Sign up for the Today newsletter
Get everything you need to know to start your day, delivered right to your inbox every morning.
Friday’s ‘Dateline’ to tackle Sandra Birchmore case
“The Betrayal of Sandra Birchmore” will air at 10 p.m.
The Sandra Birchmore case is in the national spotlight Friday as NBC’s “Dateline” delves into the story of the pregnant 23-year-old allegedly killed by a Stoughton police officer who had groomed her from childhood.
“The Betrayal of Sandra Birchmore” is scheduled to air Friday at 10 p.m., featuring interviews with some of Birchmore’s family members, a former coworker, and Stoughton Police Chief Donna McNamara.
When Birchmore was found dead in her Canton apartment in February 2021, state authorities initially ruled her death a suicide, despite evidence that Birchmore was excited about her pregnancy and was in the middle of doing laundry when she died.
Previously:
-
Former Stoughton officer charged with killing Sandra Birchmore likely to stay in custody for now
-
A timeline of Sandra Birchmore’s relationship with her alleged killer, former Stoughton police officer Matthew Farwell
-
Former Stoughton police officer Matthew Farwell indicted on charges of killing Sandra Birchmore
Birchmore’s loved ones fought the suicide determination for years, hiring a forensic pathologist to review her injuries and filing a wrongful death lawsuit against three former Stoughton police officers who had allegedly groomed her from a young age.
Advertisement:
Finally, federal authorities came forward last summer with a bombshell claim: One of those former Stoughton officers, Matthew Farwell, had allegedly strangled Birchmore to death and staged the scene to look like a suicide after being informed he was the father of her unborn child. (Later reporting from The Boston Globe suggested a DNA test had shown Farwell was not the baby’s father.)
“My gut was telling me that her pregnancy was a ticking time bomb for him,” one of Birchmore’s family members said in a “Dateline” preview.
Federal prosecutors alleged Farwell had groomed Birchmore when she was enrolled in the Stoughton Police Department’s Explorers Program, then began a sexual relationship with her when she was 15 years old and he was 27. They accused Farwell of murdering Birchmore to silence her and keep their sexual relationship a secret.
Advertisement:
Farwell has pleaded not guilty to one count of killing a witness or victim. He faces a death sentence or life in prison.
With its alleged police malfeasance, Birchmore’s case drew comparisons to another high-profile legal matter out of Norfolk County: The Karen Read murder trials. Read, 45, was accused of drunkenly backing her SUV into her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe, outside a home in Canton in January 2022. However, Read’s lawyers argued she was framed in a law enforcement coverup, and a jury ultimately acquitted her of murder and manslaughter charges in June.
McNamara, the Stoughton police chief, launched an expansive internal affairs investigation following Birchmore’s death. In the “Dateline” previews, she spoke about the “unusual and disturbing” revelations from the internal probe.
“I was not going to allow them to get away with what they were getting away with,” she told “Dateline” correspondent Andrea Canning.
Watch the trailer for Friday’s “Dateline” episode:
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com