Overview
- At a Boston federal court hearing Tuesday, Matthew Farwell asked to be released on bail after more than a year and a half in custody since his August 2024 arrest, and he remains pleaded not guilty.
- Prosecutors allege Farwell strangled Sandra Birchmore in 2021 and staged a suicide, pointing to testing they say found his DNA as the major profile on a duffel strap used as a ligature and DNA in her underwear.
- Phone records disclosed by prosecutors show Farwell’s iPhone accessed pornography involving teenage girls after Birchmore’s death, and they say a goodbye note to a friend signals a risk if he is freed.
- The defense cites the state medical examiner’s ruling of suicide, argues the strap carried a complex DNA mix with multiple contributors, says the videos were legal adult content, and notes Farwell was excluded as the unborn baby’s father.
- A superseding indictment last fall added an unborn-victim count tied to Birchmore’s pregnancy, and the case is set for a May 26 suppression hearing before an October trial.