The Betrayal of Sandra Birchmore

Summary

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Dateline NBC: "The Betrayal of Sandra Birchmore"

Aired: September 23, 2025
Host: Andrea Canning (with Lester Holt and interviewees)
Episode Summary by [Podcast Summarizer]

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Overview

This episode of Dateline NBC delves into the tragic and complex case of Sandra Birchmore, a 23-year-old pregnant teacher’s assistant found dead in her apartment in February 2021. Initially ruled a suicide, Sandra’s death unraveled a much deeper story of sexual abuse, police misconduct, and possible murder. Through interviews with Sandra's family, law enforcement, journalists, and forensic experts, the episode exposes a web of betrayal by trusted authority figures and a protracted battle for truth and justice.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Discovery of Sandra Birchmore's Death

• Sandra Birchmore is reported missing after not showing up for work following a snowstorm.
  • [03:26] – School staff begin to worry and initiate a wellbeing check.
• Police find her deceased in her apartment; appears to be a suicide by hanging.
  • [05:26] Lester Holt: "She has the strap of a duffel bag wrapped around her neck."
• Immediate skepticism from family and colleagues, who describe her as excited about her pregnancy and future.
  • [01:23] Angelique Perozzi: "Given how excited she was about becoming a mom. It didn't jive with us."
  • [06:18] Barbara Wright: "I just knew it. I knew she wouldn't do that. I just knew it."

2. Sandra's Background and Connection to Law Enforcement

• Sandra overcame a difficult childhood and was engaged with police Explorer programs.
  • [09:03] Sandra's mother, Denise, sought positive mentors for Sandra, leading to involvement with Stoughton Police Explorers.
• Many key players in Sandra’s life—including those later implicated—were introduced to her through this program when she was a teenager.
• After losing both her mother and grandmother, Sandra pursued a career helping others.

3. Unraveling the Mystery: The Married Boyfriend

• Just before her death, Sandra announces her pregnancy. Family learns her boyfriend is married, a police officer in Stoughton, and his wife is also pregnant.
  • [12:24] Justina/Antonetta: "She proceeded to tell us that the father of the baby was married."
• Name revealed as Matthew Farwell, a Stoughton detective and former mentor in the Explorer program.
  • [17:38] Justina/Antonetta: "Matthew Farwell."

4. Initial Investigation and Dismissal by Authorities

• Despite suspicious circumstances (broken necklace, no prior suicide signs), the medical examiner rules Sandra’s death a suicide.
  • [21:57] Angelique Perozzi: "If she didn't take her own life, her killer's out there, and her killer is possibly on the police force."
• Family frustrations mount over authorities’ persistence on this ruling, referencing Sandra's plans and excitement for the baby.
  • [18:34] Angelique Perozzi: "I couldn't find anyone in Sandra's life that thought she was suicidal."
• Attempts to get state police and the District Attorney to investigate further meet resistance.

5. Bombshell Internal Affairs Investigation

• Stoughton Police Chief Donna McNamara launches an internal investigation into Matthew Farwell.
• Findings reveal not only Farwell’s on-duty sexual relationship with Sandra but also implicate his twin brother William Farwell and another officer, Robert Devine.
  • [24:14] Chief McNamara: "We discovered that on multiple occasions, Matthew was on duty when he was having sex with Sandra."
  • [24:40] Evidence of sexual images/requests from William Farwell and Officer Devine.
• Most shocking was that Matthew Farwell began a sexual relationship with Sandra when she was 15; overwhelming evidence of grooming and statutory rape.
  • [25:47] Chief McNamara: "There was text messages between Matthew and Sandra discussing...a sexual relationship prior to being 16."
  • [26:06] "If Sandra was alive, there would be charges for statutory rape, aggravated statutory rape."

6. Public Exposure but Lack of Legal Action

• McNamara releases a redacted report condemning the three officers and advocating they never serve in law enforcement again, but no immediate charges result regarding Sandra’s death.
  • [27:33] Chief McNamara (public statement): “All three men... violated their oaths of office and should never have the privilege of serving any community as a police officer.”
• The public report raises awareness but not sufficient momentum for a criminal case.

7. Media and Independent Investigations

• Journalists and podcasters help keep attention on the case, pushing for transparency.
• Key break: Security footage showing Matthew Farwell entering and leaving Sandra’s apartment around the time of her death, raising further suspicion.
  • [32:34] “Farwell took the elevator to Sandra's floor. Then, 29 minutes later, he came back down and exited the building.”
• Footage goes viral, but official action remains stalled.

8. Breakthrough: Forensic and Federal Involvement

• Sandra’s family hires Dr. Michael Baden, a renowned forensic pathologist, who concludes Sandra was strangled—a homicide, not suicide.
  • [37:37] “His findings made headlines... concluding what the family had long believed. Sandra's death was a homicide, not a suicide.”
• In 2024, the FBI reopens the case, reviews old and new evidence, including Chief McNamara’s records.

9. Federal Charges and Arrest

• On August 28, 2024, Matthew Farwell is arrested and charged with Sandra's murder by federal authorities, four years after her death.
  • [36:45] Angelique Perozzi: "They had just arrested him and they were bringing him in to be arraigned."
• Prosecutors allege Farwell murdered Sandra to prevent her from exposing his long-term sexual abuse and statutory rape.
  • [38:09] Lester Holt: "We allege that Sandra Birchmore survived years of grooming, statutory rape, and then sexual violence... Farwell used his knowledge and experience as a law enforcement officer to stage her death to look like a suicide."
• Notably, DNA tests reveal Farwell was not the father of Sandra’s baby.

10. Systemic Failures and Family Resilience

• Both the Massachusetts State Police and medical examiner's office stand by their original findings, despite new federal evidence.
• Sandra's family, especially her cousins and aunt Angelique Perozzi, remain determined for justice, filing a wrongful death suit and continuing public advocacy.
  • [44:10] Angelique Perozzi: "We tried our best and sorry it wasn't enough. Cause if it was, she would be here."

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On the initial reaction to the suicide ruling:
  • Barbara Wright (06:18): “I just knew it. I knew she wouldn't do that. I just knew it.”
• On Farwell's relationship with Sandra:
  • Chief Donna McNamara (26:09): “[Farwell] controlled her. He was grooming her, and it was abuse at the worst level.”
• On damning evidence from the internal affairs probe:
  • Chief Donna McNamara (27:33): “All three men... violated their oaths of office and should never have the privilege of serving any community as a police officer.”
• On the FBI's indictment:
  • Lester Holt (38:09): “We allege that Sandra Birchmore survived years of grooming, statutory rape, and then sexual violence... and he used his knowledge and experience as a law enforcement officer to stage her death to look like a suicide.”
• On continuing the fight for Sandra:
  • Angelique Perozzi (44:10): “We tried our best and sorry it wasn't enough. Cause if it was, she would be here.”

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Discovery & Suspicion: 01:01–07:20
• Sandra’s Background: 08:07–11:12
• Family learns of married police officer affair: 11:23–13:16
• Internal Affairs and Police Misconduct Uncovered: 22:06–27:33
• Public Outcry and Media Involvement: 31:18–33:20
• Forensic Breakthrough & FBI Involvement: 34:04–38:09
• Farwell’s Arrest and Indictment: 36:34–42:01
• Family’s Reflections and Final Thoughts: 44:10–44:34

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Overall Tone

The episode is urgent, somber, and relentless—marked by profound outrage at betrayal by trusted authorities and by the dogged determination of Sandra's family to seek justice. The narrative is unflinching in chronicling the failures of local investigators, the brave actions of a handful of individuals, and the tragic cost of institutional indifference.

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For Listeners New to the Story

This episode reveals how one young woman’s death exposed a devastating pattern of abuse at the hands of police, a culture of cover-up, and the shocking lengths to which perpetrators went to escape justice. It is a searing indictment of systemic flaws and a moving tribute to a family's unyielding pursuit of the truth.

Transcript

[Lester Holt]

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[Andrea Canning]

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[Lester Holt]

Tonight on dateline.

[Angelique Perozzi]

She was really looking forward to creating her own family. We tried our best and sorry it wasn't enough because if it was, she would be here.

[Barbara Wright]

They found Sandra deceased in her apartment.

[Cheryl Carlson]

I was told that she had committed suicide, but in the back of my mind it isn't adding up.

[Angelique Perozzi]

Given how excited she was about becoming a mom. It didn't jive with us.

[Andrea Canning]

This broken necklace, this was a clue to you?

[Barbara Wright]

Definitely. Yeah, I said that sounds like a sign of a struggle.

[Justina or Antonetta (Cousins)]

When I first saw the video, my jaw dropped.

[Lester Holt]

He's walking into the apartment, he has a mask on, he's got a hoodie on over his head.

[Barbara Wright]

I'm thinking somebody murdered her.

[Andrea Canning]

You're thinking cover up?

[Barbara Wright]

Definitely.

[Andrea Canning]

Your investigation revealed a bombshell.

[Chief Donna McNamara]

Yes, it did. Wherever that led us, we would go.

[Lester Holt]

A young mother to be murdered, who was behind it? A twisted mystery that would stun even the police. I'm Lester Holt and this is dateline. Here's Andrea Canning with the betrayal of Sandra Birchmore.

[Andrea Canning]

It was a cold, blustery start to the week. That February 1, 2020, it is hammering snow.

[Lester Holt]

We're up to, I think 3 inches per hour.

[Andrea Canning]

The temperature was dropping, the winds were howling. A nor' easter is coming into town.

[Justina or Antonetta (Cousins)]

Yes.

[Andrea Canning]

And as we all know, that can affect schools and children.

[Justina or Antonetta (Cousins)]

Yep.

[Cheryl Carlson]

So we had to leave school early on a Monday afternoon.

[Andrea Canning]

Cheryl Carlson, then assistant principal at East Elementary School just outside of Boston, scrambled to get everyone out the door before the storm hit.

[Cheryl Carlson]

Always a lot going on when we have to be calling parents, making sure students are getting home.

[Andrea Canning]

23 year old teacher's Assistant Sandra Birchmore was helping out. How is she on this day?

[Cheryl Carlson]

She seemed fine. Didn't have any big conversation with her, but there was nothing that struck me as different.

[Andrea Canning]

But when school reopened three days later, Sandra wasn't in her classroom.

[Cheryl Carlson]

I get a call asking, have I seen Sandra? And no, I haven't seen her yet that day. I'm like, is she not here? Like, no, she hasn't shown up.

[Andrea Canning]

Are you worried about her?

[Cheryl Carlson]

My mind didn't immediately go to super worried.

[Andrea Canning]

Cheryl thought there might be a simple explanation that Sandra wasn't feeling well or forgot to mention an appointment.

[Cheryl Carlson]

Something going on that she didn't communicate about. One of the secretaries kept trying to call her. I think it went straight to voicemail.

[Andrea Canning]

That's always worrying.

[Justina or Antonetta (Cousins)]

It is.

[Andrea Canning]

What do you do?

[Justina or Antonetta (Cousins)]

How do you.

[Cheryl Carlson]

Yeah. The school contacted the school resource officer that we worked with. That school resource officer then tried to get the ball rolling.

[Andrea Canning]

The first call was to the police department in the town of Stoughton, where school records showed Sandra lived.

[Chief Donna McNamara]

So we were notified and asked to do a well being check.

[Andrea Canning]

Donna McNamara is the Stoughton chief of police and immediately recognized her name. You knew her?

[Chief Donna McNamara]

Yes, I did. She was part of the Explorer program. I would see her within the police station.

[Andrea Canning]

As a teenager, Sandra had been part of the department's program which exposed kids to different careers in law enforcement. Now officers learned she had recently moved to nearby Canton. So that department took over. So Canton police goes over then?

[Cheryl Carlson]

Yeah, the Canton police and I believe the school resource officer in Canton also had gone over.

[Andrea Canning]

Officers knocked on her door with no answer. They reported back to the station.

[Lester Holt]

We're not getting an answer at the door here.

[Justina or Antonetta (Cousins)]

What about a car? Do we have a car out in the lottery?

[Lester Holt]

If the car's there, then we gotta go in.

[Andrea Canning]

Sandra's blue Chevy was there. So officers asked the building manager for a key to her apartment.

[Lester Holt]

So the two officers walk in. They later note that they walked through a kitchen that was very untidy, that there were bills stacked up.

[Andrea Canning]

Journalist Michelle McPhee covered Sandra's story for Boston magazine.

[Lester Holt]

There was no sign of a struggle. There was no sign of a break in.

[Andrea Canning]

There was also no sign of Sandra.

[Lester Holt]

And then they make their way into a bedroom where there is this young woman. She has the strap of a duffel bag wrapped around her neck.

[Andrea Canning]

An officer noted in his report that Sandra had hanged herself.

[Lester Holt]

To the responding officers, this just looked like something, somebody who had taken their own life.

[Andrea Canning]

Police notified Sandra's aunt.

[Justina or Antonetta (Cousins)]

Oh, my God.

[Lester Holt]

I'm Very sorry for your loss.

[Justina or Antonetta (Cousins)]

She would have committed towards me.

[Andrea Canning]

Word traveled fast among the rest of her family.

[Justina or Antonetta (Cousins)]

That is such a shock to the system.

[Barbara Wright]

Oh, yeah. I felt like I was kicked in the gut.

[Andrea Canning]

Sandra's cousin, Barbara Wright, says none of it made sense. She texted with Sandra the night of the storm. She seemed fine. Were you ever worried about her?

[Barbara Wright]

No.

[Andrea Canning]

That she would take her own life, that she would do something drastic.

[Barbara Wright]

I think if she felt that way, she would let me know, she would reach out to me. I knew she wouldn't do that. I just knew it.

[Andrea Canning]

Another of Sandra's cousins, Justina, agreed.

[Justina or Antonetta (Cousins)]

I said, nope, didn't happen.

[Andrea Canning]

Why were you so sure?

[Commercial Narrator]

Because, like, I had just seen her and she was so happy and like.

[Justina or Antonetta (Cousins)]

The tracks of her life were on track, you know, it must have just.

[Andrea Canning]

Sent chills down your spine when you hear something like that.

[Cheryl Carlson]

Absolutely.

[Andrea Canning]

Sandra's boss couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to her death.

[Cheryl Carlson]

It didn't add up at all. It was actually really scary to hear that.

[Andrea Canning]

What do you mean by scary?

[Cheryl Carlson]

It was scary to hear that news that could she actually do that or did this. Did somebody have a part in this?

[Justina or Antonetta (Cousins)]

Wow.

[Andrea Canning]

You thought that like immediately.

[Cheryl Carlson]

Yeah, pretty much.

[Andrea Canning]

That is scary when you start to think that this could be murder.

[Justina or Antonetta (Cousins)]

Yeah.

[Cheryl Carlson]

And so I was like, did somebody force her to take pills? What was it that happened? Just doesn't make sense.

[Andrea Canning]

But if she didn't take her own life, who would want her dead? Sandra's family remembered a recent conversation.

[Justina or Antonetta (Cousins)]

We were at breakfast with her and. And really kind of drilling it down and saying, what's his name? Where does he work?

[Andrea Canning]

The quest to uncover the truth had only just begun.

[Chief Donna McNamara]

They dehumanized her in their text messaging, in their interactions. It's vile.

[Angelique Perozzi]

This is a person who had power and this is a person who might.

[Justina or Antonetta (Cousins)]

Get away with it.

[Andrea Canning]

Sandra had a lot of secrets.

[Barbara Wright]

She did. She kept them well, too.

[Andrea Canning]

23 year old Sandra Birchmore's body had been taken to the chief medical examiner's office for an autopsy. Investigators believe she'd taken her own life, but it was hard for her many cousins to fathom. They say Sandra, an only child, raised by a single mom and working class, Stoughton, always seemed full of life.

[Barbara Wright]

She was very rambunctious, very energetic, feisty.

[Andrea Canning]

And outgoing, says cousin Angelique Perozzi.

[Angelique Perozzi]

She was smart and she was interested in other people and she wasn't, you know, shy.

[Andrea Canning]

Cousin Antonetta remembers how close Sandra was to her mom, Denise.

[Justina or Antonetta (Cousins)]

They always did things together. Her mother always had the best interests, you know, for Sandra.

[Angelique Perozzi]

But Denise was not well. She had asthma. She had heart disease. She had diabetes. She wasn't well for a good portion of Sandra's life.

[Justina or Antonetta (Cousins)]

Oh, man, that's hard.

[Andrea Canning]

The family says with Sandra's father not in the picture, her mom looked for strong role models for her daughter. Martial arts instructor Michael Varner was one of them. Sandra joined his gym when she was around 11. And how did she take to it, Sandra, how'd she do?

[Lester Holt]

I mean, she had a blast. She always had a smile on her face.

[Andrea Canning]

Sandra's mother hoped the Stoughton Police Explorers program would also be a safe place for her to thrive. She enrolled Sandra when she was 13. It was modeled after a nationwide program that had been around for decades and was created by the Boy Scouts of America. The curriculum was hands on. Law enforcement officers taught classes, led boot camp drills, and arranged ride alongs. So your gym is literally right across the street from the police department?

[Lester Holt]

Yep, right here.

[Andrea Canning]

Stoughton Police. And so you would see the young Explorers out here?

[Justina or Antonetta (Cousins)]

I would, yeah. They would be right here in the parking lot.

[Andrea Canning]

Would you ever see Sandra out here?

[Lester Holt]

Yeah, yeah.

[Andrea Canning]

Did she seem into it?

[Lester Holt]

Oh, yeah, she loved it.

[Andrea Canning]

Chief McNamara was a lieutenant back then, so I would imagine that it could set a kid straight or it could inspire a child to want a career in law enforcement.

[Chief Donna McNamara]

So that was the goal. The program gives them a little discipline.

[Andrea Canning]

Something Sandra may have needed. The chief says her teen years were rocky at times.

[Chief Donna McNamara]

I had been on a couple calls, responded to calls to her home when she was a young teenager with her mom.

[Andrea Canning]

She's fighting with her mom?

[Chief Donna McNamara]

Yes.

[Andrea Canning]

Would it get physical?

[Justina or Antonetta (Cousins)]

No.

[Chief Donna McNamara]

Sometimes it was just not seeing eye to eye.

[Justina or Antonetta (Cousins)]

Growing up.

[Andrea Canning]

Sandra stayed with the Explorers through high school. She talked about becoming a police officer or joining the military. Then her world collapsed.

[Barbara Wright]

Her mother passed, and then a month later, her grandmother died.

[Justina or Antonetta (Cousins)]

The poor girl.

[Barbara Wright]

I know.

[Andrea Canning]

Sandra pushed forward and got an associate's degree in criminal justice, but eventually gave up on her dream of wearing a uniform. She suffered from asthma and at only 4 foot 10, didn't think she'd meet the physical requirements. So Sandra became a teacher's assistant while she prepared for her new nursing school.

[Justina or Antonetta (Cousins)]

She had a caring side of her.

[Barbara Wright]

She cared about people so much.

[Andrea Canning]

Then in December 2020, less than two months before she died, Sandra made a big announcement.

[Cheryl Carlson]

She came in, like, kind of bouncing into the building, right into my office and said, I just want you to know I'm pregnant. She told me, yes, that this was great news. She had been trying to get pregnant.

[Andrea Canning]

Cheryl says Sandra was an oversharer. She was used to her revealing personal details.

[Cheryl Carlson]

Basically that her boyfriend, who was currently in a relationship with children, the plan was that he was going to leave that relationship.

[Andrea Canning]

She's telling you all this in this baby announcement meeting?

[Justina or Antonetta (Cousins)]

Yes, yes.

[Andrea Canning]

I mean, is your head spinning a little bit. Sandra also shared the news with Barbara, but wouldn't tell her the name of the father.

[Justina or Antonetta (Cousins)]

Did you say to her, why don't.

[Andrea Canning]

You tell me who it is?

[Barbara Wright]

I didn't want to push at the time. I knew that she was reluctant to talk, but I knew that eventually she would tell me.

[Andrea Canning]

Justina and Antonetta, who asked that their last names not be used, met with Sandra at a restaurant a week before she died. She told them she was about two months along in her pregnancy and revealed something troubling.

[Justina or Antonetta (Cousins)]

She proceeded to tell us that the father of the baby was married. She had also told us that his wife was also pregnant.

[Andrea Canning]

That's a lot. What advice do you have for her, hearing all of this?

[Justina or Antonetta (Cousins)]

I said, sandra, you realize that you're probably raising this child on your own.

[Andrea Canning]

To the cousins, it sounded like the worst possible scenario.

[Justina or Antonetta (Cousins)]

We were really kind of drilling it down and saying, what's his name? Where does he work? She ended up telling us his name was Matthew.

[Andrea Canning]

Did she give you a last name or do you need to search that number?

[Justina or Antonetta (Cousins)]

No, she did not give us a last name.

[Andrea Canning]

She did share her expectations of Matthew as a father.

[Commercial Narrator]

I felt like she had so much hope that he was going to be involved in the baby's life and he was going to put his name on the birth certificate.

[Justina or Antonetta (Cousins)]

And I just thought inside my head, like, that's never going to happen.

[Andrea Canning]

How did you leave that breakfast Feeling about everything you just heard?

[Justina or Antonetta (Cousins)]

I'm worried. I remember thinking to myself, this might not end well.

[Andrea Canning]

Now after Sandra's death, her family had questions. Did her married boyfriend have something to do with it?

[Angelique Perozzi]

My gut was telling me that her pregnancy was a ticking time bomb for him.

[Lester Holt]

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[Andrea Canning]

Chief McNamara knew Sandra had gone through.

[Justina or Antonetta (Cousins)]

Some tough times, I think growing, you.

[Chief Donna McNamara]

Know, having a difficult life. Growing up, she had some issues with regards to her mental health.

[Andrea Canning]

So when she heard Sandra had taken her own life, she wasn't completely surprised. Just eight months earlier, Stoughton police had responded to an incident.

[Chief Donna McNamara]

She had a family member that was concerned for her well being, so possibly.

[Andrea Canning]

Threatening to take her own life.

[Chief Donna McNamara]

Yes.

[Andrea Canning]

Officers took Sandra to a hospital where doctors evaluated her and determined she was not a risk to herself. Barbara says Sandra insisted she wasn't suicidal. She had threatened to harm herself in the heat of an argument, not out of despair.

[Barbara Wright]

Barbara believed her depression and anxiety runs.

[Andrea Canning]

In the family, so, so she was working on that.

[Barbara Wright]

She was doing well.

[Justina or Antonetta (Cousins)]

Yeah.

[Barbara Wright]

She was going to therapy every week, I don't know how often, and she was on medication.

[Andrea Canning]

Sandra's boss, Cheryl, also knew she was talking to someone. After Sandra's death, she reached out to the therapist to let her know what had happened.

[Cheryl Carlson]

Her therapist was in shock. She said that she had just seen Sandra on Friday afternoon and everything seemed fine.

[Andrea Canning]

Is the therapist in agreement with you that this does feel odd?

[Cheryl Carlson]

She was. We didn't talk about what that really meant, but she did say that it just didn't add up.

[Andrea Canning]

Sheryl told investigators what the therapist said. She also shared her own doubts about whether Sandra had ended her life. But Angelique, she wasn't sure what to believe.

[Angelique Perozzi]

I was very open to the idea that this was possibly a suicide, but I was equally as open to the idea that this wasn't.

[Andrea Canning]

She wanted to make sure investigators weren't missing anything, especially the alarming information Sandra had recently shared about her boyfriend, Matthew. Sandra didn't reveal his last name, but told her cousins that not only was he married with kids, he was also a police officer. And not just any police officer. He worked for Stoughton pd, the very same department that ran the Explorers program and had been such a big part of Sandra's life from ages 13 through 18. A quick look online revealed who he was. Longtime police officer.

[Justina or Antonetta (Cousins)]

Yeah.

[Andrea Canning]

What was his name?

[Justina or Antonetta (Cousins)]

Matthew Farwell.

[Andrea Canning]

Farwell was a detective and had been with the department for nearly a decade. Angelique reached out to the state police detective unit in the Norfolk county district attorney's office. They had taken over the case.

[Angelique Perozzi]

I called them cold, didn't have a name, asked for whoever was in charge of the investigation.

[Andrea Canning]

She got through to Sergeant John Fanning, the lead investigator. Angelique says she told him everything. Did the state investigator you spoke to know about this relationship by the time you two.

[Angelique Perozzi]

If he did, he didn't say it.

[Andrea Canning]

She says Sergeant Fanning listened carefully but disclosed very little. So after the call, she turned to social media.

[Angelique Perozzi]

I posted on Sandra's Facebook page and said, if you know anything, here's who to call and here's his phone number.

[Andrea Canning]

Angelique says she got plenty of responses. And they all had one thing in common.

[Angelique Perozzi]

I couldn't find anyone in Sandra's life that thought she was suicidal.

[Andrea Canning]

Not only that, Sandra's cousins knew she was excited for the future. She'd had an ultrasound, called a baby photographer, and was planning a big reveal on Facebook.

[Barbara Wright]

She was going to announce the pregnancy of See you on Valentine's Day.

[Andrea Canning]

In their minds, the answer was clear. Sandra's death was the result of foul play, and Matthew Farwell was somehow involved. Angelique was now convinced as well.

[Angelique Perozzi]

My gut was telling me that her pregnancy was a ticking time bomb for him.

[Andrea Canning]

The state police interviewed Farwell in a school parking lot just two days after Sandra's body was found. Journalist Michelle McPhee.

[Lester Holt]

During this interview, Farwell freely admits that he had had sex with Sandra Vergemore.

[Andrea Canning]

Farwell acknowledged that he met Sandra in the Explorers program when she was a teen, but said their affair didn't start until she was 22 and lasted less than a year.

[Lester Holt]

He explained that by saying, In 2020, I got drunk one night, I had an affair with her. I slept with her two or three times. The last time, I slept with her, whether October in 2020.

[Andrea Canning]

Two months later, Sandra told him she was pregnant and said he was the father. But Farwell insisted the timeline didn't match up.

[Lester Holt]

Essentially, Matthew Farwell denied being the father of the child. He suggested that she was a problematic person who was sleeping around.

[Andrea Canning]

He said the last time he saw Sandra was the night of the nor'. Easter.

[Lester Holt]

Farwell said that he went by the house to break it all off. An argument had ensued. He said, I'm not the father of this child. Some words were exchanged, and then he left.

[Andrea Canning]

When Angelique heard what Farwell said, she didn't buy a word of it. Her cousin, the oversharer, would have told someone.

[Angelique Perozzi]

If the love of her life came to her house and broke up with her, you bet. There would have been lots of phone calls and lots of text messages from Sandra to her loved ones to talk about it. But the fact of the matter is, no one heard from her again.

[Andrea Canning]

Angelique's suspicions about Farwell were deepening. So were Barbara's, especially after she learned other relatives found something odd. While cleaning out Sandra's apartment, they found.

[Barbara Wright]

A broken necklace, her broken flamingo necklace that she used to wear all the time. And I said, well, that sounds like a sign of a struggle.

[Andrea Canning]

The family gave the necklace to the state police. In the meantime, Angelique called the medical examiner's office and spoke with one of their investigators.

[Angelique Perozzi]

They said there was no signs of broken bones or the body being battered or bruised.

[Andrea Canning]

Weeks later, Angelique got an update from investigators. They'd requested a second interview with Detective Farwell, as well as a DNA sample. His attorney declined on his behalf. It seemed state police might be onto something. But three months after Sandra's death, the investigation came to a standstill. When the medical examiner's office officially ruled it a suicide, Sandra's cousins refused to accept it. If she didn't take her own life, her killer's out there, and her killer is possibly on the police force.

[Angelique Perozzi]

Yeah, exactly. You know, this is a person who had power, and this is a person who might get away with it.

[Andrea Canning]

Chief McNamara was also concerned Farwell was one of her officers, so she leapt into action with an investigation of her own. Your internal affairs investigation revealed a bombshell about what else was going on in Sandra Birchmore's life.

[Chief Donna McNamara]

Yes, it did.

[Andrea Canning]

With Sandra Birchmore's death ruled a suicide, her family feared the state police had ended their investigation.

[Barbara Wright]

It was close, as far as I knew. It was upsetting, very upsetting, because you're.

[Andrea Canning]

You probably felt. Must have felt so helpless.

[Barbara Wright]

I did.

[Lester Holt]

It's almost like Sandra Burchmore has forgotten about. There's no headlines. There's no real probe of. Hold on a minute. But what about that guy, Matthew Farwell?

[Andrea Canning]

It Was a question that had plagued Chief McNamara. And whether Sandra took her own life or not, she believed she had to do something. She'd worked with Farwell for years and watched Sandra grow up.

[Chief Donna McNamara]

It was very concerning to me that he was having and admitted to having a sexual relationship with her.

[Andrea Canning]

And while she had no jurisdiction over Sandra's death because she died in Canton, McNamara could look into Farwell's conduct as one of her officers. When the state police let her know Farwell was having an affair with Sandra, she launched an internal affairs investigation and soon placed him on paid administrative leave. He's not doing anything, though.

[Chief Donna McNamara]

He's not allowed to do anything?

[Justina or Antonetta (Cousins)]

No.

[Andrea Canning]

McNamara put her deputy chief in charge of the probe and hired private investigators. They caught a break after learning the state police had gathered data from Farwell's phone and Sandra's phone and laptop.

[Chief Donna McNamara]

That's when they started to turn over what they could to us as far as the text messaging.

[Andrea Canning]

McNamara's team couldn't believe what they were seeing. Tens of thousands of text messages between the two for more than a year. They sorted through the texts, combed through Sandra's social media accounts, and conducted interviews.

[Chief Donna McNamara]

We discovered that on multiple occasions, Matthew was on duty when he was having sex with Sandra.

[Andrea Canning]

But that was just the beginning. McNamara's investigators uncovered unimaginable secrets in those messages, including evidence of a sexual relationship between Sandra and another Stoughton officer, Matthew's twin brother, William Farwell.

[Chief Donna McNamara]

There was text messages asking her to take pictures of herself and video herself. It was pretty sick.

[Andrea Canning]

The twins are sharing Sandra sexually.

[Chief Donna McNamara]

Yes. That's very, very sickening.

[Andrea Canning]

Amazingly, it doesn't end there.

[Chief Donna McNamara]

No, the horror continued, unfortunately.

[Andrea Canning]

Chief McNamara says there were also Facebook messages they believed were written by a third Stoughton police officer, Officer Robert Devine. The messages discussed meeting Sandra for sex. Devine ran the Stoughton explorers program for more than a decade, and the Farwell brothers were his instructors. All three met Sandra in the program when she was a teenager.

[Chief Donna McNamara]

It's just horrific to find this information about people that are supposed to be protecting others. They dehumanized her in their text messaging and their interactions, and it's vile.

[Andrea Canning]

But mcnamara says the most disturbing revelation of all was that Matthew Farwell's sexual relationship with Sandra began when she was just 15. He was 27.

[Chief Donna McNamara]

There was text messages between Matthew and Sandra discussing Matthew and her having a relationship and a sexual relationship prior to being 16.

[Andrea Canning]

That's a crime?

[Chief Donna McNamara]

Yes. If Sandra was alive, there would be charges for statutory rape, aggravated statutory rape.

[Andrea Canning]

Would you describe Matthew Farwell as a predator?

[Chief Donna McNamara]

After what we've discovered in our internal affairs investigation, I would say that there was a control. He controlled her. He was grooming her, and it was abuse at the worst level.

[Andrea Canning]

Was your plan to fire him?

[Chief Donna McNamara]

That was the plan, yes.

[Andrea Canning]

That didn't happen?

[Justina or Antonetta (Cousins)]

No.

[Chief Donna McNamara]

When we wanted to interview him, he chose to resign.

[Andrea Canning]

Stoughton PD then informed Farwell's brother and Robert Devine. They were also under investigation. Months later, they voluntarily left the department. Is there any evidence that William Farwell and Robert Devine had sexual relations with her when she was underage as well?

[Chief Donna McNamara]

No, that was not discovered in our internal affairs investigation.

[Andrea Canning]

But the team wondered, was Sandra an isolated case or part of something bigger? The Stoughton Police Explorers program disbanded the year after Sandra graduated from high school. So they tracked down former members. Did you find any other instances of potential statutory rape within the Explorers program?

[Chief Donna McNamara]

No, we did not.

[Andrea Canning]

After 19 months, in 2022, the team completed its final report detailing its findings against the three former officers. Then Chief McNamara did something that sent shock waves through Norfolk County. She went public with a redacted version of it.

[Chief Donna McNamara]

All three men, the Fawa brothers and Divine, violated their oaths of office and should never have the privilege of serving any community as a police officer. The Stoughton Police Department recommends, without delay, their certification to serve as police officers be permanently revoked.

[Andrea Canning]

This is big. You've got it out there in the public now. Why do that?

[Chief Donna McNamara]

We had an obligation to report our findings to our community, and I was not going to allow them to. To get away with what they had gotten away with.

[Andrea Canning]

While the Chief's investigation did not explore how Sandra died, only her officer's on duty conduct. By the end, she'd come to suspect Sandra did not end her life and that Matthew Farwell was responsible.

[Chief Donna McNamara]

It is something I've never had to deal with in my career before. And so unusual and disturbing.

[Andrea Canning]

The Farwell brothers have never admitted to any wrongdoing, but eventually agreed to a lifelong ban from law enforcement. In Massachusetts. Robert Devine is still fighting efforts to revoke his certification. He denies all allegations and told investigators he didn't write those Facebook messages to Sandra. His account had been hacked. Through their attorneys, all declined a request for an interview for Sandra's family. The details of McNamara's report were heartbreaking.

[Angelique Perozzi]

It made me very sad for Sandra. Yeah, to be so used.

[Andrea Canning]

But would the explosive findings be enough to jumpstart a murder investigation? It would take a high profile trial in the same county, along with a viral video to shine a bright, bright light on Sandra's death.

[Justina or Antonetta (Cousins)]

When I first saw the video, my jaw dropped.

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[Andrea Canning]

Sandra's family had high hopes the Stoughton PD report would finally be enough to ignite a murder investigation, but it went nowhere with the District Attorney. Angelique says the state police repeatedly told her there was no evidence that Matthew Farwell killed Sandra.

[Angelique Perozzi]

They were hanging their hat on the MES report. It was a suicide.

[Andrea Canning]

If they don't believe she was murdered, then none of what you're saying has any relevance.

[Angelique Perozzi]

Yes, exactly.

[Andrea Canning]

However, media coverage of Sandra's story was growing and a few reporters were starting to question the state police investigation. Michelle McPhee was one of them.

[Lester Holt]

Perhaps this woman didn't kill herself at all. There was certainly a number of people who had motive to see her go away.

[Andrea Canning]

Boston area podcasters Kirk Minahan and Dave Cullinane agreed. They'd been looking into Sandra's death for their true crime podcast called the Case.

[Lester Holt]

When Sandra Bertchmore Crossed our river radar, it was too compelling a story to ignore.

[Andrea Canning]

And after months of pushing for access to evidence, Kirk and Day's efforts paid off when the DA's office turned over security footage from Sandra's apartment building.

[Lester Holt]

You saw Sandra a few times in that during the date.

[Andrea Canning]

That's Sandra on the day of the nor', easter, walking into her building carrying a snow brush.

[Lester Holt]

She went to clean out her car. It was a snowstorm that day.

[Andrea Canning]

Hours later, Matthew Farwell arrived, just as he had told the police. It's one thing to hear that he had been over there, came and went, and it's a whole other thing to see it with your own eyes. Farwell took the elevator to Sandra's floor. Then, 29 minutes later, he came back down and exited the building. The podcasters posted the security video on social media and recorded an episode about it.

[Lester Holt]

After we saw Matt leave, she didn't respond or send a message to anybody.

[Andrea Canning]

The video quickly went viral with nearly 2 million views on TikTok.

[Justina or Antonetta (Cousins)]

When I first saw the video, I just. My jaw dropped. It was chilling to see him get on the elevator.

[Commercial Narrator]

One of the things that took me.

[Justina or Antonetta (Cousins)]

Was just how big he was and how small Sandra was.

[Andrea Canning]

Remember, Sandra was only 4 foot 10, Farwell 6 foot 4.

[Lester Holt]

I think the video raised questions that any average person curious about a crime would ask, but certainly it should have been taken a little bit more seriously by investigators.

[Andrea Canning]

While the podcast drew more attention to Sandra's story, Kirk and Dave say many of the people they'd spoken to were either too scared to speak out against law enforcement or unwilling to say anything on the record.

[Lester Holt]

I don't think anybody will ever serve a day in prison for any of this. I don't think that's going to happen.

[Andrea Canning]

Then in 2024, out of the blue, finally, the call Sandra's family had been waiting for. It was an FBI agent. That's a good day.

[Angelique Perozzi]

That was a great day for the FBI to call you and say, we'd like to talk to you. And I was like, wow. Like, now we're gonna get somewhere.

[Andrea Canning]

Two agents came to her house, and she told them everything she'd told the state police.

[Angelique Perozzi]

And they were very clear. Look, you might not ever hear from us again. Or, you know, it could be two years from now, and then you'll hear from us, but don't expect anything anytime soon. You know, I took that to heart.

[Andrea Canning]

As the family waited, all eyes were on another case in the same county. The high profile profile murder trial of Karen Reed.

[Lester Holt]

Opening statements in this highly anticipated case. It started earlier this morning.

[Andrea Canning]

Reed was accused of killing her boyfriend, Boston police officer John o'. Keefe. His body was found in Canton, the town where Sandra died. The defense in Reed's case alleged state police botched the investigation and even planted evidence charges. They denied Reed would ultimately be acquitted of the most serious charges after two trials. What concerned Sandra's family? The same DA and law enforcement agencies were investigating Sandra's death.

[Angelique Perozzi]

You have to think about Karen Reed and what we all saw on TV there.

[Lester Holt]

I think the whole state just started to pay attention to both cases. Like what is actually happening here? What is the state police doing?

[Andrea Canning]

Meanwhile, Sandra's aunt had filed a wrongful death lawsuit and hired prison prominent forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden to review Sandra's autopsy report. The summer of 2024, his findings made headlines in the Boston Globe, concluding what the family had long believed. Sandra's death was a homicide, not a suicide. And she'd been strangled. This is a game changer when Dr. Michael Baden comes on the scene.

[Angelique Perozzi]

Yes, it changed everything.

[Andrea Canning]

And soon the FBI would go public with its investigation, exposing devastating details that would crack the case wide open.

[Lester Holt]

To me, that's almost the key moment in this entire thing.

[Andrea Canning]

That's pouring gasoline on this.

[Lester Holt]

Absolutely.

[Andrea Canning]

August 28, 2024, just five months after Angelique got that call from the FBI, the agent reached out again with stunning news about Matthew Farwell.

[Angelique Perozzi]

She said that they had just arrested him and they were bringing him in to be arraigned.

[Andrea Canning]

What's going through your body, your mind in this moment?

[Angelique Perozzi]

I was shocked. I was speechless. I. I mean, I was sobbing by the time we hung up.

[Andrea Canning]

Three and a half years after Sandra Birchmore's death, the US Attorney's office did what the Norfolk County DA had not it indicted Matthew Farwell for Sandra's murder.

[Lester Holt]

I've never seen this happen before. Nearly four years later, the FBI comes up with a completely different conclusion.

[Andrea Canning]

Does this come out of left field for you?

[Chief Donna McNamara]

No, it wasn't something that came out of left field for me because I was assisting the FBI.

[Andrea Canning]

That's because two years earlier, they'd reached out to the chief and asked her about her internal affairs probe.

[Chief Donna McNamara]

I hope that what we uncovered in our investigation was a significant part in leading to that indictment.

[Andrea Canning]

Just hours after his arrest, Matthew Farwell was arraigned in a Boston federal court for strangling Sandra. Prosecutors alleged he murdered Sandra to prevent her from disclosing his sexual exploitation of her while on duty. Chief McNamara was there.

[Chief Donna McNamara]

It's just disgusting that he. He was in this point in his life and he was in shackles and leg irons.

[Andrea Canning]

In a press conference, the U.S. attorney for Massachusetts laid bare the findings.

[Lester Holt]

We allege that senator Burchmore survived years of grooming, statutory rape, and then sexual violence, all at the hands of Matthew Farwell. And he used his knowledge and experience as a law enforcement officer to stage her death to look like a suicide.

[Andrea Canning]

In a 45 page affidavit, the FBI alleged Farwell groomed Sandra from an early age, Paying extra attention to her outside the explorers program, Sandra told a relative she and Farwell would meet at the library so he could help her with her homework. And when she was 15, he sent her a friend request on Facebook. Six months later, they had sex for the first time.

[Chief Donna McNamara]

Grooming is a pattern of building a relationship of someone in a position of authority and trust. And he held a position of authority as a police officer.

[Andrea Canning]

The FBI painted a picture of Farwell as a man who had, quote, an interest in violent sex and has a history of choking Sandra. They said Farwell first introduced his fetish to her when she was around 16, texting, I'll choke you. I'll grab your throat. But in the months before Sandra's death, the FBI alleged Farwell was losing control over her. She threatened to expose their affair.

[Lester Holt]

He was under increasing pressure. His wife is pregnant. Sandra Burchmore is telling everyone that her baby is his. She wants him to put his name on the baby's birth certificate, which is a public record, that he is the father of this child.

[Andrea Canning]

The affidavit included texts from Farwell that showed how angry he was about Sandra's pregnancy. And in a call, Sandra told one friend that Farwell, quote, wished she would just die and wants nothing to do with the baby. This was threatening his marriage, his family, a mistress, a baby.

[Lester Holt]

Right. He built this world for himself. And it was collapsing because now, finally she was starting to say, I'm not putting up with this anymore. I'm going to tell your wife. I'm going to tell people in the police station.

[Andrea Canning]

Agents said Sandra didn't follow through on that threat. But 12 days before she died, one of her friends called the Stoughton police department and revealed the affair.

[Lester Holt]

The person who answered the phone went to Matt Farwell and told him, and to me, that's almost the key moment in this entire thing.

[Andrea Canning]

That's pouring gasoline on this absolutely Prosecutors allege that's when Farwell set his plan in motion to kill Sandra.

[Lester Holt]

So I think the federal prosecutors made it very clear that they had overwhelming evidence that pointed to Matthew Farwell as a murderer.

[Andrea Canning]

Agents also confirmed that Sandra met with her therapist in the days before her death and showed no signs of being suicidal. The prosecutor's theory, the night of the nor', easter, Farwell entered Sandra's apartment knowing he was going to end her life. A forensic expert noted there was evidence consistent with blunt force trauma to Sandra's chest and that she'd been strangled. The expert also believed that broken necklace Sandra's family found on her bedroom floor suggested there was a struggle, just as her cousin suspected. The affidavit reads, quote, the necklace was broken and hanging from the left side of her neck. It was visible in crime scene photos, but was never mentioned in the police reports released to the public. When you think that a clue like that is. Is omitted, it's unbelievable. As was the timing of Sandra's death. The government's affidavit alleged that less than 13 hours after Farwell killed Sandra and her unborn baby, his third child was born. This is quite possibly one of the craziest parts of this story, right?

[Lester Holt]

We have a picture of Matt Farwell wearing a mask, holding up his little baby the next morning.

[Barbara Wright]

I can't imagine what was going on in his head. I don't know how he could have justified that in his mind at all.

[Andrea Canning]

And this summer, surprising news. According to three sources familiar with the investigation, DNA testing showed that Matthew Farwell was not the father of Sandra's baby. Farwell has pleaded not guilty and is in the context custody of the U.S. marshals Service. No trial date has been set. His legal team says they are not permitted to comment, but a previous lawyer told dateline, I hope that you keep an open mind. And that's what viewers do, too. What is released publicly is not necessarily the full story. That's what a jury trial is for. The U.S. attorney's office, the Massachusetts State Police and the Norfolk County District Attorney have declined to be interviewed. The DA's office did issue this statement. The Norfolk District Attorney's office spent substantial time and effort investigating, interviewing and analyzing evidence in the tragic death of Sandra Birchmore. The investigation remained open and their State Police investigators have participated and worked collaboratively with the United States Attorney's Office. The Office of the Chief Medical examiner continues to stand by its ruling that Sandra's death was a suicide. They also declined to be interviewed and provided this statement that their conclusions regarding the tragic and untimely passing of Ms. Burchmore were based on the evidence available at the time of determination. Do you feel like the system failed Sandra Burchmore?

[Chief Donna McNamara]

Yeah, I don't really know. I mean, I don't know how to answer that, but preliminary from the outside, it does look that way.

[Andrea Canning]

Her death is ruled a suicide, which is now in question. Why was it ruled so quickly?

[Chief Donna McNamara]

When you put it all together, it is a failure in maybe many, many areas and we are hopefully working towards justice for her.

[Andrea Canning]

Sandra's family is committed to fighting to the very end. Sandra, what would you like your final words to be about her and that she's not forgotten in all of this?

[Angelique Perozzi]

You know, we, we tried our best and sorry it wasn't enough. Cause if it was, she would be here.

[Andrea Canning]

I think you did a lot.

[Angelique Perozzi]

It wasn't enough.

[Lester Holt]

That's all for this edition of Dateline. And don't forget to check out our talking Dateline podcast in which we'll go behind the scenes of tonight's episode, available Wednesday in the Dateline feed. Wherever you get your podcasts, we'll see you again next Friday for our two hour season premiere at 9, 8 Central. I'm Lester Holt. For all of us at NBC News, good night.

[Justina or Antonetta (Cousins)]

What does possibility mean to you?

[Chief Donna McNamara]

That's a hard question.

[Justina or Antonetta (Cousins)]

Something that you can strive for. I'm able to do anything I set my mind to.

[Chief Donna McNamara]

You're confident in yourself and you believe in yourself.

[Justina or Antonetta (Cousins)]

Stuff that you could achieve, I appreciate, feel, etc.

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@ evening is possible when you're more confident.

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