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TODAY’S STARTING POINT
My brilliant colleague Laura Crimaldi was the first person to write about Sandra Birchmore, the 23-year-old woman who was found dead in her Canton apartment in February 2021. Birchmore was pregnant at the time and she told friends and relatives that the father of her child was Stoughton police Detective Matthew Farwell. Laura worked for a year to bring out the first story connecting Birchmore and Farwell, and she's stuck with it ever since – persistently and little by little, uncovering one of the ugliest, most harrowing stories I've ever encountered.
A few months after Birchmore's death, a state medical examiner ruled her death a suicide. State troopers who investigated her death came to the same conclusion. This despite numerous and vehement pleas from those who knew Birchmore. They were absolutely certain that she would never take her own life – and equally certain that Farwell had taken it from her.
In 2022, following an internal affairs investigation, Stoughton police revealed that Matthew Farwell was not the only police officer to have had a sexual relationship with Sandra: his twin brother William also had sexual encounters with her when she was an adult. A civil lawsuit filed by Birchmore's family alleged that Stoughton's former deputy chief, Robert Devine, also arranged to meet her for sex.
That might have been the end of the story, just another sordid scandal for a police department that seemed to specialize in them. But last summer, a forensic expert hired by Birchmore's family examined her autopsy report and announced that her death was not what it seemed: He said she died by murder, not suicide. At that point, federal investigators were already investigating her case. And at the end of August they announced that they agreed.
On August 28, Matthew Farwell was charged with the murder of Sandra Birchmore. The U.S. attorney says he strangled her in her apartment and staged her death to look like a suicide. Prosecutors allege he wanted to prevent Birchmore from disclosing the fact that he first had sex with her when she was 15 – a serious act of rape if proven true – and that he had her while on duty had met. He is awaiting trial and is being held in a detention center in Rhode Island.
We wanted to tell the story of Sandra's life and death and explain how it took so long to get from the crime scene in her Canton apartment on a cold February morning in 2021 to the federal courthouse in Boston in the summer of 2024. More than We wanted readers to get to know Sandra as a whole person, much more than just a victim of alleged sexual exploitation and murder.
We sought to understand her family and upbringing and the setbacks that made her vulnerable to the grooming and exploitation alleged by investigators. We also dug into the troubled backgrounds of the officers accused of exploiting her to investigate the paths that led them into Sandra's life. And we've cataloged clues and warning signs that were missed or downplayed along the way — like a broken necklace and troubling text messages — that delayed making official the allegations that Sandra's relatives had made from the start.
Dozens of interviews, dozens of public records requests, and thousands of pages of documents later, here we are.
Our story about Sandra Birchmore, “Secrets and Lies,” is online today. Let us know if we did it justice.
ATTRACTIONS | By Teresa Hanafin, Globe Staff Writer
MURDER AND TERRORISM: A Manhattan grand jury has indicted Luigi Mangione on multiple charges, including both first- and second-degree murder as an act of terrorism, in the ambush killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. (NBC News) The saga is now on everyone's lips in Hollywood, where two documentaries, a TV show and a news program are already in the works. (Vulture)
BUT WHAT MAKES CNN WATCH? According to CNN medical expert Dr. Sanjay Gupta, excessive doom scrolling on your phone can actually trigger “brain rot.” (CNN Health)
PULL PLUG: China used to be a large and lucrative market for U.S. automakers. No longer. Chinese automakers have flooded their home market with the electric vehicles that Chinese buyers want, snubbing American automakers. The result was catastrophic. (CNN Business)
HONDASAN? NISSANDA? Speaking of automakers, Honda and Nissan, Japan's second and third largest automakers, are discussing ways to deepen their ties and could even merge. (NYTimes)
ABOVE THE FRAY: Globe sports columnist Tara Sullivan reflects on Caitlin Clark, remembers the late tennis legend Paul Sullivan and laments more disappointing NFL decisions. (Boston Globe)
Traveling alone: Traveling alone is one thing. (Outside)
Do you have milk? Globe food writer Sheryl Julian says there's nothing more comforting than a simple, perfect cookie. That's why she reveals recipes for five of her favorites. You're welcome. (Boston Globe)
PLUS THE AGE TIP BETTER: A Mediterranean restaurant on DC's Capitol Hill is banning diners under 30 because they are too loud. But it could be illegal. (Washington Post)
DOUBLE LOSS: Comedian Conan O'Brien lost both parents in just three days. In interviews for her obituaries, he spoke fondly of her life and her influence on him. (Boston Globe)
TOP GUN, TOP MEDAL: The Navy gave actor Tom Cruise its highest civilian honor – the Distinguished Public Service Award – for making the Navy look good in his films. (AP)
THE TRANSITION TO TRUMP
- Trump is suing a retired Iowa pollster J Ann Selzer about her pre-election poll showing her as vice president Kamala Harris leaders in the state, calling it “brazen election interference.” (Politico)
- Thirteen Republicans who were fake voters for Trump in 2020, many of whom were charged with crimes, are real voters this year and cast their votes yesterday, finalizing Trump's victory. Some Democrats and liberal groups called it a “travesty.” (CNN Politics)
- Trump's threatened tariffs and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's unpopularity are angering otherwise cool Canadians. (NYTimes)
- Trump, the majority shareholder of Trump Media & Technology Group, the parent company of his social media platform, is, truth social, can legally retain his shares during his term, but there is an obvious conflict of interest: As president, he has direct oversight of government agencies that oversee his company, including the Federal Communications Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission. Trump says he won't sell his stocks. (Quartz)
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Globe columnist Yvonne Abraham can be reached at [email protected].
