Prosecution uses therapist testimony to challenge suicide theory in Farwell trial

BOSTON — The prosecution’s case is winding down in the trial of Matthew Farwell.

Only a handful of witnesses are expected to testify before the trial is handed over to the defense.

Jurors heard from one of Sandra Birchmore’s close friends and her therapist on Friday.

Sandra Birchmore’s therapist, Diala Alkhalil, left the federal courthouse with tears in her eyes after testifying.

Alkhalil first started treating Birchmore as a child when she was 10 or 11, then again in 2016 after the death of her mom and grandmother a month apart.

“She was very resilient,” Alkhalil said of Birchmore.

She continued, “She overcame a lot. Even if she was going through the hardest times, she was goal-oriented.”

Alkhalil has an appointment with Birchmore on January 31, 2021, the day before Birchmore died.

“She reported to me that she was worried about something happening to her in her apartment,” Alkhalil said.

The therapist said Birchmore had a visit from her mom in the middle of the night.

Alkhalil told jurors that Sandra was awake, the room turned cold, and her dead mother appeared at the end of her bed carrying her unborn baby.

The defense pressed Alkhalil about this as a hallucination from Sandra.

“I didn’t endorse it, but I was respectful of her belief,” said Diala Alkhalil.

Defense attorney Joanne Daley asked, “You didn’t qualify that as a hallucination?”

“No,” Alkhalil said.

Alkhalil said she learned Birchmore had died from an unknown number leaving her a voicemail.

“I was shocked, in disbelief. I listened to that voicemail over and over again.” She continued, “I had just seen her on the 31st, and there was no indication of any suicidal ideation. Active, passive, planned.”

Alkhalil said she called State Police after learning of Birchmore’s death.

Boston 25 Legal Expert Elyse Hershon weighed in.

She said the prosecution is bringing in witnesses to try and shut the door on any possibility that it was a suicide.

“Just because you don’t have evidence of something doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. It doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. It just means there’s no evidence of it. And what the prosecution wants to do is say, well, there’s no evidence. That she was even thinking about suicide. So therefore, it could not be a possibility. That’s the theory they’re going with. The defense is saying maybe there wasn’t evidence of it, but it’s still a possibility,” said Hershon.

Birchmore’s close friend Lindsay Crean also testified Friday.

She said, “This was the happiest I’d seen her since before her mother and grandmother passed,” as she described Birchmore’s mental state after getting pregnant.

Crean said the Birchmore believed the baby “was an angel sent from her mother who had passed.”

Next week Alkhalil will finish her testimony.

Jurors will also hear from the medical examiner and Farwell’s twin brother who Birchmore also had a sexual relationship with.

With the current timeline, closing arguments could happen the first week of November.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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