Show Notes
Sandra Birchmore told friends Matthew Farwell had made a complete 180, prosecutors say. After a friend alerted Stoughton police to their long-standing relationship, the former detective allegedly went from anger to unexpected kindness. Sandra was dead within days. She had met Farwell through a police youth program as a child. Federal prosecutors allege he began an inappropriate relationship with her while she was underage. At 23, Sandra was pregnant and making plans for her child. She was found dead in her Canton apartment in February 2021. Farwell, who has pleaded not guilty, maintains through his attorneys that Sandra died by suicide. Prosecutors describe Farwell asking for a key to her apartment and visiting the building wearing a hood and a mask. Their argument is that he deliberately reassured Sandra before killing her and staging the scene. Robin Dreeke examines what those alleged behavior changes could mean and how investigators test a theory against independently documented evidence. The early Massachusetts investigation sits beside that story. Federal prosecutors have sharply criticized the first response, while the original medical examiner classification of suicide remained in place for years. In April 2026 the state changed Sandra’s manner of death to undetermined. Her family’s retained pathologist, Dr. Michael Baden, concluded she was strangled. Farwell is the person facing the federal jury. Sandra’s family is still seeking accountability for what happened to her, and the handling of the first investigation continues to demand answers. The listener questions connect the alleged final-days timeline with the decisions that followed her death. 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 #HiddenKillers #FarwellTrial #StoughtonPolice #RobinDreeke #MassachusettsStatePolice #MichaelBaden #JusticeForSandra #TrueCrime
More from The Murder Of Sandra Birchmore
Eric Faddis joins me for a full episode on Sandra Birchmore, with a segment on Alex Murdaugh's latest hearing. On Sandra's case, Eric weighs the five biggest hurdles for Matthew Farwell's defense, including the DNA prosecutors say was on the strap and the lobby video of Farwell in a mask. We go through the testimony from Trooper Matthew Dunne, examiner Nicholas Guarino, and former deputy chief Brian Holmes. And we dig into Chief Donna McNamara's lawsuit, which says Town Manager Thomas Calter wanted a 2024 Birchmore report destroyed. Calter denies that. On Murdaugh, a judge let the defense test unknown DNA from Maggie's fingernails and phone, and the defense is asking about a police officer friend at the scene. Eric tells me how much the police connection matters in each. 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 #AlexMurdaugh #SandraBirchmoreCase #MatthewFarwell #MaggieMurdaugh #EricFaddis #FarwellTrial #MurdaughRetrial #CoverUp #TrueCrimeCommunity
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
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
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
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