Show Notes
For years, Sandra Birchmore’s family held vigils outside buildings that didn’t want them there. They held signs at the Stoughton Police Department. They demanded answers from a system that had already decided Sandra did this to herself. Then the FBI came. On August 28, 2024, agents arrested Matthew Farwell and charged him with killing Sandra to prevent her from exposing his crimes. A superseding indictment added a charge under the Unborn Victims of Violence Act for the death of her unborn baby boy. Farwell has pleaded not guilty. His trial begins October 5, 2026 in Boston federal court. The defense has tried everything. They moved to dismiss the charges. Denied. They moved to relocate the trial. Denied. They sought bail, presenting Farwell as a war hero. Prosecutors responded with new DNA evidence: Farwell’s genetic material on the strap used to strangle Sandra, his sperm cells in her underwear contradicting his statements. Their filing also revealed that months after Sandra’s death, Farwell allegedly bought a drink for a woman at a bar who woke up naked while he searched her room for his keys. All three officers connected to Sandra’s exploitation have been permanently barred from law enforcement. The DA who oversaw the initial investigation won’t seek reelection. Sandra’s family has endorsed his potential replacement. The political fallout has been seismic. Sandra Birchmore was born in 1997. She lost her mother, grandmother, and aunt before turning twenty-three. She worked with children. She was studying nursing. She wanted to be a police officer. She wanted to be a mother. Everything taken from her began with trust. The trial begins in October. This is Part 5 of a five-part series on the Sandra Birchmore case. 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 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 #FederalTrial #TrueCrime #HiddenKillers #JusticeForSandra #TheReckoning #October2026 #NorfolkCounty #FBIArrest
More from The Murder Of Sandra Birchmore
The chief who exposed the officers connected to Sandra Birchmore says she was told to destroy the evidence of a second investigation — and when she refused, she was the one placed on leave. Chief Donna McNamara was the first female officer and first female chief in Stoughton’s history. She allegedly opened a second probe into the department after the officers were identified. Town Manager Robin Calter allegedly demanded the report be destroyed. Someone inside the department had already tipped Matthew Farwell that he was being discussed. Psychotherapist Shavaun Scott, author of Nightbird, examines what this pattern of retaliation reveals about the institution Sandra was allegedly harmed inside. The second investigation reportedly identified another unnamed former employee. Scott asks what it means for the women serving in law enforcement right now who are watching one of their own get punished for doing what was right. 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 #DonnaMcNamara #HiddenKillers #StoughtonPolice #PoliceCoverup #ShavaunScott #TrueCrime #TrueCrimePodcast #RobinCalter #JusticeForSandra
What William Farwell did while Sandra Birchmore was pregnant with his twin brother’s baby is one of the details that tells psychotherapist Shavaun Scott how this group of officers allegedly functioned. William allegedly participated even knowing Sandra was carrying Matthew’s child. Robert Devine, who ran the youth program that first gave officers access to Sandra, mentored both brothers as teenagers. After Sandra was dead, Devine sat at his own hearing and called her a liar. Scott, author of Nightbird, examines the psychology of men who allegedly operate in groups — how one officer’s behavior can create a model that others follow, and why attacking the credibility of a dead woman was Devine’s first instinct when his own conduct was under review. Three officers connected through one program, involved with one girl for years. Scott explains what that structure does to the person trapped inside it. 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 #RobertDevine #HiddenKillers #WilliamFarwell #ShavaunScott #StoughtonPolice #TrueCrime #TrueCrimePodcast #ExplorersProgram #JusticeForSandra
Sandra Birchmore was already dead when Matthew Farwell texted his desk mate from his wife's hospital room, asking if anything was going on and saying he was bored. Detective Daniel Barber testified that in eight years, Farwell had never once reached out off duty like that. Rebecca Chandler read Sandra's texts to the jury. She read the night Sandra wrote that Farwell looked around her closet, and the morning Sandra wrote that he asked for a key and said he'd always be around if she stayed quiet. The last thing Chandler ever got from Sandra was baby clothes, sent January 31. Detective Barrett knew Farwell's walk and his jeans on the lobby video. Donyea Holloway testified Sandra wanted the baby to have police benefits in case the father wasn't around. Karlie Williams was going to dig her car out for Thursday, February 4. That's the day Sandra was found. 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
Matthew Farwell allegedly drove to his wife’s hospital room from Sandra Birchmore’s apartment building — still wearing the same clothes. Psychotherapist Shavaun Scott examines what that transit reveals about the mind of a man who allegedly maintained two separate worlds and watched them collide. Farwell had never worn a mask before the night Sandra died, according to prosecutors. That night, he allegedly covered his face for the first time. Scott, author of Nightbird, explains what triggers that kind of behavioral shift and what it means when someone who has operated without concealment suddenly needs to hide. The interview covers how Farwell used his position and on-duty hours to access Sandra, the crisis when her pregnancy and her friend’s phone call threatened his double life, and the defense argument that now treats the psychological damage done to Sandra as proof she ended her own life. 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 #ShavaunScott #StoughtonPolice #TrueCrime #TrueCrimePodcast #Nightbird #JusticeForSandra #TrueCrimeCommunity
A psychotherapist who specializes in the kind of damage allegedly done to Sandra Birchmore examines what the legal case alone cannot show — how completely Sandra’s mind was reshaped by officers she trusted. Shavaun Scott, author of Nightbird, looks at the unsent text to Farwell’s wife, the friend who saw what Sandra couldn’t, and the DNA revelation that Farwell was not the biological father. Sandra entered the Stoughton police Explorers program as a grieving child with no father figure. The officers who ran that program allegedly became substitutes for every form of protection and love Sandra had lost. Scott explains how a badge functions differently than any other form of authority in a child’s psychology and why Sandra’s inability to see what was being done to her was not a failure of intelligence — it was the product of years of alleged targeting by men she was taught to trust. 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 #ShavaunScott #StoughtonPolice #TrueCrime #TrueCrimePodcast #ExplorersProgram #JusticeForSandra #Nightbird