Farwell Trial Day Five Turns to FBI Phone Searches in Boston
An FBI expert described Google searches from a phone Matthew Farwell handed over in February 2021 as the Boston trial over Sandra Birchmore's death reached day five.
Key points
- The federal trial of former Stoughton police detective Matthew Farwell reached its fifth day on Friday in Boston, with testimony focused on phone searches and earlier police witnesses.
- Farwell is accused of killing Sandra Birchmore, 23, and her unborn son in February 2021 and staging her death to look like a suicide.
- A federal grand jury indicted Farwell on August 28, 2024 on a charge of killing a witness or victim.
The federal trial of former Stoughton police detective Matthew Farwell reached its fifth day on Friday in Boston, with testimony focused on phone searches and earlier police witnesses. The hearing took place on October 16, 2026 at the John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse.
Farwell is accused of killing Sandra Birchmore, 23, and her unborn son in February 2021 and staging her death to look like a suicide. Birchmore was found dead in her apartment in Canton, Massachusetts. She was about eight weeks pregnant. State officials at the time ruled her death a suicide.
A federal grand jury indicted Farwell on August 28, 2024 on a charge of killing a witness or victim. A superseding indictment on October 28, 2025 added a count over the death of her unborn child. He has pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors allege Farwell sexually abused Birchmore for years starting when she was a minor. The defense says he did not kill her.
Day five testimony
On day five, Kingston Police Chief Brian Holmes, a former Stoughton deputy chief, finished his testimony. The court then heard from FBI forensic expert Christopher Beckstrom.
Beckstrom testified about Google searches recovered from a phone Farwell turned over on February 9, 2021. The searches included questions about whether consent can be revoked in Massachusetts and whether deleted iMessages can be recovered.
FBI Special Agent Heidi Kelsch was also due to testify on day five.
The testimony about searches goes to what investigators say they found on the device after Birchmore's death. Prosecutors presented the expert to explain how the searches were recovered and what terms were found. The defense position remains that Farwell did not kill Birchmore.
What happened on day four
On day four, Stoughton Police Chief Donna McNamara testified that she recognised a masked man in surveillance video from Birchmore's apartment building as Farwell. Sergeant Robert Kuhn also testified. Birchmore's friend Leslie Davis testified as well.
Taken together, the fourth and fifth days moved the trial from witnesses who knew the people involved to technical evidence from phones and video. Jurors heard a police chief identify a man in video, and then heard an FBI expert describe searches taken from a phone handed over in February 2021.
The charges and the road ahead
The case began as a state ruling of suicide in 2021. It became a federal case in 2024 with the indictment for killing a witness or victim. The added count in 2025 covers the death of the unborn child.
Farwell's not guilty plea means prosecutors must prove the charges in court. Testimony will continue with agents and experts, and the defense will present its own case that he did not kill her.
For Birchmore's family and for Stoughton, the trial is the first full public test of the competing accounts. One account, from prosecutors, says a detective killed a young woman who was pregnant and made it look like suicide. The other account, from the defense, says he did not kill her. The jury in Boston will decide which account the evidence supports.