BOSTON — The government rested its case Wednesday in the trial of Matthew Farwell.
Prosecutors brought their final two witnesses to the stand in the morning before turning the trial over to the defense.
Jurors heard from 38 witnesses from the prosecution.
Special Agent Heidi Kelsch with the FBI took the stand twice, including very briefly Wednesday morning.
The final witness was a digital forensic expert, Jessica Hyde.
Hyde looked at Sandra Birchmore’s iPhone 12 and Apple Watch data.
She also synced the times of those devices up with the surveillance video from Birchmore’s Canton apartment.
In that video, multiple witnesses said Matthew Farwell is seen walking in the apartment lobby with a mask on and later leaves.
Hyde said the surveillance footage was 13 minutes ahead of real time, so that was adjusted for jurors.
Hyde laid out a timeline of events for jurors.
Jessica Hyde said Sandra Birchmore’s phone was last locked at 9:13pm on February 1st, 2021.
Prosecutors said Matthew Farwell entered Birchmore’s apartment building a minute later at 9:14pm.
The last steps on Birchmore’s iPhone were recorded at 9:40:22pm.
22 seconds later the power button was pressed for the last time.
Three minutes later at 9:43:32pm Matthew Farwell was seen leaving the building.
Timeline on Feb. 1, 2021:
- 9:13pm Birchmore’s phone locked
- 9:14pm Farwell entered the building
- 9:18pm the backlight on the phone comes on, the camera application comes into focus
- 9:40:22pm last steps were recorded on the phone
- 9:40:44pm power button pressed
- 9:43:32pm farwell leaves the building
Birchmore’s device remained locked from 9:13pm until 11:50pm on Feb 3 because, consistent with the battery drain, the phone eventually died and is no longer considered locked when it’s off.
Hyde also looked at the internet searches Birchmore made on her phone.
There was a cached image from Facebook of a purple ribbon.
Hyde said after that image was seen on Facebook, the searches “purple ribbon meaning” and “what color is the suicide ribbon?” were made.
Boston 25 Legal Expert Elyse Hershon calls it compelling evidence to end on. “It narrows down really what her time of death was. We know that Sandra Birchmore used her phone a lot, there’s a lot of text messaging, she ordered DoorDash that day, she uses the camera, she’s on social media, there’s a lot of activity on the phone so for the phone to cease activity right...It is a very reasonable inference to determine that that was around the time where she died,” said Hershon.
Still Hershon said this timeline doesn’t prove whether Farwell left Birchmore’s when she was alive or dead.
“Him seeing her and the last one to see her alive, and all that circumstantial evidence looks very bad for them.” Hershon continued, “There’s a lot of evidence that looks bad but looking bad, is that enough for proof beyond doubt. And the jury can still assess credibility.”
The defense contends that Birchmore died by suicide after Farwell went to her apartment to end their relationship.
The case is now in the hands of the defense.
Hershon reminds that the defense does not have to do anything or call anyone for their case. However, she said, “I anticipate that they might have an explanation as to why Sandra Birchmore would have what could appearing to be bruising or injury to her neck while she was still alive, that it was perhaps from sexual activity and not from a violent struggle and death. So I would anticipate the defense is going to do something with that.”
The defense brought their first witness to the stand Wednesday.
Their case is expected to last at least one-week although they do plan to file a motion for acquittal on Wednesday.
The defense said they will not give a prediction on whether Farwell himself will testify but told the judge it will be his decision.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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