Former police officer Matthew Farwell's federal trial starts in Massachusetts

The murder trial for a former Massachusetts police officer accused of killing his pregnant mistress and staging the scene to look like a suicide is kicking off after a brief 9 a.m. hearing Friday.

Once the jury is seated, the trial of former Stoughton Police Officer Matthew Farwell will kick off with opening statements followed by testimony from Stoughton Detective Heather Cheever and then from a local elementary school official.

The FBI arrested Farwell, 40, in August 2024 in connection with the death of 23-year-old Sandra Birchmore, which happened three years earlier.

The murder trial for a former Massachusetts police officer accused of killing his pregnant mistress and staging the scene to look like a suicide is kicking off after a brief 9 a.m. hearing Friday.

Birchmore was only 12 when she joined the police department's explorers program, according to court documents. Farwell volunteered with the program and is accused of using his position to groom, exploit and abuse Birchmore after she turned 15. He was 27.