(NewsNation) —A former Massachusetts detective has been indicted on charges in the killing of Sandra Birchmore, a pregnant woman whose death he allegedly staged to appear like a suicide in 2021.
Former Stoughton police detective Matthew G. Farwell was charged with killing a witness or a victim, according to court documents.
Farwell allegedly killed Birchmore in February 2021 by strangulation and “staged” her Canton apartment “to make it appear as if Birchmore had committed suicide,” court records stated.
Birchmore’s body was found in her Canton apartment after she didn’t show up for work for several days. At the time, she was 23 years old and pregnant.
Her family has questioned the official ruling of suicide and said she was groomed and sexually abused by three police officers.
They filed a wrongful death suit against the department, accusing them of negligent hiring, negligent supervision and negligent infliction of emotional distress.
The former cop allegedly began a sexual relationship with Birchmore when she was 15 and enrolled in the a police youth program, reported the outlet.
“The alleged murder of Sandra is a horrific injustice,” Stoughton Police Chief Donna McNamara said in a statement. “The allegations against the suspect, a former Stoughton Police Officer, represent the single worst act of not just professional misconduct but indeed human indecency that I have observed in a nearly three-decade career in law enforcement.”
According to the investigation, Farwell was the last person to see Birchmore alive. Birchmore was seen on surveillance video at her apartment four days before her death, spending 20 minutes inside. Birchmore also reportedly told friends she was pregnant with Farwell’s child.
The state medical examiner’s office ruled she died by suicide, but a new report commissioned by Birchmore’s estate included findings from former New York City medical examiner Dr. Michael Baden.
Baden’s report questioned the official ruling of suicide by hanging and instead suggested that the actual manner and cause of death were homicide by strangulation.
NewsNation’s Liz Jassin and Steph Whiteside contributed to this story.