The federal murder trial of former Stoughton police detective Matthew Farwell moved closer to opening statements this week as juror screening intensified.
Forty prospective jurors faced individual questioning Thursday, Oct. 8, at the Moakley Federal Courthouse in Boston. Farwell, 40, is charged with strangling 23-year-old Sandra Birchmore in her Canton apartment in February 2021 and staging her death to look like a suicide. He has pleaded not guilty.
Chief U.S. District Judge Denise Casper told attorneys to prepare for opening statements as soon as Friday, Oct. 9, WCVB reported. Each side will have 45 minutes. The court needs to seat 12 jurors and four alternates before the trial can proceed.
Hundreds screened, none seated
Of the 411 prospective jurors who reported to the courthouse Tuesday, Oct. 6, prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed to excuse 102, according to WCVB. No jurors had been seated after the first two days of selection.
Jurors filled out written questionnaires Tuesday and were told to call the court Wednesday evening to learn whether they needed to return, Patch reported. Individual questioning continued Thursday, with further voir dire scheduled for Friday.
Once questioning wraps up, both sides can use peremptory challenges to strike jurors without giving a reason until the pool reaches 16, MassLive reported.
What prosecutors allege
Federal prosecutors allege Farwell initiated a sexual relationship with Birchmore in 2012, when she was 15 and he was 27, after she joined the Stoughton Police Explorers program. They say he killed her to stop her from reporting that he had sexually abused her.
Birchmore was eight to 10 weeks pregnant when she died, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Prosecutors say surveillance video showed Farwell entering Birchmore's apartment at 9:14 p.m. the night she died and leaving at 9:43 p.m., three minutes after her phone recorded its final movement.
Her death was originally ruled a suicide. Earlier in 2026, the Massachusetts Office of the Chief Medical Examiner changed her manner of death to "undetermined," NBC Boston reported.
Laptop data lost before arrest
At an Oct. 2 pretrial hearing, defense attorney Joanne Daley revealed that Massachusetts State Police lost the raw data from Birchmore's laptop four days before Farwell's arrest. A server used to review the device "crashed completely and failed" on Aug. 24, 2024, leaving investigators with only a PDF extraction, the Boston Herald reported.
"They lost everything," Daley told the judge.
Farwell was arrested by the FBI on Aug. 28, 2024. He faces two federal charges: killing a witness or victim and causing the death of a child in utero. If convicted, he faces a mandatory life sentence. The Department of Justice announced in December 2025 that it would not seek the death penalty.
What's ahead
The trial is expected to last about five weeks, with testimony spanning roughly 20 days. Proceedings will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays in Courtroom 10. Court will not be in session Monday, Oct. 12, because of Indigenous Peoples Day.
A Boston.com report noted that a Facebook group calling for "justice for Sandra Birchmore" has about 21,000 members, though no demonstrations were visible outside the courthouse on the first day of jury selection. Cameras are not permitted in the federal courtroom.
