FBI agents to testify in trial of ex-Massachusetts police officer charged with killing Sandra Birchmore

The jury will hear a fourth day of testimony in Matthew Farwell's trial at federal court in South Boston Friday.

The former Stoughton, Massachusetts police officer is charged with killing 23-year-old Sandra Birchmore and her unborn baby more than five years ago.

The first witness on the stand Friday morning will be Kingston Police Chief Brian Holmes. He was the deputy police chief in Stoughton when Birchmore was killed. He conducted the internal investigation following her death. Holmes began his testimony late Thursday. 

Once he wraps up, FBI agents Christopher Beckstrom and Heidi Kelsch will testify.

Federal prosecutors said Farwell met Birchmore when she was 13 years old and a member of the police department's youth program. Investigators said he groomed Birchmore for years and began having sex with her when she was 15 and he was 27.

Birchmore was found dead at the age of 23 in her apartment in Canton in February 2021. Her death was initially ruled a suicide. Prosecutors said that when Birchmore died, she was pregnant with what she believed was Farwell's child.

Farwell's attorney did not deny her client and Birchmore had an affair, but she said Farwell never thought the baby was his and when he broke up with Birchmore, she killed herself. The defense said in a court filing that DNA testing confirmed Farwell was not the father.

The prosecution said Farwell strangled Birchmore and staged it as a suicide. He was charged in 2024.

He's pleaded not guilty to one federal count of killing a witness or victim and one count of causing the death of an unborn child. If convicted, Farwell faces life in prison.

Sixteen jurors - 10 men and six women - have been seated for the trial, which is expected to last about four more weeks.