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Ex-Massachusetts officer allegedly murdered pregnant woman he groomed as teen, staged it to look like suicide

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Ex-Massachusetts officer allegedly murdered pregnant woman he groomed as teen, staged it to look like suicide


The FBI arrested a former Massachusetts police officer on allegations he groomed a teenage girl, continued to have sex with her when she was an adult and killed her in her apartment when she told him she was pregnant with his child, staging it to look like a suicide. 

A federal indictment says Matthew Farwell, 38, killed Sandra Birchmore, 23, to prevent authorities from finding out details of his sexual offenses. Farwell was arrested at a shopping plaza in the city of Revere Wednesday after he was indicted on charges he strangled Sandra Birchmore in early 2021 after she told him she was pregnant and that he was the father. 

Farwell worked as an officer for the police department in Stoughton, south of Boston, for 10 years, from 2012 until 2022. It was not immediately clear why he left the department.

Birchmore began participating in the police explorers program when she was 12 years old, according to the indictment in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts. Court documents say Farwell, who was a police explorers volunteer, used his authority and access to groom, sexually exploit and then sexually abuse Birchmore when she was 15 and that he continued to have sex with her when she became an adult.

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SOUTH CAROLINA AUTHORITIES REVEAL MASSACHUSETTS MAN’S CAUSE OF DEATH AFTER HE VANISHED IN HILTON HEAD

Matthew Farwell, a former Stoughton, Mass., police officer, pleaded not guilty Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024, to charges of killing a woman he is accused of sexually exploiting when she was underage.  (Stoughton Police Department via AP)

“During some of the shifts when Farwell was supposed to be performing his duties as a Stoughton police officer, he was instead engaged in sex acts with Birchmore,” the indictment says. 

“Farwell committed this murder, at least in part, to prevent Birchmore from disclosing to authorities information regarding his commission or possible commission of one or more crimes, including coercion and enticement, deprivation of rights under color of law and a then-ongoing wire fraud scheme,” FBI Special Agent Chenee Castruita wrote in an affidavit. 

“Farwell’s murder of Birchmore was the culmination of Farwell’s years-long pattern of abuse targeting Birchmore.” 

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FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Boston Stephen Kelleher, left, and acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy hold a news conference at the U.S. Attorney’s office in Boston Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024, about the arrest and charges against former Stoughton Police Officer Matthew Farwell, who is accused of killing Sandra Birchmore.  (Pat Greenhouse/The Boston Globe via AP)

In late 2020, Birchmore found out she was pregnant and told Farwell, according to the indictment.

At a news conference Wednesday, FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Stephen Kelleher said Birchmore was excited when she found out she was pregnant and texted Farwell a poster she made celebrating the pregnancy. She had also reached out to a friend about baby clothes and to a photographer about potential baby photos, according to Kelleher. 

“Matthew Farwell’s gun and badge did not grant him authority to violate the Constitution, and it certainly didn’t entitle him to sexually exploit, abuse and rape a child before killing her and her unborn baby in an attempt to cover up his alleged crimes,” Kelleher said, calling the allegations against Farwell “depraved.”

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Investigators also believe Farwell staged the apartment to make it look like she had died by suicide, Kelleher said.

The next month, a friend of Birchmore’s called the Stoughton Police Department to tell officials Farwell had been having sex with Birchmore. Farwell allegedly strangled Birchmore on about Feb. 1, 2021, and then used his police knowledge to stage her apartment to make it look as though she had killed herself, according to the indictment.

A Mansfield woman holds a poster with a photo of Sandra Birchmore while protesting at the Norfolk district attorney’s office in Canton Aug. 21, 2023, calling for a deeper investigation into the young woman’s death.  (Mark Jarret Chavous/The Enterprise/USA Today Network)

On some occasions, Farwell had been on duty when he sexually abused Birchmore as a minor, and he falsely claimed certain work hours to hide that offending behavior, court documents say.

“Farwell continued this sexual abuse after Birchmore became an adult, and he continued to engage in an extramarital sexual relationship with Birchmore until he killed her on February 1, 2021,” Castruita wrote. 

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Stoughton Police Chief Donna McNamara said Wednesday the department had worked with other agencies, including the FBI, to investigate.

“The day after Sandra Birchmore was found dead in her Canton apartment, I ordered a lengthy and aggressive internal affairs investigation, the instructions of which made it clear that no stone should be left unturned,” McNamara said in a statement. “The alleged murder of Sandra is a horrific injustice. … The allegations against the suspect, a former Stoughton Police Officer, represent the single worst act of not just professional misconduct but indeed human indecency that I have observed in a nearly three-decade career in law enforcement.”

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Farwell pleaded not guilty during an initial appearance in federal court in Boston Wednesday. He was handcuffed and led out of the room. A detention hearing is scheduled for Sept. 10, and another hearing is scheduled for Oct. 17.

If convicted of killing a witness or victim, Farwell would face a minimum sentence of life in prison. Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy on Wednesday declined to comment on whether federal authorities would seek to impose the death penalty if Farwell is found guilty, saying the decision would be made by the Department of Justice, according to The Associated Press. 

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Massachusetts has outlawed capital punishment. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 



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Massachusetts

Mass. House votes to set new rules for DiZoglio’s audit

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Mass. House votes to set new rules for DiZoglio’s audit


Twenty-eight lawmakers dissented Wednesday as the Massachusetts House voted to set new terms around what state Auditor Diana DiZoglio would be able to review in the legislative audit voters authorized her to carry out in 2024.

Almost all House Democrats voted for the measure, which also proposes to make more state government records accessible to the public. Three Democrats — Cambridge Rep. Mike Connolly, Attleboro Rep. Jim Hawkins and Fall River Rep. Alan Silvia — joined the body’s 25 Republicans in voting no.

Speaker Ron Mariano said the bill responds to an ongoing call from voters for more transparency out of Beacon Hill and provides a path forward in lieu of a what he called “politically motivated audit conducted in violation of the Constitution.”

Leaders of the House and Senate have resisted DiZoglio’s audit push, arguing that a probe by the auditor’s office would run afoul of the separation of powers laid out in the state Constitution, bringing the legislative branch under the review of a piece of the executive branch.

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“We are not accountable to any constitutional officer,” said Rep. Mindy Domb, an Amherst Democrat. “We are only accountable to our constituents.”

Taunton Rep. Lisa Field, a Democrat in her first term, said she was among the 72% of Massachusetts voters who backed the audit ballot question in 2024.

“Due to legitimate concerns and questions about constitutional privileges and separation of powers, we have been stuck on this audit issue for more than a year,” Field said. “Let’s not be like Washington, D.C. and accept such gridlock — not about the audit and not about public records. Let’s not let perfect be the enemy of good progress.”

The House’s bill would authorize DiZoglio to review what it defines as the “administrative functions” of the Legislature, going back to the 2021 fiscal year. Those areas include the adoption of annual budgets, official audits of the House and Senate by independent firms, spending by both chambers, and the execution of any financial settlements with lawmakers and employees.

It would also newly apply the state’s public records law to the governor’s office, and create a process by which people could request and receive certain legislative files.

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Massachusetts is currently the only state where the Legislature, governor and judiciary all claim to be exempt from the public records law.

Warren Republican Rep. Todd Smola described the process that led up to Wednesday’s vote as opaque in and of itself. Mariano last week said the House would take up what he called comprehensive transparency legislation, but did not say when or what, specifically, the bill would do.

The bill was circulated to members of the House Ways and Means Committee around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, and committee members had a little over a half hour to vote on whether to advance it. Smola, the ranking Republican on the committee, said during that 34-minute window, “we had members on both sides of the political aisle that were calling each other back and forth to say, ‘Can you explain this portion to me?’”

“We are so much better than the process that has unfolded,” he said. “And for the sake of people that are asking us for transparency, that is not transparency. That’s the opposite of transparency.”

Rep. Michael Soter, a Bellingham Republican, said he was particularly concerned with a part of the bill that removes the courts from settling disputes between the auditor and the Legislature.

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He said that by setting its own rules around an audit, the House would be “ensuring the auditor can only see exactly what we allow her to see and nothing more.”

It’s not clear yet if the Senate will pass the bill. Last week, state senators voted to turn over a limited set of documents to DiZoglio. The documents the Senate plans to provide mirror the records she would be allowed to review under the House bill.

Asked if he expected the Senate to agree to the legislation, Mariano on Tuesday said only, “I talked to the Senate.”



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French-Mediterranean Eatery Charts Opening In Boston

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French-Mediterranean Eatery Charts Opening In Boston


BOSTON, MA — An international restaurant group with locations across the globe is preparing to open its first Massachusetts restaurant this year.

LPM Restaurant & Bar, a French Riviera-inspired restaurant founded in London, is set to open on the second floor of the Four Seasons Hotel One Dalton Street in Back Bay, according to Four Seasons. The hotel lists the restaurant as “Opening Summer 2026,” while the Boston Business Journal reported the restaurant plans to open in September.

The Boston restaurant will mark LPM’s debut in the Northeast and its third U.S. outpost, following locations in Miami and Las Vegas, according to a Four Seasons announcement.

LPM, also known as La Petite Maison, was founded in London in 2007 and is known for French-Mediterranean food, Mediterranean ingredients and dining rooms influenced by Belle Époque design.

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The business operates locations in London, Dubai, Miami, Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong, Riyadh, Limassol, Doha, Mykonos, Kuwait, Boston, Maldives and Bangkok.

Four Seasons said LPM will take over the space that formerly housed One Dalton’s breakfast concept, One + One. The restaurant will join other dining options at the hotel, including Zuma and Trifecta.

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Massachusetts high school under investigation after teachers diagnosed with breast cancer

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Massachusetts high school under investigation after teachers diagnosed with breast cancer


A Massachusetts high school is under investigation after “several” teachers have been diagnosed with breast cancer or precancerous conditions.

The state Department of Public Health is set to visit Uxbridge High School on Thursday to “conduct a series of air quality tests,” to determine whether the multiple cases are potentially connected.

Superintendent David Ljungberg and Principal Michael Rubin alerted families and district staff on Monday of the “sombering news,” after Uxbridge High School’s graduation over the weekend.

“We are writing to inform you about a concern we are investigating at Uxbridge High School,” Ljungberg and Rubin stated in the letter. “Several female teachers have been diagnosed with breast cancer or precancerous conditions over the past few years.”

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“It is, of course, possible that these multiple cases are not connected to one another,” the leaders added, “but out of abundance of caution, we are looking into any environmental factors at the school that may be a factor in their diagnoses.”

The 123,000-square-foot school, with an enrollment of roughly 600, was constructed in 2012 at a cost of $45 million, including a $22-million state reimbursement.

Uxbridge school leaders say they notified the state Department of Health and local health board as soon as they became aware of the cases, seeking “counsel about how best to proceed.”

“Massachusetts DPH officials have indicated that there is no evidence of immediate danger in the building and no reason to limit access to or use of the facility at this time,” they wrote in their letter. “In fact, the public health officials have commended our decision to approach them with these concerns, our readiness to partner with them in support of the evaluation process.”

Health officials are assessing the school’s interior and exterior to “ensure there are no issues with the infrastructure that would present risks (including electrical, plumbing, mechanical, HVAC, and other systems)” and the indoor and outdoor air quality on campus.

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The superintendent and principal said that state officials have ruled out water supply as a “risk factor” after “thorough testing.”

“The team has reached out to the women who have been diagnosed, requesting data to evaluate whether there may be a connection among their cases,” Ljungberg and Rubin wrote. “We are grateful for their cooperation.”

They added that the state has said discovering an environmental “smoking gun” is “rare” in workplace investigations.

“However, even if a direct causal link is not established,” the leaders wrote, “the administration is utilizing this process to rigorously test the building and guarantee that it meets all safety standards moving forward.”

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