Gulf Coast Confidential with Mollye Barrows

Groomed by the Blue Line: The mysterious death of Sandra Birchmore

July 24, 2024 Mollye Barrows

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Sandra Birchmore had nothing but respect and admiration for the police. So much so, that at 13-years-old she joined a police explorer’s program in her hometown in Stoughton, Massachusetts. She had lost members of her own family, including her mother, and the close-knit department helped fill a void in her life. 

However, several officers in the program did more than just take the teenager under their wing. According to a lawsuit, brothers Matthew and William Farwell and another officer, Robert Devine, groomed Sandra for years before having sex with the girl and passing her around, beginning when she was just15.

The behavior and illicit relationships continued for years and might have gone unnoticed until Sandra’s untimely death in 2021. She was found dead in her apartment, and authorities said it was suicide.

That didn’t make sense to Sandra’s friends who said not only was she pregnant, she was excited about having a baby and the child was Matthew Farwell’s, a married father and detective. 

New information has come to light since Sandra Birchmore’s death, not only about the scandalous accusations of statutory rape but a new investigation determined her death was a homicide and Matthew Farwell was the last one to see her alive.

Join us for a closer look at this case in New England where protestors are calling for justice, in the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Groomed by the Blue Line: The mysterious death of Sandra Birchmore.”  

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