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What if jurors believed Matthew Farwell killed Sandra Birchmore and still couldn't convict him? Bob Motta of Defense Diaries explains how that could happen. The charge is killing a witness, and it has two required pieces. The murder is one. The other is intent: proof Farwell killed Sandra to keep her from exposing a federal crime, whether that's abusing his power as a police officer, coercion and enticement, or wire fraud. Motta says jurors only need one of the three, and Sandra didn't have to be the one who made the report. Tony and retired FBI behavior chief Robin Dreeke ask whether a verdict slip would tell anyone which piece a jury rejected, and Motta says he hasn't seen the form. They also ask how many jurors would understand what an acquittal could mean for a state murder case.
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The Norfolk County DA's office says it never prosecuted Matthew Farwell because of one ruling in the Sandra Birchmore case. The woman who made that ruling testified about what the DA's own troopers never gave her.
Before she ruled Sandra's death a suicide, the lead State Police lieutenant told her he had nothing new to report. Sandra's coworkers had already told troopers she was pregnant by a married Stoughton detective. The investigation closed without a single search warrant, and the medical examiner changed her ruling to undetermined only after federal investigators brought her their evidence.
The fallout isn't finished. Farwell's lawyers plan to argue on appeal that prosecutors never proved Sandra was likely to reach federal agents, because no agency was investigating him. If that count fell, his case would go back to Norfolk County, where murder has no time limit. William Farwell, Robert Devine and the town of Stoughton still face Sandra's estate in civil court.
Djuna Perkins replaces Morrissey January 6th, and Farwell's sentencing is February 3rd.
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Matthew Farwell's jury sent Chief U.S. District Judge Denise Casper two notes back to back, and the second said jurors were deadlocked. Bob Motta of Defense Diaries reads that as a jury stuck on one issue and needing more time, not a jury that has given up. Judge Casper has held a firm six o'clock cutoff at the federal courthouse, and the first note asked how much of the day was left. Motta then turns to the decision that shaped the defense: Farwell staying off the stand. He says jurors who heard Farwell describe, in his own words, his history with Sandra Birchmore from her teen years would only hate him more. Retired FBI behavior chief Robin Dreeke and Tony also dig into the key Farwell asked Sandra for, and the lock on her door the maintenance man can't say for sure was turned.
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Matthew Farwell's defense needs jurors to believe Sandra Birchmore stayed quiet the night she died by choice. Bob Motta of Defense Diaries says nothing about her life supports that. Prosecutors say Farwell walked into her building, and his own phone shows him leaving minutes after Sandra's phone stopped moving. Her final text said her door was open, and nothing came after it. Motta says the murder was never the sticking point for jurors. He points to the federal half of the charge, which makes prosecutors prove Farwell killed Sandra to stop her from reaching law enforcement. Retired FBI behavior chief Robin Dreeke warns that the trial reaches the rest of us through reporters' notes, stripped of the tone and delivery jurors actually saw. Tony asks what jurors may be hearing in that courtroom that people following along never did.
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What did the first investigators decide about Sandra Birchmore and Nancy Guthrie, and what did it cost? Retired FBI behavior chief Robin Dreeke and Tony take both cases in one full episode.
In Boston, prosecutors and defense attorneys gave closing arguments on Nov. 6, 2026, in the trial of former Stoughton detective Matthew Farwell. Prosecutors say he killed Sandra and made it look like suicide. His lawyer told jurors Sandra's pregnancy announcements were a cry for help. Farwell has pleaded not guilty.
In Tucson, Nancy Guthrie has been missing since Feb. 1, 2026. Robin goes through the porch that went untaped for three days, according to The Wall Street Journal, the home released too soon, and the note writer who apologized and never came forward.
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