusted right up until her final days. Ms. Burchmore was a vulnerable person who had one constant in her life since childhood. Her unwavering admiration of police officers, of those serving the military, people in uniform, people with oaths and duties to protect and serve. The admiration led her to form relationships with men who were willing to take advantage of her. The Fowler brothers and Divine violated their oaths of office and should never have the privilege of serving any community as a police officer. Through a sustained and deliberate combination of lies, deceit, and treachery, they violated the policies and the core values of the Stoughton Police Department, not to mention human decency. I stand before you today as a civil servant who is heartbroken and incensed by what has transpired and who pledges that this chapter in the Stoughton Police Department and the town of Stoughton is over. It must never repeat, the revolving door is closed.
- [40:13]
Ashley Flowers
Chief McNamara turns all her findings over to the Norfolk DA's office, I assume for prosecution, based on her agency's findings of what would be statutory rape. But they declined to press any charges.
- [40:28]
Brit Prawat
I'm sorry, what in the good old boys club is happening here?
- [40:32]
Ashley Flowers
Well, in a 2022 statement, a spokesperson for the DA says that statutory rape would be difficult to prove, given that Sandra, the main witness, was dead.
- [40:44]
Brit Prawat
Okay, but she's dead because he might have killed her like this. This can't be the loophole.
- [40:51]
Ashley Flowers
Yeah, Sandra's family is furious over this. I haven't even spoken much about them yet, but they were fighting for her every step of the way. I mean, from the second that her aunt was notified on day one about Sandra's quote, unquote, suicide, she knew something was up. I mean, not only did she know that Sandra was actually in a really happy place before her death, but also when her and other relatives went to Sandra's apartment after her death, the place gave all the signs of someone who did not take their life. When they started going through her things, Everything that they saw made it seem like Sandra's passing was extremely abrupt. There was still wet clothes in the washing machine and unopened packages, plus more deliveries on the way. She even had cats that she had left unattended when police finally found her, which made zero sense, because she had actually already started making plans to have somebody look after those same cats while she gave birth, which would have been like, seven months later. But one of the most telling things, I think, is what her family finds in the bedroom. They found Sandra's necklace. This keepsake from her grandmother. It was this thin gold chain with, like, a pink flamingo charm. And it was laying on the floor. The chain had snapped in the middle, and then there was this clump of hair tangled in it.
- [42:09]
Brit Prawat
I mean, to me, that feels like a sign of a struggle. Did police not see it?
- [42:14]
Ashley Flowers
Well, apparently the necklace was broken and, like, hanging off of her neck when they found her, which is documented with photographs. But it wasn't collected, so I guess officers didn't think it was relevant. So when it fell to the floor, as they're, I assume, like, moving her body, they either didn't notice it or, like, didn't care and collect it.
- [42:31]
Brit Prawat
And did the family show them?
- [42:33]
Ashley Flowers
Oh, yeah. They handed over the necklace to police right away, but that apparently didn't change anything for them. So the family members took it upon themselves to galvanize the community on social media, getting people who knew Sandra to come forward and share stories. So many stories that pointed to the Explorer program and stories that helped build out McNamara's internal investigation. So now to hear that nothing was going to come of it like, that was infuriating. So In December of 2022, Sandra's family tries a different approach. They file a wrongful death suit in Norfolk County Superior Court accusing Matthew, William, and Robert of grooming and sexually abusing Sandra from a young age and implicating them in her death. The family alleges wrongful death, negligent supervision, negligent retention, pain and suffering, and emotional distress, among other things. And they specifically mention an ongoing scheme of grooming and misconduct which they say led to Sandra's death. So that litigation is still ongoing, and a judgment date is set for May of 2026.
- [43:41]
Brit Prawat
So Sandra's family members are really the only ones actually looking into her death as, like, anything other than a suicide.
- [43:50]
Ashley Flowers
So, but this is what I was saying, where you get this, like, moment where you're like, the system is not. Not working. Everything's broken, but there are good eggs within it. So we've got Chief McNamara, who has this investigation, exposing her officers for their abhorrent behavior. And then maybe because of her, maybe because of something else, like another big case involving Canton PD and MSP that happens in 2022.
- [44:21]
Brit Prawat
John O'. Keefe.
- [44:22]
Ashley Flowers
Yeah, maybe because of all the pressure and the spotlight combined, at some point, other good people step in and say, nuh, not on our watch. And that's the FBI. Now, it's not really clear how the FBI investigation timeline unfolded. They haven't been very public about that.
- [44:42]
Brit Prawat
They aren't known to be very public.
- [44:44]
Ashley Flowers
About that about anything. But on August 28, 2024, Special Agent Cheney Castrida releases a 45 page affidavit with all of her findings and it details exactly what they think happened and why.
- [45:02]
Brit Prawat
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- [46:25]
Ashley Flowers
SimpliSafe. Agent Castrita confirms what we already know about Matthew grooming Sandra when she was a child and lays out Matthew's motive for murder in clear terms. She writes that In October of 2020, when Sandra heard about Matthew's wife's pregnancy, she went to him with an ultimatum. She wouldn't expose their years long sexual relationship, including the fact that it began when she was underage and that they'd been meeting while Matthew was on duty if he agreed to try and get her pregnant. Their texts even show Sandra sending Matthew her ovulation schedule and the two of them planning sexual encounters around it. But when Sandra got pregnant, she started telling people about it and that wasn't part of the deal, the affidavit actually puts forward that on January 20th, when that friend Jill called Stoughton PD and spilled the beans about Matthew and Sandra, causing that officer to question Matthew, that is the very moment that Matthew hatched a plan to kill her. And all those heart to hearts after that, Agent Kustrida says, were, quote, his attempt to appease Birchmore until he could kill her. End quote. And they have physical proof? They say the FBI analyzed the data from the health app on Sandra's iPhone. Her last movements were recorded at 9:40pm that is three minutes before Matthew was seen leaving her building. So it's likely this data shows exactly when Sandra died and Matthew was still inside the.
- [48:03]
Brit Prawat
Apartment. And when he left, he could have used the key that he had to lock up behind.
- [48:08]
Ashley Flowers
Him. Right. And Agent Kostrida backs this up by tapping Expert forensic physician Dr. William Smock. He specializes in asphyxiation cases and testified in the Derek Chauvin trial about George Floyd's murder. According to the affidavit, Smock's findings directly contradict what state police concluded. He pointed out that the fracture in Sandra's hyoid bone, which is at the top of the neck, didn't line up with the position that she was found in. Smock explained that when someone is found seated, it is considered an incomplete hanging, meaning that only part of the body's weight is actually pulling on the neck. And in his deep dive through forensic research, he could not find a single documented case of a woman fracturing her hyoid bone in that kind of scenario. Instead, those fractures overwhelmingly show up in cases of manual strangulation or when the full weight of the body is suspended. So he concludes with, quote, a reasonable degree of medical and scientific certainty that the cause of Ms. Birchmore's death is asphyxia and that the manner of her death is homicide. End quote. And something else really interesting that Agent Kastrita writes was, is that after Matthew consented to handing his personal cell phone over to state police, he used his work phone to search and then immediately delete searches.
- [49:33]
Brit Prawat
For.
- [49:33]
Voice Actor 2
Right.
- [49:33]
Ashley Flowers
Right. Whether deleted imessages can be recovered and whether someone can revoke consent in Massachusetts. And it's on the last page of this document that Agent Kostrita writes this, quote, the information set forth above supports, supports the government's motion to detain Matthew Farwell pending trial in this case. And that is how, on the very date Agent Casrita files her report, Matthew Farwell is.
- [50:02]
Brit Prawat
Arrested. So how did the FBI get jurisdiction of the case in order to make the arrest. Like, do they just, like, trump state agencies? By default.
- [50:12]
Ashley Flowers
No. The FBI makes an ingenious move to. To charge Matthew with one count of killing a witness or victim, which is a federal crime charge that often appears in connection with other federal charges, like sometimes in mob cases or crime rings that span, like, multiple.
- [50:28]
Brit Prawat
States. But in this case, it allowed the FBI to step in without involving.
- [50:33]
Ashley Flowers
Msp. Exactly. And this charge also happens to be punishable by death. So that same day, Matthew pleads not guilty at an arraignment. And as of this recording, Matthew has been indicted by a federal grand jury, and his trial is currently scheduled to begin on October 5, 2026. Until then, he's being held without bail at a detention facility in Rhode Island. And our reporter, Nicole Kagan, actually reached out to his attorney for comment, but as of this recording, we have not heard anything back. There is news still breaking in this case, though. The strangest thing to me was broken by the Boston Globe earlier this year. They wrote that people familiar with the investigation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that DNA testing showed Matthew was not the biological father of Sandra's unborn.
- [51:25]
Brit Prawat
Baby. Okay, first of all, who are these sources? I, like, need to know same.
- [51:30]
Ashley Flowers
But I have no.
- [51:31]
Brit Prawat
Idea. And secondly, the motives still make sense for me, though, because if Matthew thought he was the father, which it really seems like he did from the text messages, like, that's your motive. And also, he refused to give his DNA at first.
- [51:45]
Ashley Flowers
Right. Well, also, he had a twin brother who admitted to sleeping with Sandra at the same time. And like my own psa, I no longer trust adult twins who work at the same place if that place gives them access to children. I know that sounds specific, but I just listened to the newest season of Dig and like, oh, hell no. There is a pattern here. But there is also another pattern that I found, one with the Explorers program. Sandra's story is one that did get a decent amount of attention and had been kind of like, living in the back of my brain since 2022, like, ish when I first heard about it. And in digging into that, this local article from here in Indianapolis popped up and grabbed my attention. It was from April 14, 2022. It said, IMPD. Officer tied to teen suicide ordered to write weekly journal in rare sentence. And that's kind of like crime junkie. Clickbait. Yeah, and when I began reading, I had this weird deja vu. Deleted text messages. The police Explorers program. So I began to wonder, maybe William and Matthew and Robert weren't a couple of bad apples in this system. What if the program is designed in a way that actually attracts predators and puts children at risk? Like parents are sending their kids off to work with the police because, like, you couldn't be safer, right? Wrong. The more I looked, the more I found. And our reporter Nina and I have spent months, the better part of a year uncovering systematic issues with the Explorers program. And next week we are going to be releasing an entire episode with every twisted detail we found. So for those who don't want to wait till next week to hear that, you can listen to that episode right now in the Crime Junkie fan club. Otherwise, it'll be out next week. And this is an episode I think everyone needs to know about. It is required listening for anyone considering the program or for any parent who has a kid kid in the program. Like, I can't just look away and hope this stuff stops happening. We have to shine a light directly on it. So tell everyone you know. Next week's episode of Crime Junkie is required listening for everyone. So you know what's there and you know how to keep your kids and your friends safe. You can find all the source material for this episode on our website, crimejunkie.com and if you want to listen to more episodes like this one, all of our episodes completely ad free. And remember, next week's episode early. Join the fan club. You'll also get early access to new episodes every week and bonus content every.
- [54:42]
Brit Prawat
Month. And you can follow us on Instagram at.
- [54:44]
Ashley Flowers
Crimejunkiepodcast. We'll be back next week with a brand new episode. Crime Junkie is an Audio Chuck production. I think Chuck would approve. The McDonald's snack wrap is.
- [55:21]
Voice Actor 1
Back. You brought it.
- [55:23]
Ashley Flowers
Back. Ranch snack wrap. Spicy snack wrap. You broke the Internet for a.
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Voice Actor 1
Snack? Snack wrap is.
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Voice Actor 2
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