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After mix-up, Matthew Farwell’s lawyers amend court filing, say unnamed person fathered Sandra Birchmore’s unborn child

Attorneys blamed a reporter for misreading a footnote and incorrectly claiming that Farwell's brother was the father of Birchmore's child.

March 27, 2026 | 1:11 PM

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Lawyers for Matthew Farwell, the former Stoughton police officer accused of killing 23-year-old Sandra Birchmore while she was pregnant, amended a court filing this week after it appeared to mistakenly name Farwell’s twin brother as the father of Birchmore’s child.

Former Stoughton police detective Matthew Farwell. *– Uncredited/Associated Press*

On Friday, the lawyers moved to withdraw the first filing and blamed The Boston Globe for misreading it and spreading misinformation about the case.

The confusion concerned a footnote in the middle of a 30-page filing where Farwell’s lawyers argued that he should be released on bail before his trial later this year. It was filed in US District Court on Thursday.

Prosecutors say Farwell killed Birchmore and staged her body to make it appear as if she killed herself after she told him that he was the father of her child in early 2021. However, subsequent DNA testing has found that Farwell did not father the child Birchmore was carrying at the time of her death, the Globe reported last year.

Farwell’s twin brother, William, was also a Stoughton police officer. In an interview with State Police investigators shortly after Birchmore’s death, he admitted to having been in a sexual relationship with her as recently as 2020, according to a police report obtained by the paper.

In the court filing this week, lawyers for Matthew Farwell sought to draw a contrast between their client and others who had affairs with Birchmore before her death.

“[Matthew Farwell] remained singularly focused on providing for his family and protecting them from the circus-like atmosphere generated in the wake of Ms. Birchmore’s suicide and revelations surrounding his prior interactions with her. While other men who had ongoing affairs with Ms. Birchmore moved out of state after her death, [Matthew Farwell] remained in the same home, in the same town,” they wrote.

In the initial filing, a footnote under the paragraph reads:

“These include, according to the government’s own evidence, [Matthew Farwell’s] brother who is a named defendant in the civil lawsuit as well as the confirmed biological father of Ms. Birchmore’s fetus who has thus far not been publicly named.”

Matthew Farwell’s lawyers filed an amended motion later on Thursday. The wording of the footnote was changed, in an apparent effort to clarify that the sentence is referring to both William Farwell and another person who has not been identified. The amended footnote reads:

“These include, according to the government’s own evidence, [Matthew Farwell’s] brother who is a named defendant in the civil lawsuit, as well as another individual who is the confirmed biological father of Ms. Birchmore’s fetus who has thus far not been publicly named.”

The lawyers explained the change in their motion Friday, which seeks to withdraw the first document.

“After [Matthew Farwell’s] memorandum was filed, the Boston Globe published an online article. Based upon the reporter’s misreading of Footnote #12, it proclaimed incorrectly that [Matthew Farwell’s] brother is the biological father of Ms. Birchmore’s fetus,” they wrote.

The change in the wording of the footnote was made immediately, “out of an abundance of caution and to prevent further misinformation in the media about this case,” they added.

Matthew Farwell allegedly met Birchmore when she was a participant in a program at the Stoughton Police Department for young people who were interested in pursuing careers in law enforcement. He was an instructor in the program.

Matthew Farwell allegedly began sexually exploiting Birchmore when she was 15 and he was 27. He maintained a secretive relationship with her for years, establishing a pattern of shirking his police duties to meet up with her while on the clock, prosecutors say.

After Birchmore was found dead in her Canton apartment in 2021, the state medical examiner ruled her death a suicide. Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey previously investigated her death but declined to bring criminal charges.

The FBI eventually arrested Matthew Farwell in 2024 and charged him with killing Birchmore. He has been held in a detention center in Rhode Island since then.

Matthew Farwell has pleaded not guilty to charges of killing Birchmore and her unborn son. His trial is expected to begin in October. His lawyers are seeking his release on $50,000 bail and many other restrictive conditions.