Former police officer accused of murdering pregnant woman now charged with death of unborn child

an ex Massachusetts A police officer who had previously pleaded not guilty to the murder of a woman accused of sexually abusing an underage woman was charged Tuesday in the death of her unborn son.

Matthew Farwell, 39, of EastonBut in early 2021 he is accused of strangling Sandra Birchmore after she told him she was pregnant and he was her father. Birchmore was 23 years old at the time.

Farwell worked as an officer stoughton Police Department from 2012 to 2022.

Farwell, who was arrested and charged in August 2024, remains in federal custody. He was to be tried next year on initial charges.

He is being represented by several federal public defenders who could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

According to the indictment in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, Birchmore began participating in the police explorer program at the age of 12.

Court documents say Farwell, who was a police investigator volunteer, used his authority and access to groom, sexually assault and then sexually abuse Birchmore when she was 15 and continued to have sex with her when she became an adult.

According to the indictment, “During certain shifts when Farwell was performing his duties as a Stoughton police officer, he engaged in sexual acts with Burchmore.”

According to the indictment, in late 2020, Birchmore learned she was pregnant and told Farwell.

According to the indictment, Farwell allegedly strangled Birchmore on or about February 1, 2021, and then used his police knowledge to make her apartment appear as if she died by suicide.

When Farwell was initially convicted of charges, Stoughton Police Chief Donna McNamara said the department had worked with other agencies, including FBITo examine.

“The day after Sandra Birchmore was found dead in her Canton apartment, I ordered a lengthy and aggressive internal affairs investigation, the direction of which made it clear that no stone should be left unturned,” McNamara said in a statement.

“Sandra’s alleged murder is a terrible injustice,” McNamara said. “The charges against the suspect, a former Stoughton police officer, represent not only the worst act of professional misconduct, but truly human indecency, that I have witnessed in my nearly three-decade career in law enforcement.”