BOSTON — The defense is beginning to build its case in the trial of Matthew Farwell.
Thursday, they brought three people in front of the jury, including Sandra Birchmore’s ex-boyfriend, the Chief Medical Examiner of Massachusetts, and a Medical Examiner Assistant.
William Kilroy was the first witness on the stand.
Kilroy testified that he met Birchmore in 2016 at Massasoit Community College and they dated around the time both her mother and grandmother passed away.
Kilroy remembers Birchmore being depressed, upset, and confused at that time.
He said she did not talk directly about wanting to hurt herself, but more about suicidal ideation.
“She talked about wanting to join her grandmother,” Kilroy said.
They remained in each other’s lives after their breakup.
But when Kilroy wanted to end their friendship entirely, he said Birchmore claimed she had been pregnant and had a miscarriage.
Kilroy said, “She claimed it was mine.”
He continued, “She claimed that she was going to commit and blame me for it.”
Kilroy clarified, “Commit suicide and put me in the note as one of the reasons.”
The prosecution pointed out this was in 2017 and not the year she died or the three years prior.
They asked Kilroy, “She was a fighter?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Kilroy responded.
The prosecution asked, “She was resilient?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said.
Boston 25 Legal Analyst Peter Elikann weighed in as the defense calls witnesses.
Elikann said, “The defense does not have as difficult a job as the prosecution has. The defense does not really have to prove the case. They just have to raise some reasonable doubt.”
He said they can go about their case in two ways.
“One is that they can try to plug away at the idea that, hey, maybe she was depressed or had some mental health issues and try to pull calls into that. Additionally, they can bring an expert on who maybe counters what the prosecution’s experts said as far as the actual scientific medical analysis,” said Elikann.
Elikann believes this will come down to a battle of the experts from each side.
“Inarguably, the prosecution did put on an excellent, very strong case. And the defense is going to have to kind of have somebody counter. Every point that the prosecution made point by point,” Elikann said.
Friday, the defense is expected to call only one witness.
Next week, at least eight people are set to testify through Wednesday, but the defense said there could be more fact witnesses added.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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