Matthew Farwell could face the death penalty for Sandra Birchmore's death, authorities say

Matthew Farwell is only accused of one thing in connection with the death of Sandra Birchmore: killing a witness or victim. This carries the maximum penalty: the death penalty.

Acting U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Joshua S. Levy, whose office is prosecuting Farwell in this indictment, declined to say whether prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty, saying those decisions are made at the “highest levels” of the U.S. Justice Department. Asked whether he would support the death penalty, Levy said he did not want to comment.

“The decision on whether to seek the death penalty in this case has not yet been made, and the trial is continuing. I cannot comment beyond that,” Levy told reporters at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon. “Many people in the Justice Department are involved in this process.”

Farwell, a former Stoughton police officer, is accused of strangling Birchmore. Birchmore, who was pregnant at the time of her death, had told Farwell he was the father of her child.

Farwell first met Birchmore when she was participating in a Stoughton Police program that gave young people career opportunities in the police force. He worked there as a volunteer and later as an instructor. Birchmore was 12 when she enrolled in 2010. Prosecutors say Farwell abused Birchmore and began a sexual relationship with her when she was 15.

According to the Death Penalty Information Center, no defendant has been executed in Massachusetts since 1947, when Phillip Bellino and Edward Gertson were executed for the murder of Robert William. Although Massachusetts abolished the death penalty in 1984, it remains legal at the federal level, meaning the punishment can still be imposed in federal cases in the state, according to the center.

Perhaps the most famous case in recent years in which the death penalty was imposed in the Bay State is that of Dzokhar Tsarnaev, who was sentenced to death for the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings.

But Tsarnaev's death sentence was overturned in 2020 by the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals, citing judicial error. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2022 that the appeals court's ruling was an error and that Tsarnaev should be sentenced to death for planting two bombs at the 2013 Boston Marathon along with his brother.

However, in March the appeals court ordered an investigation into possible allegations of jury bias in Tsarneav's case, further complicating the legal dispute and raising doubts about his death sentence.

The outcome of the presidential election in the fall could also impact whether or not prosecutors seek the death penalty for Farwell.

During Donald Trump's first term, 13 people were executed under his administration. President Joe Biden's administration has lobbied against the death penalty but argued that it should be used in Tsarnaev's case.