‘I decided at that time we needed to hire our own expert pathologist,’ after examining the [previous] autopsy myself and ‘saw certain things in the autopsy report that didn’t gel with the conclusion that it was a suicide – Family’s attorney

Fresh forensic pathology report concludes Sandra Birchmore who claimed she was groomed and sexually abused by three cops did not die by suicide

Sandra Birchmore, 23, was found dead in her apartment in Feb 2021 and three months later,the Massachusetts Chief Medical Examiner ruled she killed herself by hanging

Former New York City Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Michael Baden has since determined Birchmore was actually murdered

Baden states: ‘Ms. Birchmore did not die of suicidal hanging,’ adding ‘The cause of Ms. Birchmore’s death is “strangulation” and the manner of death is “homicide”‘

Prior to her death, Birchmore told her friends that Matthew Farwell was the father of her unborn child, he was also the last person to see her alive

Birchmore’s estate has filed a wrongful death suit against former Stoughton Police Officer Matthew Farwell, 38, whom she claimed fathered her child

Wrongful death suit names Farwell’s twin, William Farwell, 38, and Robert Devine, 52, both former cops, claiming they also groomed and sexually assaulted Birchmore

Fresh forensic pathology report determined that pregnant 23-year-old Sandra Birchmore, [photo], who claimed she was groomed and sexually abused by three Massachusetts cops, was murdered. In contrast the state ME report in 2021, which ruled a suicide after she was found hanging in her apt

A prominent forensic pathologist has determined that a pregnant Massachusetts woman who claimed she was groomed and sexually abused by three serving police officers did not kill herself. The state Medical Examiner reported it as suicide at the time.
When Sandra Birchmore, 23, was found dead in her apartment on February 4, 2021, a report filed by Massachusetts State Police Trooper Matthew Dunne states that he found neither signs of physical abuse nor indications of a struggle.
Subsequently the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled in May 2021 that Birchmore – a former participant in the Stoughton Police Department youth program – killed herself by hanging.
In a fresh twist, former New York City Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Michael Baden has since determined that Birchmore was actually murdered.
‘Ms. Birchmore did not die of suicidal hanging,’ he wrote in a June 18 letter to a lawyer for Birchmore’s estate.
‘The cause of Ms. Birchmore’s death is “strangulation” and the manner of death is “homicide.”‘

Birchmore’s estate has filed a wrongful death suit against former Stoughton Police Officer Matthew Farwell, whom she claimed fathered her child. He was the last person to see her alive

In his report Dr Baden, who in his illustrious career previously led a US House Committee investigation into the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as well as conducting other famous including George Floyd, cites the extensive injuries suffered by Birchmore’s injuries and the placement of a ligature as factors for his determination.
Going further the pathologist noted that Birchmore had fractured her right hyoid bone – a small U-shaped bone in the neck – which he said fractures ‘rarely, if at all, in suicidal hanging’ but does occur in ‘half of homicidal strangulation of women.’
Baden also pointed to autopsy photos, which showed a piece of a ligature was found entangled in Birchmore’s hair, which Baden said, ‘occurs when there is resistance during homicidal strangulation.’
Concluding that Birchmore would have lost consciousness ‘within seconds’ after the ligature was fastened around her neck, and died ‘within a few minutes.’

Birchmore’s estate wrongful death suit names Mathew Farwell’s twin brother, William Farwell, [photo], also a former Stoughton Police Officer, claiming he groomed and sexually assaulted her

The wrongful death suit also names a third former officer Robert Devine [photo], as defendants. He is similarly accused of grooming and sexually assaulting Birchmore

Baden also wrote that the ligature was found tied to a doorknob, adding that he believes that was done to ‘give the appearance of a suicidal hanging’ even though she was happy about her pregnancy and didn’t leave a suicide note.
The former medical examiner was asked to review the records of Birchwood’s death by attorney Steven J. Marullo, who is representing her estate in a wrongful death suit.
Marullo said ‘I decided at that time we needed to hire our own expert pathologist,’ after he examined the autopsy himself and ‘saw certain things in the autopsy report that didn’t gel with the conclusion that it was a suicide.

Sandra Birchmore [right], joined the Stoughton Police Department’s Explorer’s Program at the age of 13. The wrongful death suit said she admired law enforcement officers, and claimed these former cops took advantage of that 

The bombshell report comes as Birchmore’s family is suing three former employees of the Stoughton Police Department – Matthew G. Farwell, 38, his twin brother William Farwell, and Robert C. Devine, 52 – The trio have been accused of grooming and sexually assaulting Birchmore as a minor, from the time she entered the department’s Youth Explorer’s Program at the age of 13.
The civil suit claims these adult men ‘undertook to engage in inappropriate relationships with [Birchmore], who was a minor when the sexual relationships were initiated, abusing her trust and adoration of law enforcement, which through their inappropriate and undue influence, ultimately led her to allegedly take her own life’.
The suit names the town and Stoughton police department, alleging “wrongful death, negligence, negligent supervision, negligent retention, pain and suffering, and emotional distress” over what it described as a years-long grooming scheme.

Former officer Robert Devine, seen [photo], with 13-year-old Sandra Birchmore, a member of the Stoughton Police Department’s Explorer’s Program. Devine, 52, has been named in a lawsuit as one of the cops who groomed then sexually assaulted the teen

Prior to her death, Birchmore reportedly told her friends that Matthew Farwell was the father of her unborn child – a claim he has repeatedly denied.
But he was also the last person to see Birchmore alive. Farwell was caught on surveillance footage entering Birchmore’s apartment on February 1, 2021.
His wife would give birth to a boy the next day.
During an ensuing investigation with the State Police, Farwell said he told Birchmore that night he wasn’t the child’s father, ‘it was all over’ and he was ‘blocking her from all forms of communication,’ according to the Globe.
‘Matt said that Sandra was upset, but she did not make any suicidal statements at all,’ State Police Lt. John Fanning wrote in his report at the time.
‘Matt said that he left, and Sandra was standing in the kitchen,’  Lt. Fanning stated.
As the investigation continued, police found hundreds of explicit messages sent between Birchmore and Matthew Farwell over the course of several years, NBC Boston reports.
By 2023, Fanning even wrote in an affidavit that investigators looked into whether Mathew Farwell could be charged with aggravated statutory rape, as evidence showed that he began a relationship with Birchmore when she was 15 and he was 27. 
While the prior reports centered on Matthew Farwell, his twin brother William Farwell it is alleged, in addition to allegedly having multiple inappropriate encounters with Birchmore, was accused of exchanging explicit messages and photos with her while he was on duty.
He was also accused of “at the very least” trying to introduce Birchmore to other men.
And in a decision in the wrongful death suit earlier this year, Superior Court Judge Brian A Davis wrote that Devine and William Farwell had sex with Birchmore in their patrol cars when she was an adult, citing an unredacted copy of a Stoughton police internal affairs report.

Prior to being found dead in her apartment on February 4, 2021, Sandra Birchmore had stated that a police officer Mathew Farwell was responsible for her pregnancy. The state ME ruled her death a suicide, but as Dr Baden wrote in afresh medical examination, the state ME ‘apparently did not send fetal tissue for DNA analysis to determine who the father was’

Dr Baden’s report highlights shoddy practices in the prior investigation, including the fact that despite the allusions to undecided paternity, the state medical examiner ‘apparently did not send fetal tissue for DNA analysis to determine who the father was.’
State Police records show that investigators asked Farwell in 2021 to provide DNA samples, but he refused.
Furthermore, swabs from Birchmore’s body, hair and fingernails, and the clothing she was wearing, were taken for a sexual assault kit – but Baden said it ‘appears’ the evidence was not tested.
He states that the kit and fetal tissue could still be examined
Responding to elements of the report, David Traub, a spokesman for Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrisey said ‘DNA testing has been done on items with the potential to produce evidence of the potential crimes being investigated, and other items have been preserved.’
Declining to give any more details he simply adds ‘multiple agencies continue to investigate.’

Protesters demand justice – The cops named have never been charged with any wrongdoing. Instead, all three were allowed to resign from the Stoughton PD in 2022

The three officers mentioned have never been charged with any wrongdoing, but the Stoughton police department announced that its internal affairs investigation found the officers violated their oaths and rendered them ‘unfit to serve.’  
All three officers then resigned from the police department in 2022.
In March, the Peace Officers Standards and Training Commission also approved an agreement with Matthew Farwell that prohibits him from working as a cop in Massachusetts and added him to a national database of sanctioned officer.
As part of the agreement, Farwell did not admit to any wrongdoing.
The commission is also seeking to decertify William Farwell and suspend or decertify Devine.
Those proceedings are still pending. 

Stoughton Police Chief Donna McNamara who has vowed to continue to work with investigators – has called for Birchmore’s cause of death to be re-examined

In the meantime, Stoughton Police Chief Donna McNamara has called for Birchmore’s cause of death to be re-examined.
‘I was profoundly disturbed and troubled by what I read,’ she said of Baden’s letter in a statement posted to the police department’s website Monday.
‘While I am not a trained medical examiner, and I am not qualified to draw any direct conclusions, the findings certainly warrant further examination at the highest level.’
She vowed to continue working with investigators – noting that she previously released information about ‘the horrific injustices, including grooming and sexual abuse inflicted upon Sandra Birchmore at the hands of one rogue and corrupt former police officer and additional inappropriate sexual relationships by other former police officers.
The case it is reported has shined a light on allegations of abuse in the Explorers program, through which local police mentor youth in the community. Last month, The Marshall Project said it found at least 193 other allegations of inappropriate behavior from law enforcement, including grooming and sexual abuse, involving the Explorers program in the last 50 years.
Chief McNamara vows that as ‘Sandra received not so much as a sliver of justice during her life, and we will not cease in our efforts to ensure our duty to administer justice, and she is not forgotten in the aftermath of her death.’