The Murder Of Sandra Birchmore

Why Did It Take Five Years To Believe Sandra Birchmore?

The Murder Of Sandra Birchmore

Show Notes

Sandra Birchmore trusted the people who were supposed to protect her. She was twenty-three, pregnant, and full of life when she was found dead — and for five long years, the official story was that she did it to herself. Her family never believed it. They fought. And now, finally, the record has changed. This community has stood with Sandra from the start, and this is the update so many of you have been waiting for. Months before the trial of the former police officer accused of killing her, the state amended her death certificate — taking away the word suicide and replacing it with undetermined. Experts say medical examiners almost never do that. It happened for Sandra. And the news kept coming. A judge refused to let the accused out on bail, writing that the evidence against him is very strong, if not overwhelming. The man prosecutors say strangled her and staged the scene is staying behind bars until trial. We sat down with an attorney and legal analyst to talk through what this all means for the family — why the changed death certificate matters so much, why the defense keeps losing, and the one piece of testimony waiting at trial that could finally give Sandra the truth her loved ones have demanded for half a decade. For everyone who refused to accept the first version of this story — this one's for you, and for Sandra.

Links:

Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePod

Disclaimer:

This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.

Hashtags:

#SandraBirchmore #JusticeForSandra #MatthewFarwell #StoughtonPolice #TrueCrime #SayHerName #TrueCrimeCommunity #MassachusettsCrime #SandraBirchmoreCase #CrimeNews

More from The Murder Of Sandra Birchmore

Oct 23, 2026

Chief Donna McNamara released the 2022 report that named Matthew Farwell, William Farwell, and Robert Devine, and recommended the state pull their certifications. In July, she says, Town Hall moved to push her out. Eric Faddis joins me to walk through her lawsuit. McNamara says Town Manager Thomas Calter retaliated against her for cooperating with the FBI and ordered her to destroy a second Birchmore report from 2024. Calter denies both. Residents packed Select Board meetings in her support, and the board put both McNamara and Calter on paid leave while an outside firm investigates. Calter has said that second report focuses on a single moment that came 12 days before Sandra died. Eric tells me who that report could touch. Listen Anywhere You Get Podcasts: https://pod.link/1655749292 Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod?sub_confirmation=1 Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice. #SandraBirchmore #MatthewFarwell #SandraBirchmoreCase #EricFaddis #FarwellTrial #StoughtonPolice #JusticeForSandra #TrueCrime #CoverUp #TrueCrimeCommunity

Oct 23, 2026

Four women have now described what it was like to be with Matthew Farwell, and only one of them got the mask. Sarah Sproul, Samantha McCue and Stoughton officer Sheanna Zbinski testified on October 22 that he never disguised himself and never told them to delete a text. Sandra Birchmore got both. Judge Casper let the jury hear from them for one reason: the defense had claimed the mask was ordinary affair behavior. Jason Pickard, the father of Sandra's baby, testified under immunity that he urged her to report Farwell and never reported it himself. "I was afraid. I was a married man." Sandra's friend Sarah Odams testified about the fight that followed Sandra's threat to tell Farwell's wife. She also testified about her Snapchat reply to Sandra at 9:37 PM on February 1, 2021, sent inside the minutes prosecutors say Farwell was in the building. Listen Anywhere You Get Podcasts: https://pod.link/1655749292 Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod?sub_confirmation=1 Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice. #SandraBirchmore #MatthewFarwell #SandraBirchmoreCase #FarwellTrial #StoughtonPolice #BirchmoreTrial #FederalMurderTrial #JusticeForSandra #TrueCrime #HiddenKillers

Oct 23, 2026

Sandra Birchmore's friend called Stoughton police on January 20, 2021, to report Matthew Farwell. A dispatcher testified he walked that call to Farwell's office and was told to forget it. Twelve days later Sandra was dead. Eric Faddis joins me to go through the five biggest signs of a cover-up that came out under oath at Farwell's federal trial. Trooper Matthew Dunne testified he learned Farwell had lied about when the relationship started. Examiner Nicholas Guarino testified he deleted data he considered redundant. And the Stoughton brass testified the first time they saw their own detective on that lobby video was online. Eric tells me whether anyone beyond Farwell should be facing questions from a grand jury. Listen Anywhere You Get Podcasts: https://pod.link/1655749292 Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod?sub_confirmation=1 Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice. #SandraBirchmore #MatthewFarwell #SandraBirchmoreCase #EricFaddis #FarwellTrial #StoughtonPolice #JusticeForSandra #TrueCrime #CoverUp #TrueCrimeCommunity

Oct 23, 2026

Sandra Birchmore told friends about her baby, planned a baby shower, and paid her nursing school tuition in the days before she was found dead in her Canton apartment, according to prosecutors. Eric Faddis joins me to weigh what that means against Matthew Farwell's suicide defense. Prosecutors say the DNA on the strap belongs to Farwell. They say the lobby camera shows him arriving masked on February 1, 2021, and leaving after her phone stopped moving. They say someone inside Stoughton police told him about a friend's January 20 call reporting the relationship. The defense says the state's own investigators called it suicide in 2021 and the jury should too. Eric tells me which of the government's five strongest facts is the one Farwell's lawyers lose sleep over. Listen Anywhere You Get Podcasts: https://pod.link/1655749292 Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod?sub_confirmation=1 Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice. #SandraBirchmore #MatthewFarwell #SandraBirchmoreCase #EricFaddis #FarwellTrial #StoughtonPolice #JusticeForSandra #TrueCrime #CoverUp #TrueCrimeCommunity

Oct 23, 2026

What these officers did to Sandra Birchmore’s mind — and why the coverup is allegedly still happening — is the focus of a comprehensive four-part interview with psychotherapist Shavaun Scott. Scott, author of Nightbird, examines the case from every angle: how officers allegedly used a youth program and Sandra’s childhood losses to replace every source of trust in her life, how Matthew Farwell allegedly maintained a double life until the night Sandra died, how Robert Devine’s mentorship of the Farwell brothers may have created a pipeline, and how the department is allegedly retaliating against the chief who tried to expose it. The interview covers details the legal case alone cannot illuminate — what the unsent text reveals, what the mask tells a clinician, what Devine’s attack on Sandra’s credibility after her death says about the group, and what McNamara’s removal means for the women in law enforcement watching this unfold. Listen Anywhere You Get Podcasts: https://pod.link/1655749292 Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod?sub_confirmation=1 Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice. #SandraBirchmore #StoughtonPolice #HiddenKillers #MatthewFarwell #RobertDevine #DonnaMcNamara #ShavaunScott #TrueCrime #TrueCrimePodcast #JusticeForSandra

See all episodes →