Overview
- Chief U.S. District Judge Denise J. Casper rejected Farwell’s motion to dismiss the superseding indictment, allowing the federal prosecution to proceed.
- The two-count indictment accuses Farwell of killing Sandra Birchmore and causing the death of her unborn child under a federal unborn victims statute, with prosecutors alleging he staged the scene as a suicide.
- Casper concluded the indictment states a federal offense and provides sufficient detail about potential communications to report alleged federal crimes, rejecting defense claims of a missing federal nexus and inadequate specificity.
- A motions hearing is set for Thursday at 2 p.m. in federal court in Boston, the trial is scheduled for October 2026, and prosecutors have been directed by U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi not to seek the death penalty.
- Farwell has pleaded not guilty and remains detained in Rhode Island, and DNA testing has excluded him as the father of Birchmore’s unborn baby according to court filings reported by the Boston Globe.