Episode Details

The federal trial of former Stoughton officer Matthew Farwell has put two searches from February 9, 2021, before a jury. An iPhone linked to him asked whether consent can be revoked under Massachusetts law and whether deleted messages can be retrieved using Cellebrite. Sandra Birchmore had died eight days earlier.

Prosecutors allege Farwell killed Sandra to keep her from revealing their relationship, then staged the scene. Farwell has denied the federal murder charge. His lawyers contend she died by suicide. These competing accounts are central to the trial; the significance of the digital evidence remains for jurors to decide.

Yet the case extends beyond one defendant. Sandra’s family has pursued civil claims involving Matthew’s twin brother William Farwell and former Stoughton deputy chief Robert Devine. Allegations in that lawsuit concern their conduct toward Sandra and the department’s handling of the situation. Those allegations are not convictions, and they do not mean either man has been charged with her death.

Tony Brueski and defense lawyer Bob Motta examine why the police department’s actions have become a major part of the story. An FBI investigation opened in October 2023, more than two years after Sandra’s death, and later developed into the federal criminal case. That gap forces a careful look at what local investigators collected, what questions were pursued, and which decisions federal prosecutors now challenge.

An FBI examiner also testified that Sandra’s phone was last unlocked at 9:13 p.m. on February 1, 2021. Motion readings appeared later in the evening, while building video placed Farwell at her apartment complex. The combined record is more than one dramatic search query. It is a timeline the government and defense are asking the same jury to interpret in different ways.

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