Follow-Up: Defense Case Under Way in Farwell Murder Trial: Expert Calls Birchmore a High Suicide Risk as Prosecutors Challenge Her Knowledge of the Final Day
The federal murder trial of former Stoughton, Massachusetts, police detective Matthew Farwell entered the defense phase this week in Boston. According to court reporting by The Enterprise on October 30, prosecutors rested on Wednesday after calling 38 witnesses, and the defense began calling witnesses the same day. On Friday, October 30, a forensic psychiatrist called by the defense told jurors that Sandra Birchmore's long record of loss, trauma and mental health struggles left her at a high risk of suicide. Prosecutors then used cross-examination to show the expert did not know much about Birchmore's last day. Farwell has pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors accuse Farwell of killing Birchmore, who was 23 and pregnant, and staging her death to look like a suicide. She was found dead in her Canton apartment on February 4, 2021. The state medical examiner first ruled the death a suicide and later changed the manner of death to 'undetermined.' The defense contends Birchmore took her own life.
Defense expert Dr. Melissa Piasecki, a forensic psychiatrist and longtime professor at the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine, testified on Friday about her review of Birchmore's medical, mental health and school records from childhood through adulthood. She said Birchmore grew up without her father, that her mother was seriously ill and struggled with addiction, and that by age 10 Birchmore had been diagnosed with attention deficit disorder and an unspecified mood disorder. Less than a decade later, she lost her mother, grandmother and an aunt. Children who lose a parent in childhood face a higher risk of suicide even well into adulthood, Piasecki said. She described Birchmore as impulsive, with limited coping skills and 'exquisitely sensitive to loss and abandonment,' testified that her records showed symptoms consistent with borderline personality disorder, which carries a high risk of suicide, and stressed she was not diagnosing her. She said Birchmore's depression worsened during her pregnancy, which also brought back her grief over her mother; her therapist had tried to refer her to intensive outpatient treatment and described her as 'clinically unstable,' a fact Piasecki called 'very significant.' Losing a long-term male partner would have been 'catastrophic' for Birchmore, she said, adding later that she was referring to Farwell. Piasecki had not met or treated Birchmore during her life.
On cross-examination, Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian A. Fogerty opened by asking, 'Are you saying people with mental health issues can't be murdered?' The defense objected, and Judge Denise J. Casper sustained the objection. When pressed about the relationship, Piasecki said she did not know how old Birchmore was when she exchanged text messages with Farwell; evidence presented earlier in the trial shows they were texting when she was 15 and Farwell was a 27-year-old police officer. Asked about Birchmore's last day, Piasecki said she knew only that Birchmore was home on her computer; she did not know Birchmore had gone to work. When Fogerty listed about a dozen people Birchmore was in contact with that day, Piasecki said she knew about three, including Farwell. She also said she did not know about Birchmore's plans to announce her pregnancy, including a hair appointment she had booked and the help she received from family and friends surrounding her pregnancy, and had not reviewed all of the digital forensic evidence.
On redirect, defense attorney Kimberly C. Stevens noted that Birchmore had told about 80 people about her pregnancy, a fact the prosecution has pointed to as a reason she could not have died by suicide. Piasecki offered a different interpretation: it showed Birchmore was seeking attachment and positive connection, and appeared to be building 'very detailed and colorful' expectations for her pregnancy, delivery and life beyond. Stevens returned to the defense's contention that Farwell ended the relationship on February 1, 2021, and told Birchmore the baby was not his. Losing him, Piasecki said, 'would be the final relationship she would be losing.' On recross, Fogerty again asked Piasecki to confirm she did not know about all of the relationships in Birchmore's life, including aspects of her relationship with Farwell. She confirmed she did not.
Piasecki was the fifth witness called by the defense, which expects to rest its case on Wednesday, November 4. U.S. District Judge Denise J. Casper said the jury could begin deliberations as soon as Friday.
Related: Jury Selection Begins Oct. 6 in Boston Federal Trial of Ex-Stoughton Officer Matthew Farwell
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于 Boston 的 John Joseph Moakley 美国联邦法院大楼与 Boston Harborwalk（资料图），Farwell 案在此审理。照片：NewtonCourt，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / The John Joseph Moakley U.S. Courthouse and Boston Harborwalk (file photo). Photo by NewtonCourt, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
- 2026-10-06Jury Selection Begins Oct. 6 in Boston Federal Trial of Ex-Stoughton Officer Matthew Farwell
- 2026-10-31Follow-Up: Defense Case Under Way in Farwell Murder Trial: Expert Calls Birchmore a High Suicide Risk as Prosecutors Challenge Her Knowledge of the Final DayThis story
