CANTON, Mass. — The family of Sandra Birchmore, the young woman allegedly killed by a former Stoughton Police Department detective, is asking a court to issue a no‑contact order against his defense team.
Birchmore’s family claims Federal Public Defender’s Office investigators working on behalf of Matthew Farwell visited the home of the son of Darlene Smith, who is the personal representative of Birchmore’s estate, according to court documents obtained by Boston 25 News.
“The plaintiff, through her counsel, seeks injunctive relief prohibiting, restraining, and/or enjoining counsel, to the defendant Matthew Farwell, from contacting or attempting to contact the plaintiff or the plaintiff’s immediate family,” the documents stated.
Farwell is accused of killing Birchmore by strangling her on February 1, 2021, and then staging her apartment to make it look like a suicide after she informed him he was the father of her unborn child. He was also a married father of three at the time.
Farwell has been in prison since August 2024, and is charged with her murder and causing the death of Birchmore’s unborn child.
He has pleaded not guilty to both deaths.
Farwell recently asked to be released on $50,000 bail. His lawyers argue that he has demonstrated he’s not a danger to the community or a flight risk. The court filing also said an unidentified person is the biological father of Birchmore’s unborn child, not Farwell or his brother, who is a named defendant in the civil lawsuit.
The prosecution alleges that Farwell’s DNA was found in Birchmore’s underwear at the time of her death. They also say that there’s evidence of Farwell’s state of mind before he murdered Birchmore.
The judge presiding over the case has scheduled the start of Farwell’s trial for Oct. 5, 2026.
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