[SPEAKER_01]: Welcome back to Mama Mystery.

[SPEAKER_01]: I and your host Kelly and today I have a special guest.

[SPEAKER_01]: One that I know you guys have missed so dearly My husband Austin Evans.

[SPEAKER_00]: What's up guys?

[SPEAKER_00]: So good to have you back.

[SPEAKER_01]: Of course.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm so glad you're back.

[SPEAKER_01]: We've missed you I've gotten lots of comments about where you've been.

[SPEAKER_01]: We've just been busy.

[SPEAKER_00]: Missy is all get out life [SPEAKER_01]: but the good news is, I feel like now that my office is located within your office, we're kind of working together now.

[SPEAKER_01]: And hopefully that means you'll be on more future episodes.

[SPEAKER_01]: In fact, if you are one of our patrons, you might have listened to our episode that we did together, [SPEAKER_01]: discussing the details of the Charlie Kirk Shooter and the theories and the conspiracy theories and the text messages and all of that stuff.

[SPEAKER_01]: Well that was a Patreon exclusive episode.

[SPEAKER_01]: So if you want to listen to that and hear some of Austin's take on that, you can go to patreon.com-mama mystery to support this show.

[SPEAKER_01]: All right.

[SPEAKER_01]: Today we are talking about a standard birch more.

[SPEAKER_01]: This case takes place in Canton, Massachusetts, which might sound familiar to you if you're familiar with the Karen read trial.

[SPEAKER_00]: And this is our second or third time recording because starting in the first five minutes because we had my case use.

[SPEAKER_00]: But prior to those recordings, I knew nothing about that territory.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yes, well, but you do though.

[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, you just got out of like I just got to kind of dig it out of your brain, but you do know who Karen read is just what the substance of that trial was I guess I was talking more about can mess.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_01]: Well, this all takes place in the same place.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so when you think about the parallels between this case and that one, Karen reads trial and that whole story, the premise is that she was framed by the Canton Police Department by a bunch of corrupt police officers.

[SPEAKER_01]: And this story that I'm about to tell you, certainly does not vote well for the Canton Police Department and the reputation they have for trying to cover up crimes that they commit.

[SPEAKER_01]: not cool.

[SPEAKER_01]: So let's go ahead and dive right in.

[SPEAKER_01]: On February 4th of 2021 police in Canton, Massachusetts, found 23-year-old Sandra Birchmore dead in her apartment.

[SPEAKER_01]: She was seated on the floor with a double bag strap looped around her neck and tied to a closet door knob.

[SPEAKER_01]: At first glance, it looked like she had taken her own life by hanging.

[SPEAKER_01]: The state medical examiner indeed ruled Sandra's death a suicide by a spixia or hanging in May of 2021.

[SPEAKER_01]: But those who knew Sandra immediately felt like something was wrong.

[SPEAKER_01]: She had been excitedly preparing for the birth of her first child, not exhibiting any kind of despair.

[SPEAKER_01]: Friends and family did not believe that Sandra would kill herself while she was pregnant.

[SPEAKER_01]: Over the next few years, their persistent questions spurred a deeper investigation, won the uncovered a disturbing story spanning a decade.

[SPEAKER_01]: Involved a secret relationship with a police officer, allegations of grooming and sexual exploitation, beginning when Sandra was just a child, and ultimately an accusation that this same officer murdered Sandra and staged her death as a suicide.

[SPEAKER_01]: Sandra Burchmore grew up in the suburban town of Stoten, Massachusetts, just outside of Boston.

[SPEAKER_01]: She was raised by her single mother Denise, who suffered from a chronic illness.

[SPEAKER_01]: We don't know exactly what that chronic illness was.

[SPEAKER_01]: We just know that she was frequently sick.

[SPEAKER_01]: And from the young age, Sandra took on a caregiver role at home due to her mom's health issues.

[SPEAKER_01]: As one relative put it, quote, she was never brought up like a child.

[SPEAKER_01]: She was a young adult at an early age, [SPEAKER_01]: Despite these challenges, mother and daughter were extremely close.

[SPEAKER_01]: They butted heads at times like typical mother-and-team daughter relationships, but they were really close and they also leaned on extended family.

[SPEAKER_01]: Sandra's great aunt Claire and great uncle Gerald, whom she considered grandparents, lived nearby and they were a big part of her life.

[SPEAKER_01]: In fact, Sandra and her aunt Claire were extremely close.

[SPEAKER_01]: In May of 2016, tragedy struck when Denise Birchmore, her mom, died from complications after a stroke, just after Sandra's 19th birthday, and then her beloved great aunt Claire, who was like a grandmother to Sandra passed away only a month later.

[SPEAKER_01]: These losses were devastating for Sandra and still she pressed on, pursuing her education and her career goals.

[SPEAKER_01]: Those who knew Sandra describe her as kind and trusting, we're going to see a lot of that throughout this episode.

[SPEAKER_01]: She had an interest in law enforcement from an early age, perhaps inspired in part by positive interactions with local police.

[SPEAKER_01]: The Burchmores had often relied on certain police department, [SPEAKER_01]: For help during Denise's medical emergencies, building these friendly friendships with some of the officers over the years.

[SPEAKER_01]: Sandra participated in community programs run by the police, even as a little girl she was learning safety skills and gaining respect for law enforcement.

[SPEAKER_01]: And this passion led her at age 12 to join the Stoten Police Explorers program in 2010, which is a youth mentorship program for teens who are interested in policing.

[SPEAKER_01]: Sandra dreamed of a career in criminal justice or public service and the Explorer's program seemed like the perfect opportunity for her to learn the ropes.

[SPEAKER_01]: So outside of her police interests, Sandra attended local schools and later took classes at Messa Soit, I probably butchered that community college towards a nursing certificate.

[SPEAKER_01]: By her early 20s, she had found work as a teacher's assistant at East Elementary School in Sharon, Massachusetts, where colleagues described her as reliable and enthusiastic.

[SPEAKER_01]: She juggled work and school aspiring to a steady career to support herself and soon her baby on the way.

[SPEAKER_01]: So in late 2020, Sandra was overjoyed to discover that she was pregnant with her first child, due in 2021.

[SPEAKER_01]: According to her friends, she was over the moon about the pregnancy and eagerly making plans for the baby's arrival.

[SPEAKER_01]: She had already bought things.

[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, like right after she found out she was pregnant.

[SPEAKER_01]: She was buying strollers and baby clothes.

[SPEAKER_01]: And she was setting up newborn photography to be done at the hospital.

[SPEAKER_01]: All in immediately.

[SPEAKER_01]: She was stoked.

[SPEAKER_01]: She even made a glittery poster with an ultrasound photo announcing congratulations you're going to be a father, intending it for the baby's dad.

[SPEAKER_01]: By all accounts, Sandra was looking forward to motherhood and building a happy life for herself and her child.

[SPEAKER_01]: But let's go ahead and back up a little bit.

[SPEAKER_01]: One of the pivotal relationships in Sandra's life began through that police explorers program.

[SPEAKER_01]: As a 12-year-old in the program, Sandra met officer Matthew Farwell, a 25-year-old Stoton Cop, who volunteered as one of the explorers instructors.

[SPEAKER_01]: Matthew himself had actually been a teen explorer in years past, so now in 2012, he was a newly hired officer eager to mentor youths who were interested in policing.

[SPEAKER_01]: To young Sandra, Matthew farwell might have seemed like a cooler older friend or big brother figure in uniform.

[SPEAKER_01]: And he started spending time with her during her freshman year of high school in 2011, ostensibly to help her with her homework and provide, quote unquote, tutoring, but in reality, according to later investigations, Barwell was grooming Sandra from this very young age.

[SPEAKER_01]: over the next couple of years, the friendship crossed inappropriate lines.

[SPEAKER_01]: In October of 2012, Matt Farwell, who was then 26 years old, sent Sandra a Facebook friend request so that they could communicate more privately.

[SPEAKER_01]: By the time Sandra was 15 years old, Matt Farwell, a grown man of 27, initiated a sexual relationship with Sandra.

[SPEAKER_00]: It didn't ever even mean when you just said the message to her, I was like, well, you need to communicate privately about with her.

[SPEAKER_01]: Right.

[SPEAKER_01]: Federal prosecutors alleged the first instance of statutory rape occurred on April 10 of 2013 when Farwell had sex with 15 year old Sandra.

[SPEAKER_01]: So, as far as the date of this interaction, because of course, now that she's gone, anyone could easily try to dispute it, but we actually have proof of this, thanks to Sandra.

[SPEAKER_01]: After Sandra's death, law enforcement obtained the data from her phones and laptop.

[SPEAKER_01]: On February 11th of 2020, Sandra texted Matthew saying, quote, [SPEAKER_01]: I had butterflies so bad the day you took my virginity.

[SPEAKER_01]: He responded me too.

[SPEAKER_01]: It was such a big day.

[SPEAKER_01]: She says still know the date to this day.

[SPEAKER_01]: He says really?

[SPEAKER_01]: And she says yes to what she responds with just a smiley face.

[SPEAKER_01]: Sandra says that's not a date I'll ever forget.

[SPEAKER_01]: It was April 10, 2013 and quote.

[SPEAKER_01]: How incriminating is that?

[SPEAKER_01]: right, and then he again just responds with a smiley face.

[SPEAKER_01]: She says, best day of my life with the heart eyes emoji, and he says me too.

[SPEAKER_01]: And you'll see this, it's kind of a pattern in the way that they communicate with each other.

[SPEAKER_01]: He is very short and cold and direct with her.

[SPEAKER_01]: He's not, he seems really disinterested, which only further bolsters the fact that he was only interested in one [SPEAKER_01]: So obviously, this was a crime because she was a minor, but far while managed to keep it a secret.

[SPEAKER_01]: In fact, he got married to another woman just one month after taking Sandra's virginity in May of 2013, all while continuing this illicit involvement with Sandra.

[SPEAKER_01]: So on June 19th of 2020, Sandra and Matthew had the following conversation.

[SPEAKER_01]: Sandra says, I'm glad you agreed to take my virginity though and mind you this is like seven years after he took her virginity there.

[SPEAKER_01]: This conversation is taking place now in 2020.

[SPEAKER_01]: Sandra says, I'm glad you agreed to take my virginity though.

[SPEAKER_01]: He says, Me too, L.O.L.

[SPEAKER_01]: If I pushed, I absolutely could have fucked you without condoms from day one.

[SPEAKER_00]: So their this relationship is going on for seven years?

[SPEAKER_01]: at this point yeah they met way back in like 2011 when she so it like they they knew each other for a decade but the inappropriate relationship lasted about seven years so she responds probably if you really pushed it I was kind of scared to say no in the beginning not knowing how you take it so yeah you would have got no condoms LOL that one is so eye-opening to me because it just shows you how young and timid [SPEAKER_01]: And vulnerable she was.

[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, she's admitting that like I was kind of scared to say no in the beginning because she's a child.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, she's not she's not able to regulate.

[SPEAKER_00]: She's not thinking through it properly.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's not it's it's the reason that [SPEAKER_00]: the law exists.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, exactly.

[SPEAKER_01]: So then in a conversation that took place February 21st, Matthew describes in detail, pinning Sandra down during sex and asks her, will you say, Matt, stop.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm 13.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm not ready for this.

[SPEAKER_01]: O.

M.

F.

G.

Please stop.

[SPEAKER_01]: End quote.

[SPEAKER_01]: And then in other texts, he instructs Sandra to act as if he were her older brother coming into her room at night to have sex with her.

[SPEAKER_01]: So he, like multiple times, details, these fantasies that he has, and they are all rape fantasies, violent fantasies, and it's at sometimes in sestual fantasies.

[SPEAKER_01]: So just a fucked up guy, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: So for Sandra who was still a teenager, [SPEAKER_01]: This whole relationship was cloaked under secrecy and manipulation.

[SPEAKER_01]: Investigators say far well exerted control over her for years.

[SPEAKER_01]: They're encounters often took place in secret settings.

[SPEAKER_01]: Sometimes even in Matt Farwell's police vehicle, while he was on duty, other times in the parking lot of Costco or five guys, real romantic.

[SPEAKER_01]: Text messages uncovered later suggest that Matt introduced rough sexual behavior when he would choke Sandra during sex and then coerced her into acting out those rape fantasies where she pretended to be an assault victim.

[SPEAKER_00]: There's no weirdo.

[SPEAKER_01]: Sick.

[SPEAKER_01]: He also used sex as a method of punishment.

[SPEAKER_01]: For example, punishing her with aggressive acts if she got poor grades or if he suspected that she had been out with someone else.

[SPEAKER_01]: And these disturbing details revealed much later by the FBI, paint a picture of a deeply exploitative relationship that Sandra may have confused for love or loyalty.

[SPEAKER_01]: From her mid teens into her 20s, Matthew Farwell was essentially Sandra's secret boyfriend.

[SPEAKER_01]: albeit one who was 15 years older and wielded significant power over her.

[SPEAKER_01]: And Mary.

[SPEAKER_00]: So he had this whole thing roll in the whole time he was married correct.

[SPEAKER_01]: And he was having multiple children with his wife while he was carrying on this relation to there.

[SPEAKER_01]: The wife or Sandra.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yes.

[SPEAKER_01]: Sanders' world remained very much intertwined with Stoughton Police beyond just Matthew.

[SPEAKER_01]: So in 2017, William Farwell, who is Matthew's twin brother, also became a Stoughton Police Officer.

[SPEAKER_01]: William came to know Sandra as well, and evidence would later show that he too engaged in sexual encounters with her, although apparently they were only once she was an adult.

[SPEAKER_01]: Another figure in the mix was Robert Devine, who was a stotan police sergeant who at one point supervised the far-well brothers.

[SPEAKER_01]: So Robert Devine was friendly with Sandra, and allegedly had inappropriate contact with her, although he denied any kind of sexual relationship.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I've heard this said multiple times when apparently Robert Devine was [SPEAKER_01]: a big flirt, and he would often be inappropriate with young girls, but it was only ever allegedly through, like, communications, not actual physical conduct, but he would just be very inappropriate.

[SPEAKER_01]: All three officers, Matthew Farwell, William Farwell, and Robert Divine, were significantly older than Sandra, and held positions of authority.

[SPEAKER_01]: And Sandra idolized [SPEAKER_01]: an internal affairs investigation later concluded that these men violated multiple department rules in their conduct with Sandra.

[SPEAKER_01]: But for years, none of this was exposed and Sandra remained a meshed in a toxic secret life with Matthew Farwell at its center.

[SPEAKER_01]: Throughout her teens and early 20s, Sandra continued seeing Matthew Farwell regularly, even as he advanced in his career eventually becoming a detective and expanded his own family.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like I said, he was married and by 2020, he had two young children with his wife.

[SPEAKER_00]: Hey, so insane that not only is he a battlefield and he has this whole long-term relationship going on, it's going on alongside him building a family with having kids like [SPEAKER_00]: If you really think about, I mean, yeah, it's all f-t up, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: But if you really think about like, oh, him and his wife going to the hospital to give birth to their kid.

[SPEAKER_00]: And you're obviously still texting this side chick that not to mention is under age.

[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, Austin, you don't even know.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm so glad you actually just said that because the thought of him carrying on this relation to go into the hospital and, you know, having these these children is just...

And how do you, how do you...

[SPEAKER_00]: How do you have the conscious to allow you to do it?

[SPEAKER_00]: Like, how do you go through the day and you have this other relationship that you're, and again, it's a, it's pedophilia.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's not just a relationship.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like it's just an affair.

[SPEAKER_00]: Even if you were building this like Tyre Hill, okay, he just got divorced and like he's been married for what nine months or something and during that nine months he's given his, he's had women give birth to like two kids or something crazy.

[SPEAKER_00]: How do you even do that?

[SPEAKER_00]: Let alone it's with an under it.

[SPEAKER_00]: This whole deal is just mind-blowing.

[SPEAKER_00]: And it went up for all these years?

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_01]: So, text records show that Matt would often sneak away from work to be with Sandra, abusing his authority and his time on the clock, which I'm pretty sure is like a larsony charge because you're effectively being paid by taxpayers, [SPEAKER_01]: to do a job that you're not doing, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: Because you're in the cop car, but I don't know the laws on that.

[SPEAKER_01]: I actually just, that just popped into my brain.

[SPEAKER_01]: But for instance, on April 10th of 2020, he texted her saying, I'm going to sneak away from work really quick, implying that he was slipping out of duty for a trust.

[SPEAKER_01]: And to maintain the charade, he falsified time sheets to cover up these rendezvouss, essentially defrauding the department while committing these acts with [SPEAKER_01]: And at this point, their illicit relationship had persisted nearly a decade in secret with Sandra now in her early 20s and Matt Farwell, nearing 40.

[SPEAKER_01]: So the power dynamics were heavily skewed, but Sandra appeared emotionally attached to Matt despite the manipulation.

[SPEAKER_01]: I think if if anything, it's because of- I was just gonna say that.

[SPEAKER_00]: I was gonna say it's like you, you, you, [SPEAKER_00]: ruined this whole person's brain and wrapped them into you, making them feel dependent.

[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, that deep sick.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_01]: Well, everything kind of started to unravel in 2020.

[SPEAKER_01]: In the fall of 2020, Sandra made a bold bid to change the situation with Matt.

[SPEAKER_01]: By then, his wife was pregnant with their third child, due in February of 2021.

[SPEAKER_01]: Perhaps this news stirred something in Sandra.

[SPEAKER_01]: She had spent her youth wrapped up in Matt's life, always in the shadows, and now she was watching him prepare for yet another baby with his wife.

[SPEAKER_01]: According to later FBI reports, Sandra told a friend in October of 2020 that she wanted a child of their own with math.

[SPEAKER_01]: So she was telling people about this?

[SPEAKER_01]: She only told a couple of her friends about it, yes.

[SPEAKER_01]: But some of her friends were aware of this relationship.

[SPEAKER_01]: So at this point, she's basically saying she doesn't want to be a secret mistress anymore.

[SPEAKER_01]: She wants to have a baby with him, which could be a symbol of commitment or leverage.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now, on October 5th, Sandra prepared a draft text message to Math's wife.

[SPEAKER_01]: She didn't send it, but she sent the draft to one of her friends who knew about their relationship and it said, in part, I am just messaging you to inform you that your husband, Matthew, has been out cheating on you since before you guys were even married.

[SPEAKER_01]: She didn't end up sending it.

[SPEAKER_00]: do you imagine being the wife getting that message?

[SPEAKER_00]: Getting a message, I think about that if the wife finds out, I mean, she obviously had to find out at some point in the story over soon.

[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, the betrayal, the thing is is the betrayal would feel immense, but knowing that you so far seems like you would probably just try to deny and convince her that it wasn't true.

[SPEAKER_01]: So instead, later that month in October of 2020, Sandra presented Matthew Farwell with an ultimatum or what she tried to frame as a compromise.

[SPEAKER_01]: Basically, impregnate me and I'll keep our affair secret.

[SPEAKER_01]: Essentially, if he agreed to have a baby with her, then she promised not to expose the illicit relationship or the years of statutory rape.

[SPEAKER_01]: And text messages from that time kind of captured the dynamics.

[SPEAKER_01]: So I had some of them that I'm including into this episode, [SPEAKER_01]: Matthew texted her saying, quote, I said the agreement was once.

[SPEAKER_01]: That was our compromise.

[SPEAKER_01]: Sandra responded, quote, I asked if we could try this month.

[SPEAKER_01]: Didn't realize that meant you fuck me once, LOL.

[SPEAKER_01]: And then if I asked if we could try through this year, you said, I think about it.

[SPEAKER_01]: The conversation continued the next day with Matt saying, quote, our compromise was try once.

[SPEAKER_01]: And she responds, yeah, it was to try this month.

[SPEAKER_01]: So you're thinking about the second thing I said as far as the rest of the year.

[SPEAKER_01]: And he says, you said try once this month if it happens, it's meant to be those are the exact words.

[SPEAKER_01]: So a few weeks later, Sandra texts Matt again on November 5th, saying quote, how would you feel about us having a baby you being there and signing the birth certificate?

[SPEAKER_01]: There's never going to be a need for your information anyway, so you'll be safe there, and I won't talk shit about her or your kids.

[SPEAKER_01]: That way we both get what we want.

[SPEAKER_01]: You asked me the other day what I wanted and I didn't want to give it to you in the form of an ultimatum, so I'm trying to do it with you as a compromise type of thing.

[SPEAKER_01]: Can you tell me what you thought of it?

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm down for discussing it in person, but the more I thought about you, the more I thought about it, you signing it really isn't going to have an impact on you.

[SPEAKER_01]: because of the way things are going to fall in the future.

[SPEAKER_01]: So she's essentially saying that she's not going to tell the wife that she is pregnant with Matthew's baby.

[SPEAKER_01]: She'll keep everything a secret if you will at least have a baby with her and sign the birth certificate.

[SPEAKER_00]: So, this whole thing, as you're saying all this, it just goes to show, like, he has, why don't you know what the word I'm looking for is.

[SPEAKER_00]: Manipulated, completely altered this girl's brain to think that this is all normal, to where she's processing this and thinking through, hey, let's try this and let's do this.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I want to have a baby and let's make this work.

[SPEAKER_01]: she it appears to me she thinks that's like normal that's her life that's her normal which is insane yeah what I'm saying insane as I don't have a better word it's just crazy I think in Sandra's mind she also thought that he was eventually going to leave his wife for her and that was always going to be the end goal but in in the meantime she still wanted a baby she still wanted to have quote unquote a family with him or whatever that version of family looked like to her at the time [SPEAKER_01]: then on December 28th of 2020, Sanders sent Matt a text with a photo of a poster that she had made.

[SPEAKER_01]: And this picture, I'm going to show you a picture of this poster, because it's really interesting when you look at it, but it's a white square poster, and she decorated the border of the poster and like a rainbow stripe border that you see in like kids classrooms.

[SPEAKER_01]: And then there's like stickers of various animals placed along the border, and then the text is like kind of a scrappy cursive that says, [SPEAKER_01]: And it just looks very childish.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like it just looks like something a child made.

[SPEAKER_01]: And when you see it, I'll show it to you.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think this goes to like how people get stunted.

[SPEAKER_00]: They get stunted in a certain age when something traumatic happens.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like it's very childish.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm so proud of you for remembering that because I've mentioned that multiple times when I think about why people act the way they do and sometimes you can tell if someone's been emotionally stunted because they went through something traumatic at the age at which they're stunted and it's almost like she's stunted at 12.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yes.

[SPEAKER_00]: I agree.

[SPEAKER_01]: So he ends up responding to this picture that she sent him.

[SPEAKER_01]: She texted him this picture and he says, quote, I literally have nothing to say right now.

[SPEAKER_01]: How could you express that in a text when I said, I don't appreciate it?

[SPEAKER_01]: Then he says, how far are you?

[SPEAKER_01]: And she says, regardless of how far we're keeping it, but three and a half weeks, which means I can see it this month.

[SPEAKER_01]: and quote he says okay well we need to talk then and she says no shit that's obvious and the birth certificate is being signed or hers isn't.

[SPEAKER_01]: So it's important to note here Matt's wife was eight months pregnant with their third child at the time.

[SPEAKER_01]: So, Sandra continues texting Matt saying, quote, no, I'm mad you're acting how you are over a choice.

[SPEAKER_01]: We both made.

[SPEAKER_01]: And he says, I'm mad you act like you gave anyone a choice.

[SPEAKER_01]: And she says, LMAO, oh, so you didn't have a choice.

[SPEAKER_01]: And he says, [SPEAKER_01]: Per usual, you make and do whatever you want.

[SPEAKER_01]: She says, all I did was say, can I have it and you said what?

[SPEAKER_01]: And I said, you know what I'm asking for and you stood up and said, yeah, you've been doing that.

[SPEAKER_01]: You mad, she's doing February and I am in September and you don't know how you're going to be there for both of us and you need to be there during labor for me too because your kid should [SPEAKER_01]: And really blows my mind the audacity of this guy to act like he is the one who's being used and abused and put into this difficult situation when he groomed this girl from the age of 15 fucking years old.

[SPEAKER_01]: She was a child.

[SPEAKER_01]: If anyone ruined anyone's life here, I think we can all agree that Matt was a cancer to Sandra's life and should burn in hell for what he put her through all those years.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'll just never understand how these losers can perform these mental gymnastics to make themselves out to be a victim.

[SPEAKER_01]: It should actually be studied.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm sure it is studied.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm not going to study it though, because I don't care.

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, on December 29th, I've been seeing each other all the time, like frequently or are they like going weeks without seeing each other during this whole like [SPEAKER_01]: So it's funny to ask that.

[SPEAKER_01]: They actually did go weeks without seeing each other as far as we know.

[SPEAKER_01]: We only know when the sexual encounters likely took place based on their text messages, but as far as how often they would meet up, it did seem pretty frequent, like at least more than once a week, not more than that.

[SPEAKER_00]: But likely that most of the times they were meeting up, there was sex involved.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like, because it doesn't seem like he was trying to take her to eat lunch.

[SPEAKER_00]: Let's go have lunch together.

[SPEAKER_00]: Doesn't seem like that.

[SPEAKER_01]: No, I don't think he really wanted anything else from her.

[SPEAKER_01]: So on December 29th, Matt and Sandra met up to talk in person.

[SPEAKER_01]: And after this meeting, Sandra sent the following text, it made me really uncomfortable and stressed out and scared when you were next to me because I thought you were going to hit me after you said what you said and took things out of my hand.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's why I was crying.

[SPEAKER_01]: I know you wouldn't, but it still scared me.

[SPEAKER_01]: which is really like foreshadowing and sad, the fact that like she had been scared of him before and then even still tried to give him the benefit of the doubt that I know you wouldn't but it's still scared me.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'd also like to point out here that Sandra was a very small girl.

[SPEAKER_01]: She was only four foot [SPEAKER_01]: So practically a giant next to her.

[SPEAKER_01]: And the situation just continued to deteriorate further in January of 2021.

[SPEAKER_01]: Standard confided in a couple of close friends about frightening incidents with Matthew.

[SPEAKER_01]: She told one person that after finding out about the baby, Matthew told Sandra that he quote, wished she would just die and that he wants nothing to do with the baby and quote.

[SPEAKER_01]: And at one point, he put her in a headlock and grabbed her phone out of her hand.

[SPEAKER_01]: That friend urged Sandra to distance herself from him for her own safety.

[SPEAKER_01]: Sandra also recounted to a different friend that during an argument, Matt shoved her to the ground after she showed him an ultrasound image.

[SPEAKER_01]: He was vehemently denying that the child was his and grew furious.

[SPEAKER_01]: Despite these red flags and her friends advised to cut ties, Sandra wasn't ready to walk away.

[SPEAKER_01]: She was scared, yes, but she still hoped that Matthew far well might come around and support her and the baby.

[SPEAKER_01]: A friend later said, quote, she secretly hoped that he would flip the switch and leave his wife.

[SPEAKER_01]: All the lies he had fed to her since she was 15 years old, were finally going to come to fruition.

[SPEAKER_00]: And quote, you might get to this later.

[SPEAKER_00]: Is there anything out there, like, was his wife happy with [SPEAKER_01]: I have no idea who the wife is.

[SPEAKER_01]: I didn't look into her or their relationship.

[SPEAKER_01]: Honestly, just trying to have respect for her privacy because I can only surmise what their marriage was probably like.

[SPEAKER_01]: And when someone's doing that, I'm like, it's probably not great.

[SPEAKER_00]: yeah sitting here thinking about like i can imagine it was great but at the same time they're married for a number of years having kids not that that means you know it's not indicative of a good marriage but i'm just saying it's it just makes you wonder how much he knew like did she have she didn't know anything about this right [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, I doubt she knew anything about the fact that he was sleeping with this young girl, but I almost wonder like did she ever think that maybe he was not faithful and just didn't know the extent of it.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, on January 6th, Sandra texted Matthew saying, quote, you don't have to sign the birth certificate.

[SPEAKER_01]: If I'm allowed to at least list you and they can have your name and I won't move to Stoutton or the town where Matthew's family lives.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's been rejected.

[SPEAKER_01]: She says, I won't bitch about the holidays, but I would like you to come a few days before Christmas and Easter, so you can see what they get from me, and I don't want you to leave them out.

[SPEAKER_01]: And if you want to try to support them, we can talk about that, but I do want you to see them.

[SPEAKER_01]: I feel like I'm trying to be fair as fair as I can, and I want you there for labor.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm standing, that I'm standing my ground on, she says.

[SPEAKER_01]: He responds, okay, we can discuss this more in person.

[SPEAKER_01]: And she says, okay, I figured, does it kind of sound okay to you?

[SPEAKER_01]: He says, it's a lot to think about.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's so much more than you have ever asked for.

[SPEAKER_01]: And she says, quote, and still less than what any other girl would ask for.

[SPEAKER_01]: And quote, and that right there is heart rate.

[SPEAKER_00]: you know she knows how wrong all of this is.

[SPEAKER_01]: That to me tells me she knows how wrong this is.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like how this is not normal.

[SPEAKER_01]: This is not what anyone should expect or deserve.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it just took getting into early 20s and talking to people about it probably.

[SPEAKER_00]: I would imagine that the friends that she told about this were like, wake up, what are you doing?

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I would imagine.

[SPEAKER_01]: So as January 2021 progressed, the secret began to leak.

[SPEAKER_01]: On January 20th, one of Sandra's friends alarmed by what Sandra had confided, actually took action and called the Stoton Police Department to report the inappropriate relationship between Officer Farwell and Sandra.

[SPEAKER_01]: Apparently, this friend was actually calling to report that Sandra had stolen money from her, but when they referred this friend to the courthouse because that's a civil matter, she let whoever answered, know that, oh, by the way, Sandra and Matthew Farwell have been having a sexual relationship for over a decade.

[SPEAKER_01]: The call was handled poorly to say the least, because whoever that employee was who took the caller's name and that note immediately passed [SPEAKER_01]: the very person who's being accused.

[SPEAKER_01]: So when Matt learned that someone had blown the whistle, he became visibly angry according to prosecutors and this witness who later said, I don't believe she testified, but I think she told investigators or the prosecutors that when she relayed this information to him, he became very agitated, visibly upset, told this person not to talk about it, not to repeat it to anyone else, and was pissed.

[SPEAKER_01]: So Matt texted Sandra that same day saying, quote, dude, you're fucking friend called my job, Sandra, what the fuck?

[SPEAKER_01]: She responds with a question mark and he says, your friend just called my fucking work to complain about me, WTF, and she says, IDK, he says, what do you mean you don't know?

[SPEAKER_01]: And she says, I literally just woke up.

[SPEAKER_01]: In the messages that followed, he is clearly pissed, texting more than he typically does, because usually his messages are very cold and short and direct.

[SPEAKER_01]: But in these messages, he's clearly riled up, saying things like, what is going on?

[SPEAKER_01]: You told me that no one knew about us, yet she claimed we are fucking.

[SPEAKER_01]: She says it's nothing, and he says it's not nothing.

[SPEAKER_01]: She called my job, that's insane.

[SPEAKER_01]: Why would she call and drop my fucking name, Sandra?

[SPEAKER_01]: Like, what do I have to do?

[SPEAKER_01]: with you not giving her something like you have no idea how bad what she did is.

[SPEAKER_01]: I literally can't believe this is even real.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like what else do I have to worry about now?

[SPEAKER_01]: Which other friend will do something tomorrow?

[SPEAKER_00]: He just knows his whole rules are going to crumble.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's done.

[SPEAKER_00]: Now your job knows your wife's [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, and I think it's also very telling that he's sending these long, elaborate text messages, these novels, whereas before he was like, couldn't be less interested, and now when he realizes how it could impact him, he now he suddenly cares.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_01]: So, a few days later, Matt Farwell made an odd visit to Sanders' apartment under the guise of Goodwill.

[SPEAKER_01]: On the night of January 23, Farwell dropped by a Sanders place and was unexpectedly pleasant, a stark change in his demeanor.

[SPEAKER_01]: Sandra told a friend the next day that he had even brought her a ginger ale, an active nicely, but there was a catch.

[SPEAKER_01]: Matt asked Sandra for a spare key to her apartment and told her to keep his request a secret.

[SPEAKER_01]: While there he also looked around her closet and bathroom for no obvious reason, but Sandra found it to be bizarre.

[SPEAKER_01]: She actually told her friend, quote, it kind of threw me off and made me a little uncomfortable.

[SPEAKER_01]: He asked me if I'd given the key and said that if I keep it a secret, he'll be around for the baby.

[SPEAKER_01]: Then he looked in my closet and then the bathroom, but I don't know why, and quote.

[SPEAKER_01]: Nevertheless, hoping this meant not wanted to be involved as a father, Sandra, willingly obliged.

[SPEAKER_00]: Which willingly obliged, but wouldn't have had she not been traumatized over all of these years.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like it just goes to show, I guess what the point I keep coming back to in my head is like, man, he damaged this girl over years.

[SPEAKER_00]: And now she thinks that this is somewhat normal.

[SPEAKER_00]: And that's like heartbreaking, that somebody can be show wrapped up in this bullshit game by somebody that they're like, well, let's just find a way to make it work.

[SPEAKER_01]: The sad thing, though, is that this is incredibly common.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_01]: So that same day, Sandra went to Walmart and made a copy of her apartment key for him, and she texted him the door passcode for the building's entrance.

[SPEAKER_01]: So at this point now, Matt Farwell has unrestricted secret access to her home.

[SPEAKER_01]: In these final days of January, Sandra was busy planning for her future as a mom.

[SPEAKER_01]: She talked about baby names with Matt, although he deflected saying that he'd rather discuss it in person.

[SPEAKER_01]: He ordered baby supplies online, even had a stroller delivered.

[SPEAKER_01]: She searched the internet for parenting tips, arranged for newborn photos in advance.

[SPEAKER_01]: She scheduled her OBGYN appointment for February 10th.

[SPEAKER_01]: and then marked Valentine's Day as the day that she wanted to publicly announce her pregnancy and do a gender reveal.

[SPEAKER_01]: These are not the actions of someone preparing to die by suicide.

[SPEAKER_01]: These are actions of someone optimistically preparing for a new life chapter.

[SPEAKER_01]: Sandra also made mundane plans like figuring out who could feed her beloved pet cats while she would be in the hospital delivering the baby.

[SPEAKER_01]: So by all indications, Sandra expected to be alive [SPEAKER_01]: So on February 1st, it was a Monday.

[SPEAKER_01]: And Sandra went to her job at the elementary school in Sharon.

[SPEAKER_01]: And she even texted Matt that afternoon to let him know that she had gotten off work early that day because they had a Nori start, which I only know is like a blizzard essentially, but the night that John O'Keefe died in the Karen Reed trial, it was also a Nori start.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's what they call it.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it's like just a super heavy snowstorm.

[SPEAKER_01]: and he replied somewhat dismissively that he wouldn't be around that area.

[SPEAKER_01]: In the late afternoon, Santa received a package, a door-delivery was caught on surveillance camera around 5 p.m.

[SPEAKER_00]: Man, you've set the stage for all this so crazy that once you started saying that it doesn't appear to be a suicide you dove in, I'm just like hooked.

[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, I'm glad to hear that.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not curious if anyone else is like holy shit.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like you set the stage, you're telling all about it.

[SPEAKER_00]: And it gets a little bit repetitive.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like, ah, it's aft up, that's aft up, that's aft up.

[SPEAKER_00]: And then all of a sudden it's like, and so here's the cliffhanger.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm glad you're here, Austin.

[UNKNOWN]: Thanks.

[SPEAKER_01]: So anyway, the door dash delivery, it's all caught on surveillance camera around 5 p.m.

[SPEAKER_01]: it shows Sandra stepping outside of her canton apartment to go grab the order.

[SPEAKER_01]: And then a bit later around 530, there's another security camera snippet that showed her popping outside with a snowbrush, perhaps to clear off her car or her steps maybe because of this spove storm.

[SPEAKER_01]: Everything seemed normal in those early evening hours and the surveillance camera is very clear.

[SPEAKER_01]: then just after 9pm Matthew Farwell made his move.

[SPEAKER_01]: He texted Sandra asking if he could come by for a second.

[SPEAKER_01]: Despite all the turmoil between them, Sandra agreed and replied that the door would be open for him.

[SPEAKER_01]: surveillance video from the apartment building captured him arriving around 915, he was dressed inconspicuously wearing a hooded sweatshirt with the hood up, and then also [SPEAKER_01]: 2020, 2021, COVID is like high alert and I want to point out that Matt Farwell was known among colleagues to oppose mask mandates, suggesting he wore it more as a disguise than for real COVID precautions.

[SPEAKER_01]: So the footage shows Matt entering the building and then about 30 minutes later around 945, it was actually less than 30 minutes later, he's leaving the building.

[SPEAKER_01]: What transpired inside Sandra's apartment in that half hour can only be reconstructed from forensic evidence and later allegations.

[SPEAKER_01]: Federal prosecutors now alleged that Matthew Farwell strangled Sandra to death sometime around 9 p.m.

[SPEAKER_01]: on February 1.

[SPEAKER_01]: The weapon was the very double bag strap that was found around her neck, investigators believed Matt used that strap to choke her likely leveraging his greater strength and catching Sandra off guard.

[SPEAKER_01]: After Sandra stopped breathing, he allegedly went about staging the scene to make it look like a suicide, using the knowledge that he had as a police officer to make it pretty convincing.

[SPEAKER_01]: He positioned Sandra's lifeless body in a seated slumped posture on the floor and tied the strap to the door knob to simulate a low-hanging scenario.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's a highly unusual way to commit suicide, tying a ligature to a closet door knob.

[SPEAKER_00]: But how would your body let you, that really happens?

[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, I think that's how they reported Robin Williams took his own life really was in a closet like, and it was a low hanging suicide.

[SPEAKER_01]: But I guess, I mean, I guess.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I don't know.

[SPEAKER_01]: But tragically, the first responders who would find her days later did not immediately question the scene.

[SPEAKER_01]: And Matt is accused of setting everything up just right, leaving her phone, and other items perhaps just support the illusion that she had taken her own life.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I'll elaborate more on why he was convincing that it was a suicide.

[SPEAKER_01]: But in a sick, sick, twist of timing, just hours after leaving Sandra's apartment, Matthew Farwell was at a hospital with his wife welcoming the birth of their third child.

[SPEAKER_00]: I just got the goose bumps.

[SPEAKER_01]: There's even a picture of him with like the hospital garb on holding this brand new baby hours after keeps up the life of somebody else.

[SPEAKER_00]: And they were pregnant also with your child.

[SPEAKER_01]: Early on February 2nd, Farwell's wife gave birth to their third baby at Newton Wellesley Hospital.

[SPEAKER_01]: So if the allegations are true, Matt went from allegedly murdering Sandra and his unborn child straight to the maternity ward to celebrate a new life with his wife all in the span of one single night.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's just too, too crazy to even comprehend.

[SPEAKER_01]: So for the next two days, no one realized that Sandra was dead inside of her apartment.

[SPEAKER_01]: And it wasn't until February 4th, three days later, that concerns spiked because Sandra did not show up for work at East Elementary School for a couple of days, which was very unlike her.

[SPEAKER_01]: So her co-workers that were unable to reach her requested a wellness check by the police.

[SPEAKER_01]: Canton police officers arrived at Sandra's apartment that day, and upon entering, they found the heartbreaking scene.

[SPEAKER_01]: And she was clearly deceased.

[SPEAKER_01]: The state of her body indicated that she had been dead for at least a few days.

[SPEAKER_01]: She was still wearing the same clothing that she had been seen wearing on that surveillance video from February 1st.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so the immediate assumption was that her death was a suicide and the Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey later announced [SPEAKER_01]: that the 2021 investigation found no evidence of foul play.

[SPEAKER_01]: However, from the start, Sanders' family and friends vehemently disagreed with this suicide ruling.

[SPEAKER_01]: They knew that Sanders had been looking forward to having her baby.

[SPEAKER_01]: She had not expressed any kind of suicidal thoughts.

[SPEAKER_01]: And he was trying, Matthew was trying to suggest that he broke up with her that night and that that's why he was there and that's why- Okay, so that's why I'm sitting here lying.

[SPEAKER_00]: So he still exists digitally in everything like, [SPEAKER_01]: So here's the thing, investigators did take note of one big clue, which was Matthew Farwell's link to Sandra.

[SPEAKER_01]: So in the initial investigation, it quickly emerged that Sandra had been involved with Matthew, though the full extent and the illegality of it was not immediately clear, but just two days after the body was found on February 6th, state police detectives actually interviewed Matthew Farwell in a parking lot of a student elementary school, and it was kind [SPEAKER_01]: It really rub people the wrong way because it was such a casual interview.

[SPEAKER_01]: They're interviewing this cop about his relationship with a girl who has been found dead.

[SPEAKER_01]: And they're like, talk, calling him by first name.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like it's just all very casual.

[SPEAKER_01]: It didn't seem like it was being taken very seriously.

[SPEAKER_00]: Just a really new each other and it's probably like, hey man, what's going on?

[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe you have a quick conversation about it.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, like hey, sorry to waste your time.

[SPEAKER_01]: I just got to check a few boxes.

[SPEAKER_00]: Exactly, but when you know it's him, it's like, [SPEAKER_00]: You idiot.

[SPEAKER_01]: Mm-hmm.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yes.

[SPEAKER_01]: So Matthew acknowledged some of the relationship, but he completely downplayed it.

[SPEAKER_01]: He claimed that he and Sandra had only begun a sexual relationship in 2020 when she was an adult and that they just had sex like two or three times that year.

[SPEAKER_01]: And he further insisted that he could not be the father of Sandra's unborn baby because according to him the last time they had slept together was October of 2020.

[SPEAKER_00]: Stupid question real quick.

[SPEAKER_00]: Is that something you can test?

[SPEAKER_00]: Can you figure out who the father is, but you can't figure out before the baby is born.

[SPEAKER_00]: You can.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, you can.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, so all of this was just late.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, because when we went to ultrasound, I remember when we, you got ultrasound and ultrasound done the lady there.

[SPEAKER_00]: The tech told us that people had come before with two guys and they weren't sure.

[SPEAKER_00]: And they were going to go to the test after.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, you can do like genetic testing in your in utero to like rule out genetic abnormalities and probably confirm fraternity if I had to guess.

[SPEAKER_01]: I've never had to do that.

[SPEAKER_01]: But I guess you could.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yes, but at the same time he's like filling all these lies, they are gathering the data from her cell phone and his cell phone.

[SPEAKER_01]: And of course, there's also this surveillance that puts him there from 910 to 930, that night that she died.

[SPEAKER_00]: And he says it's him because he says he was breaking up with her.

[SPEAKER_01]: Correct.

[SPEAKER_01]: Also during that interview, Matt went a step further to cast out on Sandra's character.

[SPEAKER_01]: He told detectives that Sandra had been sectioned, which is involuntarily committed for psychiatric evaluation, many times for mental health issues he says.

[SPEAKER_01]: So he's like trying to imply that she's been struggling with mental health for a while.

[SPEAKER_01]: hoping that it'll like cover his ass.

[SPEAKER_01]: Right?

[SPEAKER_01]: When in truth, she had actually only been sectioned once in May of 2020 after a non-suicidal argument with a family member.

[SPEAKER_01]: But his implication obviously was misleading.

[SPEAKER_01]: Over the following days and weeks, investigators gathered more information but still did not charge anyone.

[SPEAKER_01]: Matt cooperated on the surface, and on February 9, he even handed over his personal cell phone to state police.

[SPEAKER_01]: However, in a crafty move, he almost immediately used his police issued work phone to Google search whether deleted text messages could be recovered by cell bright, which cell bright is another word that you might recognize from Karen Reigns trial, but on those companies extract cell phone data to retrieve things even if they've been deleted.

[SPEAKER_01]: So clearly, he was worried about the digital trail that he left behind.

[SPEAKER_01]: And indeed, evidence would later show that throughout his relationship with Sandra, he had repeatedly told her to delete their text conversations to cover his tracks.

[SPEAKER_00]: How long after she was killed was he walking free?

[SPEAKER_00]: And this was rolled to a side.

[SPEAKER_01]: Um, a while, more than a year, a year, a far long time.

[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, I was thinking like weeks.

[SPEAKER_00]: So this dude is, is he to the point where he's like, I got away with this, I'm free.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm sure.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm sure at one point in his mind.

[SPEAKER_00]: I never heard about it.

[SPEAKER_00]: So they weren't getting divorced or anything.

[SPEAKER_00]: The wife never heard about Sandra.

[SPEAKER_01]: At this point, I don't know if the wife started here.

[SPEAKER_01]: Things because obviously, at this point, he's more enmeshed in it.

[SPEAKER_01]: The cops all know they're probably all talking, like it has come out within the police department at the very least, that this relationship had been going on.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so to think that someone that somehow didn't get back to his wife was tough, but I just, I was just chat, I asked chat GPT about his wife and about her knowledge of it, and there's like nothing out there.

[SPEAKER_00]: According to that thing, I was like, [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, she hasn't talked about it.

[SPEAKER_00]: There's nothing in the court, like records.

[SPEAKER_00]: There's not no family has said anything.

[SPEAKER_00]: Nothing.

[SPEAKER_01]: Well, yeah, and so like I said, I didn't do any digging on her.

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know what she did.

[SPEAKER_00]: And their life was just functioning.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like their marriage was just, it appeared to outside and looking in, just be functioning.

[SPEAKER_00]: They were having kids, they were growing a family.

[SPEAKER_00]: So who knows how it was inside, but it's just crazy to think about.

[SPEAKER_00]: And to think that he killed Sandra has a newborn [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, at least it might have actually been to I I I I'll have to go back and actually do the math I don't want to be wrong because I think it could be to maybe even three or four, but yeah a long time because you have to remember that the the enemy declared the death of suicide and once that's on a death certificate you can't go try to take that to a car a court and argue that someone killed her if the if the manner or cause of death is suicide.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I mean, it just makes your case that much harder.

[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, a defense attorney could easily say, how can you accuse my client of killing this person when on the desert if it says suicide?

[SPEAKER_01]: They killed themselves.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's hard to argue with that.

[SPEAKER_01]: So by mid February 2021, the case kind of seemed to stall.

[SPEAKER_01]: No charges were brought, officially remained a suicide case, and then on February 11, detectives interviewed Farwell's twin brother William, and he made a surprising admission.

[SPEAKER_01]: He acknowledged that he too had engaged in a sexual relationship with Sandra.

[SPEAKER_01]: What?

[SPEAKER_01]: Even as recently as 2020.

[SPEAKER_01]: William said Sandra had told him that she was pregnant and that she claimed Matthew, his brother, was the father.

[SPEAKER_00]: So she was having sex with all of them?

[SPEAKER_01]: Correct.

[SPEAKER_01]: And not only that, but this guy, William, would send Sandra videos and images of him having sex with his wife because, oh, by the way, he's also married.

[SPEAKER_01]: I know.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's insane.

[SPEAKER_01]: Did did she know did the wife know have no identity is the wife?

[SPEAKER_01]: No, I don't know.

[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I'm sure she knows now How long was that going on?

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know as as recently as 2020, so it probably happened But it's a rare time because it all goes back to Matthew [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I mean, Matthew is like the center of it and William, his own brother was also having this inappropriate relationship with her.

[SPEAKER_01]: They were both just exploiting and using this girl.

[SPEAKER_01]: And still, no one is held accountable at that time, even when he comes out and admits that he had been having this relationship with her.

[SPEAKER_01]: At the time, it seemed like this tragedy of her death was on the verge of fading into an official record just as an unfortunate suicide.

[SPEAKER_01]: but her loved ones were not about to let the matter drop, they refused to believe the suicide determination and they kept pressing authorities to look closer.

[SPEAKER_01]: So for over a year, they got little traction and then in 2022, Stoton's new police chief Donna McNamara, who we love her, okay?

[SPEAKER_01]: Conducted an internal affairs investigation into the conduct of her officers, Matthew Farwell, [SPEAKER_01]: And she determined in announced publicly on September 22nd of 2022.

[SPEAKER_01]: She announced publicly that they had all grossly violated department policies in their dealings with Sandra Birchmore, and the report accused William Farwell of having multiple inappropriate physical encounters with Sandra, and even exchanging explicit photos and messages with her while he was on duty.

[SPEAKER_01]: And it was also found that William had tried to introduce Sandra to other men, suggesting that there was this pattern of exploitation beyond just the far-well twins.

[SPEAKER_01]: But I want to point out that around this time, the Massachusetts POST Commission, which certifies police officers took note of the scandal and in March of 2023, [SPEAKER_01]: Matthew Farwell was de-certified as a police officer, meaning that he agreed to surrender, any future law, any future in law enforcement in exchange for not contesting the facts, though he did not formally admit wrongdoing.

[SPEAKER_01]: So he had already resigned from Stoten PD back in April of 2022 and has brother William resigned in August of 2022 after being placed on leave.

[SPEAKER_01]: So none of the [SPEAKER_00]: What was the deal?

[SPEAKER_00]: They said we don't get to be on the force, but we can't be intro.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like like barred?

[SPEAKER_01]: Well, that's only when it comes to their certification as police officers.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's not within the court of law or anything like that.

[SPEAKER_01]: They're just saying we're not going to contest the reasons that you want to de-certify us just to sort of buy us and we'll go away.

[SPEAKER_01]: So then the break through.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's basically a mission of guilt.

[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, yeah, like a mission by omission, I guess.

[SPEAKER_00]: A mission of at least of at least, yeah, I had inappropriate relations.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_01]: Well, here's where things get even more interesting.

[SPEAKER_01]: So the breakthrough in Sanders case came from fresh eyes and new expertise.

[SPEAKER_01]: In 2023, federal investigators quietly began to re-examine Sanders death.

[SPEAKER_01]: And they actually, one of the family's moves was to enlist a famed forensic pathologist, my friend, Dr.

Michael Bodden.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yes, to review Sanders autopsy and evidence, and in June of 2024, so just last summer, Dr.

Bodden concluded that Sandra had been the victim of a homicide, not a suicide, and this expert opinion gave weight to what the family had been saying all along, and at this point, [SPEAKER_01]: Now they can take it and say, yes, now they can say, let's figure out who is responsible for this, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: So in August of 2024, acting U.S.

[SPEAKER_01]: attorney Joshua Levy announced a rare federal indictment.

[SPEAKER_01]: Matthew Farwell was charged with killing a witness or victim, which is a federal crime.

[SPEAKER_01]: Levy explained, when someone comes to our office with credible information that a police officer may have been involved in a murder, we're going to investigate that case every time.

[SPEAKER_01]: And it appears that the credible information came from the combination of the family's persistence, the wrongful death suit revelations, and then possible overlaps with another case that had drawn federal interests, which more on that soon.

[SPEAKER_01]: But regardless on August 28th, Matthew Farwell, [SPEAKER_01]: was at, he was 38 at the time.

[SPEAKER_01]: This is last summer and he was arrested at a shopping center and brought in to federal court in Boston.

[SPEAKER_01]: He was indicted on one count of murdering Sandra Birchmore to prevent her from reporting his crimes.

[SPEAKER_01]: He pleaded not guilty to the charge.

[SPEAKER_01]: So obviously, like we know, the motive is clear.

[SPEAKER_01]: That case has not gone to trial yet.

[SPEAKER_01]: When it does, of course, I will update you.

[SPEAKER_01]: he is currently awaiting trial.

[SPEAKER_01]: And now here is not free.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't believe he is free.

[SPEAKER_01]: I believe he is still.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know for sure.

[SPEAKER_01]: Let me look it up.

[SPEAKER_00]: Now I'm curious.

[SPEAKER_01]: Well hold down.

[SPEAKER_01]: But you're phone down.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because I'm about to blow your freaking mind.

[SPEAKER_01]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_01]: The twist that I never even [SPEAKER_01]: just a couple months ago in June of 2025 this summer long after Sanders death DNA testing revealed that Matthew Farwell was not actually the father of Sanders unborn baby.

[SPEAKER_01]: I know, but I still think he killed her.

[SPEAKER_01]: He definitely killed her.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I mean, because he thought the [SPEAKER_01]: So it just blows my mind because his whole motive was to keep her quiet and to prevent himself from having to be responsible for another baby, how was he going to support this baby, how like who knew what you know, Sandra was going to do once the baby came, she could try to get him for child support or whatever else.

[SPEAKER_01]: His motive in his mind was I got to put a stop to this.

[SPEAKER_01]: So he kills her and then it comes out just in June.

[SPEAKER_01]: Years after he killed her [SPEAKER_01]: that the baby wasn't even his.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's still a dirt bag.

[SPEAKER_01]: He's still a dirt bag that's absolutely, but to think like you didn't have to kill her, you never had to kill her because the baby wasn't even yours anyway.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's just kind of a fine story.

[SPEAKER_00]: So he's still awaiting trial, though.

[SPEAKER_01]: correct.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now, we don't even know also I want to point out we don't know if Sandra was aware of this possibility or if she truly believed 100% that it was his but regardless, Matt didn't know either at the time.

[SPEAKER_01]: So the motivation attributed to him remains, he thought the baby was his and that Sandra would expose him so he sought to eliminate that threat.

[SPEAKER_01]: One thing I don't know is if William, his brother, could be the biological father, because they were reportedly having sex also.

[SPEAKER_01]: So as far as who is the father, we don't know, we just know that Matthew is not.

[SPEAKER_01]: So, as of this writing, Matthew Farwell awaits trial on the federal charge.

[SPEAKER_01]: He has pleaded not guilty, and through his attorney will likely contest the evidence, perhaps claiming that Sandra did take her own life.

[SPEAKER_01]: The legal process will play out in federal court where prosecutors will present the mountain of text messages, the timeline forensic analysis, and witness testimonies to make sure that their case is clear that this is a first degree murder case.

[SPEAKER_01]: One thing I forgot to mention, I believe, is that another piece of evidence, the family found interesting was that this necklace that Sandra always wore was broken.

[SPEAKER_01]: It was found broken.

[SPEAKER_01]: Still on her person, but broken, like in the middle of the chain.

[SPEAKER_01]: So it wasn't like she had meant to take it off or anything like that.

[SPEAKER_01]: It was broken, which would suggest that it was broken during a struggle and arguably the struggle that took her life.

[SPEAKER_01]: So I'm sure that's another huge piece [SPEAKER_00]: Why is it a piece of, I guess I'm not following because was broke because she was strangled.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, so they will use that as a piece of evidence to suggest the state well, not the defense.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm not saying he can argue that.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's just another piece of evidence that further bolsters the claim that he committed this act, because the necklace was broken and it was found on her.

[SPEAKER_00]: But if she was hanging herself, if that was the argument, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_00]: Then our necklace could break also.

[SPEAKER_01]: Well, I guess.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now you're thinking, like, a defense attorney.

[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, I guess.

[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, unless I like Lee.

[SPEAKER_00]: The guy's guilty, no question.

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't understand why I broke a necklace matters.

[SPEAKER_01]: Well, because you would assume that, you know, you're not going to let your necklace break or like you're not going to break your own necklace while you're hanging yourself.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like how I just, I don't know how that would happen, but I could easily, I could explain it easier if I'm claiming that he broke the necklace while he strangled her.

[SPEAKER_01]: Well, that is all that I have for you today.

[SPEAKER_01]: As I said, the trial is upcoming.

[SPEAKER_01]: We don't have a date for when it's going to start yet, but I assume that it will be probably live streams and watched similarly to how many other trials, including the Karen Retrial was.

[SPEAKER_01]: So I will certainly keep you updated as we learn more about this case, but ultimately this is just a really sad story that Sandra was failed by so many people.

[SPEAKER_01]: She had a really difficult life.

[SPEAKER_01]: a short life.

[SPEAKER_01]: And just the fact that these men in authority positions are abusing that authority in that badge so grossly is just really disturbing.

[SPEAKER_01]: And it, like I said from the beginning, it certainly does not vote well for Canton PD's reputation.

[SPEAKER_00]: Oh man, not at all.

[SPEAKER_01]: That is all for this week's episode.

[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you so much for listening to Mom and Mystery.

[SPEAKER_01]: If you liked this episode, share it with someone that you know who likes true crime or podcast.

[SPEAKER_01]: And check out our website, Mom and Mystery.com.

[SPEAKER_01]: You can scroll down, leave us a comment.

[SPEAKER_01]: Let me know who you are and where you're from.

[SPEAKER_01]: If you do do that, as always, stay curious, stay vigilant.

[SPEAKER_00]: Mom and Mystery out.