Farwell Defense Calls Ex-Boyfriend, State Medical Examiner to Testimony

The defense in the Matthew Farwell trial began presenting its case on Thursday by calling William Kilroy, the ex-boyfriend of the late Sandra Birchmore, to the stand. Kilroy testified that he met Birchmore in 2016 at Massasoit Community College. The pair dated for several months before breaking up, a split Kilroy attributed to Birchmore’s struggle to cope with the deaths of her mother and grandmother.

Kilroy told the court that during this period of grief, Birchmore shared suicidal thoughts with him. When asked if she relayed such thoughts, Kilroy answered, "At times, yes." He further testified that in 2018, Birchmore informed him she had been pregnant with his child but suffered a miscarriage. Kilroy stated that she subsequently threatened to commit suicide and would name him as a reason in her suicide note.

During cross-examination, the prosecution inquired whether Birchmore had actually attempted suicide during that timeframe. Kilroy confirmed that she did not. The defense’s argument builds on testimony from a witness who appeared on Wednesday, where it was stated that Birchmore told him in 2017 that she had tried to end her life.

The prosecution had rested its case on Wednesday after calling 38 witnesses. Their theory of the case posits that Farwell, a former Stoughton police officer, strangled Birchmore in her Canton apartment on Feb. 1, 2021. Prosecutors argued he staged the death as a suicide to conceal a years-long sexual relationship that allegedly began when Birchmore was 15. Farwell and Birchmore had met when she was a 13-year-old cadet in the Stoughton Police Department's youth explorers program.

Digital forensics expert Jessica Hyde, the prosecution’s final witness, detailed the final moments recorded on Birchmore’s phone. Hyde testified that the device locked for the last time at 9:13 p.m. On surveillance video, a masked Farwell entered the apartment building one minute later. At 9:18 p.m., the phone’s camera app was opened. By 9:40 p.m., the phone recorded eight steps, and 20 seconds later, a button was touched. Farwell was not seen leaving the apartment until nearly three minutes after that final documented activity.

Farwell faces federal charges of killing a witness or victim and causing the death of an unborn child. He has pleaded not guilty to both counts. If convicted, he faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison. The Massachusetts chief medical examiner is also scheduled to testify as part of the defense’s case.