Massachusetts
Two deaths in one Massachusetts town cast doubt on the relationship between police and prosecutors
Weeks after a mistrial was declared in the high-profile murder case of Karen Read, more allegations of police misconduct surfaced in the same Massachusetts county where a former police detective was charged in the 2021 death of a pregnant woman, placing a renewed spotlight on the relationship between police and prosecutors.
Criminal justice experts say the two cases appear to involve investigative missteps that highlight the need to scrap the Massachusetts model of investigating high-profile crimes.
“Understatement of the century but Massachusetts has a serious problem with murder investigations involving police suspects, witnesses, and leads,” criminal justice journalist Susan Zalkind posted on X on Wednesday. “Poor Sandra Birchmore. Beyond depraved.”
Federal prosecutors allege former detective Matthew Farwell groomed Birchmore, 23, and began sexually abusing her as a teen, when he worked with the Stoughton Police Explorers Academy, a youth program she was in. He was arrested Wednesday, with prosecutors alleging he killed Birchmore, who had told him she was pregnant with his child, and attempted to stage the scene as a suicide so that the sexual abuse allegations would stay hidden.
Farwell has pleaded not guilty.
Birchmore was killed in Canton, the same Norfolk County town where Boston police officer John O’Keefe, 46, was found dead on Jan. 29, 2022. His girlfriend, Read, was tried in his death. A jury failed to reach a verdict after her legal team argued that Read had been framed by other law enforcement officers attempting to cover up O’Keefe’s death. She will be retried next year on the charges.
Federal investigators have been involved in both cases, but officials have not announced any links between the two. However, at the heart of both: allegations of botched investigations and law enforcement misconduct.
‘Incompetence or corruption?’
“Given these two cases, I would say it’s not just in Norfolk County, but certainly throughout Massachusetts. The question that arises is, is it incompetence or corruption, or both?” said Tom Nolan, a former Boston police lieutenant and criminal justice professor.
In Massachusetts, detectives with the state police are assigned to district attorneys’ offices, which can lead to the bungling of cases, Nolan said.
An alternative, he said, is the model used in other states, including Florida and Georgia, where there is an independent investigative agency to oversee the cases, rather than relying on an agency that enforces laws on highways.
“We saw on full display for several weeks during the Karen Read trial, the bumbling incompetence of the Massachusetts State Police, who were assigned to the Norfolk DA’s Office. Her defense counsel just basically eviscerated the State Police troopers who were testifying as witnesses and experts, — ‘expert witnesses.’ Their credibility was completely undermined,” Nolan said.
State police did not respond to requests for comment.
Hours after a mistrial was declared in Read’s trial, the top official at Massachusetts State Police said the lead detective in the case had been relieved of duty after allegations of “serious misconduct” were raised in court.
After the agency launched an internal affairs investigation into the allegations, the detective was suspended without pay last month.
Understatement of the century but Massachusetts has a serious problem with murder investigations involving police suspects, witnesses, and leads.
See also: Karen Read, The Waltham Murders, and Gail Miles. Poor Sandra Birchmore. Beyond depraved. https://t.co/4QsKk2cjtb
— Susan Zalkind (@susanzalkind) August 28, 2024
Zalkind, who wrote “Waltham Murders: One Woman’s Pursuit to Expose the Truth Behind a Murder and a National Tragedy,” which focuses on a Massachusetts triple-slaying and the Boston Marathon bombing, told NBC News that without an independent investigative agency and proper checks and balances, prosecutors and police can get too cozy and politics can come into play.
“When you imbue that culture to the good old boys’ club, to homicide cases, there are serious issues,” she said. “Our homicide investigations are politicized. The DAs in the state, all except for one are Democrats. Our AGs are Democrats. … Our government is Democrat. So there is a lack of incentive to do a vigorous follow-up.”
No matter what the legal outcomes in the Read and Birchmore cases, public trust has been compromised, said Zalkind.
A staged suicide
In announcing the charge Wednesday more than three years after Birchmore’s death, acting U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy called the arrest of Farwell, a police officer who swore to protect the public, “disheartening.”
Farwell is charged federally with one count of killing a witness or victim.
“Giving voice to the voiceless, ensuring that no one is above the law, protecting the vulnerable people of Massachusetts, that’s the highest calling of people in law enforcement,” Levy said. “Mr. Farwell violated those principles, and now he faces very grave consequences.”
Farwell’s attorney could not be reached for comment.
State police initially handled the investigation into Birchmore’s death. Nolan said it’s “strikingly unusual” that the case was taken over by federal authorities because homicides are usually prosecuted as state crimes.
Federal authorities did not elaborate on why they took the case, except to say investigators had received new evidence that made the indictment and arrest possible.
David Traub, a spokesperson for the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office, said the office has long been working with other law enforcement to secure an arrest.
“This office has been collaborating with both the Massachusetts attorney general and the FBI for months on investigations into the Birchmore matter. Two of our detectives were present at the command post … while federal authorities were attempting to take Matthew Farwell into custody,” Traub said.
“Much of the information that they [federal authorities] built on originated with our investigation, including the collection of thousands of text messages, and then going through those text messages to see what criminal conduct might be substantiated from their contents,” he said.
Prosecutors allege that Farwell killed Birchmore on Feb. 1, 2021, in her apartment, when he could no longer control her and as word began to get out that he had been having sex with her for years. Authorities initially ruled Birchmore’s death a suicide.
Prosecutors contend that after Farwell strangled Birchmore, he repositioned her body and staged her apartment to look as if she had died by suicide.
The medical examiner determined Birchmore’s death was a result of “asphyxia by hanging” and she was eight to 10 weeks pregnant when she died, according to an affidavit in support of the motion to detain Farwell.
The Massachusetts Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, which made that finding, did not respond to a request for comment Friday. A spokesperson for the agency told WFXT-TV of Boston that the office was aware of Farwell’s indictment and had cooperated with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
An expert retained by federal prosecutors, Dr. William Smock, concluded the death was a homicide, arguing that some of Birchmore’s injuries are more common in cases of strangulation than hangings, like abrasions on Birchmore’s nose, the affidavit said.
Farwell’s arrest came nearly two years after Stoughton’s police chief announced that Farwell and two other former officers at the agency had inappropriate relationships with Birchmore. That conclusion came from a lengthy internal affairs investigation prompted by Birchmore’s death, said Chief Donna McNamara, who called the former officers’ behavior “deeply disturbing.”
The chief said all three men resigned before they could be interviewed. The department recommended that their certifications as police officers be permanently revoked so they cannot serve in law enforcement anywhere in the country, McNamara said.
Lawyers for the other former officer did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the status of their decertifications.
Questions in Read investigation
After a nine-week murder trial that captured national attention, a judge declared a mistrial for Read on July 1.
Prosecutors have said the relationship between Read and O’Keefe was deteriorating when she plowed into him with her SUV. She was charged with second-degree murder, motor vehicle manslaughter while driving under the influence, and leaving the scene of a collision causing death.
She has maintained her innocence and is set to face another trial early next year. An attorney for Read did not respond to a request for comment Friday.
The Norfolk District Attorney’s spokesperson said prosecutors are preparing for Read’s upcoming trial, and that the only appropriate forum for determining her innocence or guilt is a courtroom.
No federal charges have been filed in the case.
During the original trial, Read’s lawyers said she watched her boyfriend enter the Canton, Massachusetts, home of a now-retired Boston police sergeant for a party after a night out with other current and former law enforcement officers. Hours later, the defense team said at trial, she discovered O’Keefe had never come home and raced back to the house, where she found his body.
Read’s lawyers have alleged that O’Keefe was most likely beaten inside the home and left outside in the snow.
The defense has blamed authorities for failing to carry out a “real” investigation and instead focusing on Read.
They have alleged the lead investigator in the case, Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor, was one of the chief reasons the investigation was biased. They say he manipulated evidence and made derogatory comments about Read.
Proctor has denied the allegations and said his comments were unprofessional and regrettable but they didn’t compromise the case.
Proctor has not responded to requests for comment.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
It has been six months since Enrique Delgado-Garcia died.
The recruit, pinned as a state trooper on his deathbed, was hospitalized after participating in a boxing training exercise at the Massachusetts State Police Academy in New Braintree last September.
His stepfather says the family still has not received information about his cause of death as the investigation remains ongoing.
In a recent exclusive interview with Telemundo Nueva Inglaterra, he said his wife cries every morning and sometimes they feel powerless, but he has faith that the authorities will reach a conclusion about what happened.
Attorney General Andrea Joy Cambpell appointed former prosecutor David Meier to lead an independent investigation into his death after the Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early Jr. recused his office due to Delgado-Garcia’s previous employment there as a victim witness advocate.
An investigation is ongoing after the 25-year-old Massachusetts State Police recruit died last week, one day after authorities say he became unresponsive and suffered a “medical crisis” during a defensive tactics training exercise.
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Meier has hired eight investigators to his team with experience in local, state and federal law enforcement. In a release, he wrote the following information about each team member:
- Lisa Holmes is a retired Superintendent at the Boston Police Department, where she was a Supervisor in the department’s Bureau of Professional Development and the Boston Police Training Academy.
- Thomas Larned is a former FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge at the FBI Boston Field Office, now managing his own investigative firm.
- Gretchen Lundgren is a former Assistant District Attorney in the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office and a Special Assistant United States Attorney in the United States Attorney’s Office in Boston, now with the Mission Advisory Investigative Group.
- Kimberly Lawrence is a former senior Supervisory Special Agent for the FBI in Worcester, now a security specialist with the Edward Davis Investigative Company.
- Norma Ayala Leong is a former Deputy Superintendent with the Boston Police, where she worked as a Supervisor at the Boston Police Training Academy and in the Bureau of Professional Development.
- Paul Joyce is a former Superintendent at the Boston Police Department, where he supervised the Anti-Gang Unit and Criminal Investigations Bureau, and is presently an Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice at Salve Regina University.
- Robert Harrington is a former Superintendent with the Boston Police, where he was a Supervisor in the Homicide Unit and the Bureau of Internal Affairs.
- Edith Ayuso is a former Victim Witness Advocate in the Homicide Unit of the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office and is working with me during our regular meetings and conversations with the family of Mr. Delgado-Garcia.
Meier noted that none of the members of his investigative team have “any past or present affiliation with the Massachusetts State Police.”
“When I was appointed, I made a commitment to Enrique Delgado-Garcia’s family to conduct the investigation into his death professionally, thoroughly, and responsibly. The Independent Investigative Team with whom I am working is doing exactly that. The investigation is active and it is ongoing,” said Meier in a statement.
A copy of their contract obtained by NBC10 Boston from the Attorney General’s Office says Meier is paid a rate of $500 an hour, while the other investigators have an hourly rate of $100 an hour.
“These are people of high integrity. I’m expecting a 100% high-quality, high-integrity result,” said Jack Lu, retired judge and adjunct faculty member at Boston College Law, who said he is familiar with some of the investigators through their previous work in law enforcement.
It’s been almost six months since Massachusetts State Police recruit Enrique Delgado-Garcia died from injuries suffered during a training exercise at the academy. As the investigation continues, some state lawmakers are calling for more information on what happened — and his stepfather, grateful for the lawmakers’ questions, says they haven’t gotten updates either.
Asked about the amount of time that has passed without a public update on the investigation, Lu said, “Sometimes they take a very long time to resolve and that gives the suggestion that the police are getting special treatment. That is undesirable and for that reason they should do it quicker, but they are not yet into the area where it would be considered long for a police investigation.”
“I know that matter is with the Attorney General’s Office and the special investigator she has assigned,” Gov. Maura Healey said this week. “I’d like to see, and I join with my entire administration in wanting to see, that investigation completed as quickly as possible so that there is resolution for the family, and so we also have final determination as to what happened.”
“The Massachusetts State Police Academy plays a vital role in preparing the next generation of troopers to protect and serve our communities statewide,” Col. Geoffrey Noble, superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police, said in a statement. “The Department has commissioned an independent assessment to provide valuable insight into the ways in which our training can best equip recruits to become highly skilled, community-focused troopers. We remain committed to ensuring that all training curriculum, staff instruction, and physical space fosters professionalism, integrity, and excellence, while prioritizing the health and well-being of our recruits.”
Three months after Massachusetts State Police recruit Enrique Delgado-Garcia died in a training exercise, his family is still waiting for answers.
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The boxing program at the Massachusetts State Police Academy remains suspended. State police added that other changes are underway, including Noble’s appointment of Det. Lt. David Pinkham as the academy’s new commandant.
“In this role, he will oversee the selection of teaching staff for the upcoming Recruit Training Troop,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
The department added that it is in the process of seeking an independent assessment of its academy, focusing on areas including training methods, attrition and injury rates, injury prevention, fitness standards, organizational culture, leadership and alignment with national standards.
“Additionally, the Massachusetts State Police is implementing a pilot program to bifurcate this year’s class of recruits, a change designed to enhance training and operational efficiency,” the spokesperson added. “Instead of a large single class, recruits will be divided into two smaller cohorts, with one beginning in May and another in October.”
Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell and a coalition of 20 other state attorneys general are suing the Trump Administration over its efforts to shut down the Department of Education, which they say cannot be done without congressional approval.
Nearly half of the Education Department’s workforce is set to be off the job, including all of the employees in Boston’s regional office.
About 1,300 career employees received termination notices Tuesday night, informing them they will be placed on administrative leave beginning March 21.
In a lawsuit filed Thursday in Boston’s federal court, the attorneys general said these drastic cuts will make the department unable to perform its statutory duties. Because the president cannot dismantle a department created by Congress without its approval according to the Constitution, the lawsuit argues the actions are unlawful.
The action names President Donald Trump U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and the U.S. Department of Education as defendants.
Nearly half of the Education Department’s workforce is set to be off the job, including employees right in Boston.
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“By attempting to dismantle the Department of Education which, among many things, funds educational programs that benefit low-income children and students with disabilities and enforces laws that prohibit discrimination in education, the Trump Administration is making it crystal clear that it does not prioritize our students, teachers or families,” Campbell said in a media statement.
The Department of Education has various responsibilities, including ensuring equal opportunities to all students, promoting education improvements through research and communication, and coordinating education initiatives across the country. In Massachusetts alone, the department directs nearly $2 billion in funding for K-12 schools, money that is used for things like special education programs, teacher salaries and benefits, social workers, professional development programs, after school programs, transportation, and reading and language specialists.
All employees working out of the department’s regional office here in Boston will be part of these layoffs.
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Due to collective bargaining agreements, laid-off workers will get full pay and benefits until June 9 along with severance based on time served.
Trump campaigned on a promise to close the Department of Education.
Governor Maura Healey says that would be disastrous for children who need help the most.
The Department of Education says dozens of schools, including six in Massachusetts, are facing “potential enforcement.”
“What that potentially means is we see federal funding going away for Head Start, for special education, for after school programs, for Title 1 programs,” Mass. Governor Maura Healey said. “Imagine if your child is on an IEP and has the benefit of an aid in the classroom, you know funding for this is all going to go away so I pray to God it doesn’t happen.”
Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement that the layoffs reflect the department’s “commitment to efficiency, accountability, and ensuring that resources are directed where they matter most: to students, parents, and teachers.”
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