"We wanted to make sure we got a statement out of him, whether truthful or otherwise."
That's the Massachusetts state trooper who investigated Sandra Birchmore's death, explaining to a federal jury why he and his supervisor interviewed the married Stoughton detective at the center of her life in a school parking lot. No recording. No notes.
Week one of United States v. Matthew Farwell is in the books, and the federal government is prosecuting two things at once: the former detective accused of killing Sandra, and the state investigation that called her death a suicide for three and a half years. We go day by day through opening statements and the first four days of testimony, then give you our current verdict prediction.
In this episode:
Opening statements: the government's "ultimatum" theory, the January 20, 2021 call to Stoughton police, and the closet texts eight days before Sandra died
The defense case: an affair, a breakup, a suicide ribbon search, and a fight over the science, the DNA, and the mask
The weekend motions: three women, "any one of you," and why one sentence raised the judge's eyebrows
Trooper Matthew Dunne under fire: the broken necklace, the duffel bag, and the parking lot
Sgt. Robert Kuhn, Lesley Davis, Chief Donna McNamara, and Nicholas Guarino (yes, that Guarino)
"Mfarwell1," lost files, an Apple Watch nobody could open, and a recording of the January 20 call that automatically purged
The FBI takes the stand: her phone's last steps at 9:40 p.m., a baby name list, and the Cellebrite searches
Reality Check: where the case stands
SOURCES Rough transcript of opening statements (U.S. Attorney's Office, D. Mass.): https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/media/1465501/dl CBS Boston, openings: https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/matthew-farwell-sandra-birchmore-trial-opening-statements/ CBS Boston, Oct 13: https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/matthew-farwell-trial-sandra-birchmore-stoughton-ma/ CBS Boston, Oct 15: https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/matthew-farwell-trial-updates-sandra-birchmore/ CBS Boston, Oct 16: https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/matthew-farwell-trial-testimony-sandra-birchmore-massachusetts/ Boston Globe, Oct 15: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2026/10/15/metro/sandra-birchmore-trial-live-updates/ Boston Globe, Oct 16: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2026/10/16/metro/sandra-birchmore-trial-live-updates/ NBC Boston, affairs motion: https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/matthew-farwell-trial-prosecutors-want-3-women-he-allegedly-had-affairs-with-to-testify/4029669/ LA Magazine: https://lamag.com/crimeinla/cop-accused-of-murder-wore-mask-only-at-crime-scene-witness-tells-jury/ Pew Research Center: https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/06/14/fewer-than-1-of-defendants-in-federal-criminal-cases-were-acquitted-in-2022/
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