Matthew Farwell, the former Stoughton police officer accused of killing a pregnant woman and staging her death to appear as a suicide, is asking for his upcoming trial to be moved out of the Bay State.
In court documents filed Monday, Farwell’s legal team cites the extensive media coverage of Sandra Birchmore’s death as an obstacle to ensuring a fair trial.
“The reporting on this case has fostered – and continues to foster – widespread public belief that Mr. Farwell is guilty of multiple crimes, including abusing a law enforcement position of trust, of ‘grooming’ Ms. Birchmore and having sex with her while she was a minor, and killing her and ‘staging’ her death as a suicide,” Farwell’s legal team writes.
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.
A previous court filing requested that Farwell’s trial be moved out of Boston. In late 2025, federal prosecutors announced that they wouldn’t seek the death penalty.
Farwell has pleaded not guilty to both deaths.
The judge presiding over the case has scheduled the start of Farwell’s trial for Oct. 5, 2026.
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