The Matthew Farwell Trial: Week One Recap

"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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