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AWAITING TRIAL · DATE TO BE SET
U.S. v. Matthew Farwell
U.S. District Court — District of Massachusetts Federal charge: killing of a witness Death of Sandra Birchmore Plea: not guilty
LATEST · JUL 14 The former Stoughton police officer is in a pretrial posture in federal court. Prosecutors allege he killed Sandra Birchmore — a woman he had known since her teens — and staged the scene to look like a suicide. The defense disputes that the death was a homicide at all. No trial date is set.
Timeline People Filings Case updates
CASE TIMELINE
EXPECTED · TBD
Trial
A federal jury trial before the District of Massachusetts; the court has not yet fixed a date.
TODAY · JUL 14, 2026
Pretrial motions and discovery
The parties exchange evidence and litigate pretrial motions, including disputes over expert testimony on the cause and manner of death.
AUG 2024
Federal charge; arraignment and not-guilty plea
Farwell is arrested on a federal charge of killing a witness; he pleads not guilty and is ordered detained pending trial.
2023–2024
Death reclassified as a homicide
After further investigation, authorities move away from the initial suicide finding and treat Birchmore’s death as a homicide.
FEB 2021
Sandra Birchmore found dead
Birchmore, 23, is found dead in her Canton, Massachusetts apartment; the death is initially reported as a suicide.
THE PEOPLE
MF
Matthew Farwell
Defendant · former officer
US
U.S. Attorney’s Office
Prosecution · D. Mass.
SB
Sandra Birchmore
Victim
All people →
KEY FILINGS
Criminal complaint / indictment
FEDERAL · AUG 2024
↓
Detention order
COURT · AUG 2024
↓
Motion on cause-of-death experts
DEFENSE · PENDING
↓
All filings →
WHAT'S NEXT
The case remains in pretrial proceedings while the parties complete discovery and argue motions. The court has not yet set a trial date.
Get updates for this case
MF
Matthew Farwell
Defendant · former Stoughton officer
US
U.S. Attorney’s Office
Prosecution · District of Massachusetts
FBI
Federal investigators
FBI · case agents
SB
Sandra Birchmore
Victim · 23
Criminal complaint / indictment
FEDERAL · AUG 2024 · PDF
Download ↓
Detention order
COURT · AUG 2024 · PDF
Download ↓
Motion on cause-of-death experts
DEFENSE · PENDING · PDF
Download ↓
JUL 14 The case remains in pretrial proceedings; discovery continues and no trial date has been set.
AUG 2024 Farwell is charged federally with killing a witness and pleads not guilty; he is ordered detained pending trial.
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