Sandra Birchmore social media sleuth questions police corruption

( NewsNation ) — Melissa Berry, an administrator for the Facebook page “ Justice for Sandra Birchmore ,” questions whether Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey and the Massachusetts state police helped cover up an alleged staged suicide.

A former Massachusetts detective was indicted last week in relation to the killing of Birchmore, a pregnant woman whose death he allegedly staged to appear like a suicide in 2021. The investigation found Matthew Farwell had “multiple inappropriate physical encounters” with Birchmore and sent her sexually explicit photos while on duty. Farwell pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Berry said she and other social media sleuths want to know why Morrissey didn’t charge Farwell with murder after allegedly seeing surveillance video of the pair at Birchmore’s apartment four days before her death.

Berry referenced the Karen Read case, where Mass State Police Trooper Michael Proctor sent offensive texts about Read to friends, family and fellow troopers during the investigation.

“One of them happened to be one of the troopers covering Sandra’s case,” Berry said on “ Banfield.” “It makes you wonder if they were doing the same thing that handled Sandra’s case.”

Two other officers, William Farwell, Matthew’s twin brother, and Robert Devine also reportedly had inappropriate relationships with Birchmore.

Farwell was arrested at a shopping plaza in the city of Revere after he was indicted on charges he strangled Birchmore in early 2021 after she told him she was pregnant and he was the father. Birchmore was 23 years old.

Farwell killed Birchmore to prevent authorities from finding out details of his sexual offenses, according to allegations in the indictment.

Farwell worked as an officer for the police department in Stoughton, south of Boston, for 10 years, from 2012 until 2022. It wasn’t immediately clear why he left the department.

Birchmore began participating in the police explorers program when she was 12 years old, according to the indictment in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts.

Court documents say that Farwell, who was a police explorers volunteer, used his authority and access to groom, sexually exploit and then sexually abuse Birchmore when she was 15 and that he continued to have sex with her when she became an adult.

“During some of the shifts when Farwell was supposed to be performing his duties as a Stoughton police officer, he was instead engaged in sex acts with Birchmore,” according to the indictment.

In late 2020, Birchmore found out she was pregnant and told Farwell, according to the indictment.

FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Stephen Kelleher said Birchmore was excited when she found out she was pregnant and texted Farwell a poster she made celebrating the pregnancy. She had also reached out to a friend about baby clothes and to a photographer about potential baby photos, according to Kelleher.

Kelleher called the allegations against Farwell “depraved.”

“Matthew Farwell’s gun and badge did not grant him authority to violate the Constitution, and it certainly didn’t entitle him to sexually exploit, abuse, and rape a child before killing her and her unborn baby in an attempt to cover up his alleged crimes,” he said.

Investigators also believed Farwell staged the apartment to make it look like she had died by suicide, Kelleher said.

The next month, a friend of Birchmore’s called the Stoughton Police Department to tell them Farwell had been having sex with Birchmore.

Farwell strangled Birchmore sometime around Feb. 1, 2021, and then used his police knowledge to stage her apartment to make it look as though she had died by suicide, according to the indictment.

On some occasions, Farwell had been on duty when he sexually abused Birchmore as a minor and he falsely claimed certain work hours to hide that offending behavior, court documents say.

Stoughton Police Chief Donna McNamara said Wednesday that the department had worked with other agencies, including the FBI, to investigate.

“The day after Sandra Birchmore was found dead in her Canton apartment, I ordered a lengthy and aggressive internal affairs investigation, the instructions of which made it clear that no stone should be left unturned,” McNamara said in a statement.

“The alleged murder of Sandra is a horrific injustice,” McNamara said. “The allegations against the suspect, a former Stoughton Police Officer, represent the single worst act of not just professional misconduct but indeed human indecency that I have observed in a nearly three-decade career in law enforcement.”

If convicted of killing a witness or victim, Farwell would face a minimum sentence of life in prison. Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy on Wednesday declined to comment on whether federal authorities would seek to impose the death penalty if Farwell is found guilty, saying the decision would be made by the Department of Justice in Washington.

Massachusetts has outlawed capital punishment.

Another hearing is scheduled for Oct. 17.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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