Stoughton police chief testifies during Matthew Farwell's trial in death of Sandra Birchmore

Jurors in the federal trial of former Stoughton, Massachusetts, police officer Matthew Farwell heard from five witnesses on Thursday as testimony continued for a third day Thursday in a South Boston courthouse. Witnesses included the Stoughton police chief, a friend of Birchmore's and testimony about cellphone evidence.

Farwell is accused of killing the 23-year-old Sandra Birchmore and her unborn baby in her Canton apartment in February 2021. Initially, her death was ruled a suicide, but in 2024 Farwell was charged with a federal count of killing a witness or victim. In 2025, he was also charged with causing the death of an unborn child.

The former Stoughton police officer faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison if convicted. He has pleaded not guilty to both charges.

Former Stoughton deputy chief testifies

Brian Holmes, the police chief for the Kingston Police Department, was the final witness to take the stand on Thursday. Court ended for the day with Holmes still on the stand. He will continue cross-examination on Friday.

Holmes was previously the deputy police chief in Stoughton. He was responsible for conducting the internal investigation following Birchmore's death.

Like several other witnesses so far in the trial, Holmes testified that Farwell was critical of COVID pandemic precautions, including masks. Prosecutors have confirmed through several witnesses that it was out of place for Farwell to be wearing a mask when he entered Birchmore's apartment the day she died.

Sandra Birchmore's cellphone data

Nicholas Guarino, an investigator from the Norfolk District Attorney's office who also testified in Karen Read's high-profile trials, testified for several hours about Birchmore's cellphone data.

Guarino was previously a Massachusetts State Police trooper assigned to the Norfolk District Attorney's office, but is now a civilian digital forensic examiner.

He was a trooper for more than a decade.

During Read's second trial, it was Guarino who was tasked with reading text messages between Read and John O'Keefe for the jury.

Guarino said that in Farwell's case, he extracted cellphone data. There were five total devices he examined, including Birchmore's phone.

According to Guarino, the password to Birchmore's laptop was Mfarwell1, and the password to the DoorDash account on her phone was mfarwell1.

Guarino said he searched Farwell's phone. He put in Birchmore's phone number, but it did not show up. The phone was returned to Farwell.

On cross-examination, the defense asked Guarino about files that were deleted.

"Is it protocol to delete anything in a criminal investigation?" the defense asked. 

"So again, it would depend. Originally this came to me as a suicide. That's what I had marked it as," Guarino responded, adding that redundant data was removed to conserve space on the server.

Guarino said investigators also lost files when an external hard drive died.

"There's no evidence I'm withholding. I did not purposefully come in and say 'I'm not going to write a report,'" Guarino told the defense attorney.

On re-direct questioning, Guarino was asked if he destroyed the hard drive. He said he did not.

Guarino completed his time on the witness stand around 3:20 p.m.

Stoughton Police Chief Donna McNamara on stand

Donna McNamara, the Stoughton police chief who is currently on leave, testified as the third witness of the day.

McNamara was police chief in 2021 when Farwell was one of about 60 sworn officers in Stoughton.

Reading Farwell's resume in court, McNamara said he was in the police explorers program himself from 1998-2010. Farwell went to Stoughton High School but did not graduate. He completed 11th grade and then got his GED.

In March of 2012, Farwell was hired as a patrol officer.

McNamara was asked if Stoughton police investigated Birchmore's death. She said they did not because it was not in the department's jurisdiction.

She said the Stoughton Police Department did start an internal affairs investigation. In 2022, McNamara announced that the investigation determined that Farwell, his twin brother William Farwell, and former Stoughton deputy police chief Robert Devine had an inappropriate relationship with Birchmore.

The report determined that all three men "should never have the privilege of serving any community as a police officer."

On cross-examination, McNamara said that the police explorers program was disbanded in September 2022.

McNamara told the defense attorney that John Fanning from Massachusetts State Police kept her updated on the investigation into Birchmore's death "on occasion, at the beginning." She said the first time she saw video surveillance footage of Farwell in the lobby of Birchmore's apartment building was when it was published online.

The police chief concluded her testimony around 12:40 p.m.

Sandra Birchmore's friend called as witness

Lesley Davis, who was friends with Birchmore, took the stand Thursday morning.

Davis is 30 years old and met Birchmore in middle school at a gym in Stoughton.

Prosecutor Torey Cummings asked if at some point Birchmore told her about Farwell. Davis said Birchmore told her about Farwell "almost immediately" when she was 15 years old.

"She said that he was someone who would always help her with her homework and he paid a lot of attention to her, like he would always text her and wonder where she is," Davis said.

Cummings asked Davis if she would talk about sexual relationships with Birchmore.

"When I would talk about mine, she would talk about hers with Matthew Farwell," Davis said. "She would have sex with him in his police vehicle as well as his personal truck."

Davis said that as she got older, Birchmore talked about wanting to be a mom "almost every time I talked to her."

Birchmore told her in 2020 that she was pregnant and asked Davis to be the godmother.

"She was so happy, maybe the happiest time in her life, she was very excited for the baby," she said.

Davis said there was one time when Farwell pushed Birchmore to the ground, and she kicked him out of her apartment.

The night of Birchmore's death, Davis and Birchmore spoke on the phone for about 25 minutes just before 8:30 p.m. The prosecutor asked Davis if she would remember the call if Birchmore had said she wanted to kill herself.

"I would have 100% remembered, yes," Davis said. 

Davis said when she learned Birchmore died, she drove to the Canton Police Department with her mother and brother to tell them about Farwell. She spoke with two men at the department, but said they did not take any notes. 

She later received a phone call from a law enforcement officer about the case, and testified that she told them they should investigate Farwell.

On cross-examination, the defense tried to show that Davis and Birchmore had an "up and down" friendship.

The defense also noted that Birchmore had increased her dose of antidepressant medication and had written a suicide note in 2017.

Davis completed her testimony after about an hour.

Stoughton police officer testifies

Stoughton Police Sgt. Robert Kuhn was on the stand when court ended for the day on Wednesday. He completed his testimony earlier Thursday morning. Kuhn testified that he was friends with Farwell outside of work. He also met Birchmore when she was in the youth explorers program, and knew her from his job as the resource officer at Stoughton High School.  

Kuhn said he attended a homicide conference that was put on by Massachusetts State Police in October 2019, and Farwell attended as well.

After, he continued spending time with Farwell at work and sometimes socially.

The prosecutor asked Kuhn what behavior he noticed from Farwell in 2021. Kuhn said he was taking a lot of phone calls, was stressed and was drinking more. Kuhn described Farwell as taking "more frequent phone calls than usual."

During the trial, prosecutors have shown surveillance video from the lobby of Birchmore's apartment building on the day of her death. Farwell can be seen wearing a hood and medical mask and leaving about a half-hour later.

Kuhn was asked if Farwell said anything about mask requirements during the COVID pandemic.

"He despised them," Kuhn said. "For him to be wearing a mask was very odd to me, yes," he added. Kuhn later said he never saw Farwell wearing a mask when he was off duty. 

On cross-examination, the defense tried to show that Farwell regularly wore jeans, boots and hooded sweatshirts similar to what he was wearing in the video.

Farwell's attorney attempted to ask Kuhn several times if Farwell received his COVID vaccine, but the prosecution objected each time and the judge sustained those objections. 

On re-direct questioning, Kuhn was asked when her friendship with Farwell ended.

"I would say the minute the allegation was made," he said. 

Kuhn completed his testimony around 10 a.m.

Testimony in Matthew Farwell trial

On Wednesday, testimony focused on the police investigation that prosecutors say was insufficient.

Massachusetts State Police Trooper Matthew Dunne completed a second day of testimony after about five hours on the witness stand. Dunne initially investigated Birchmore's death and ruled it a suicide.

Dunne testified that there was no suicide note found in Birchmore's apartment.

He also said he did not record or take notes when interviewing Birchmore's coworkers at the school where she worked. Dunne also said he did not record or take notes during either of the two times he interviewed Farwell.

On cross-examination, Farwell's attorney highlighted that Dunne did not see any signs of a struggle in Birchmore's apartment.

Investigators have said Farwell started sexually abusing Birchmore when she was 15 and he was 27 years old. Prosecutors said Birchmore learned she was pregnant in December 2020 and told Farwell he was the father. The defense said DNA testing confirmed Farwell was not the father.