Sandra Birchmore's family heard the word guilty for Matthew Farwell, convicted by a federal jury of killing Sandra and her unborn son, and psychotherapist Shavaun Scott joins me to talk about how Farwell lived with it and how the people around Sandra failed her.

It starts with how Farwell carried on. The FBI says his wife gave birth to their third child about 13 hours after he was at Sandra's apartment, and Sandra wasn't found until three days after his visit.

Shavaun and I talk about Sandra herself, a girl in the Stoughton Police Explorers who grew into a young woman wanting Farwell in her baby's life. We talk about William Farwell, who answered Sandra's text about being fifteen with "Nice," and the dispatcher who was told to forget a call about her. And we talk about the trial, where her mental health history was put in front of the jury as proof she took her own life.

Farwell will be sentenced in February, and the conviction carries mandatory life.

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Sandra Birchmore's private life was laid out in a federal courtroom so Matthew Farwell's lawyers could argue she took her own life. The jury rejected that and convicted Farwell of killing Sandra and her unborn son, and psychotherapist Shavaun Scott joins me to talk about why Sandra was the one being judged.

The defense leaned on her grief over her mother and grandmother, her mental health history, and writing from years before. Her therapist, who'd known her since she was 11, testified she didn't believe Sandra was suicidal. Sandra had a stroller box in her apartment and a party for the baby in the works.

Shavaun and I talk about why calling a woman "crazy" ends the conversation, why her struggles counted against her and her plans for her baby didn't count for her, and why the men in her life changed how people saw her. We also talk about why blaming Sandra feels safer, and what to say to the woman who's afraid she won't be believed either.

Farwell will be sentenced in February.

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Sandra Birchmore told people about Matthew Farwell long before anyone stopped him. After a federal jury convicted Farwell of killing her and her unborn son, psychotherapist Shavaun Scott joins me to talk about why the people around her looked away.

Sandra texted his twin, William, also a Stoughton cop, that she was fifteen when it began with Matthew. William answered "Nice," and later testified he hadn't believed her. William had his own secret: he'd been involved with Sandra too, including on duty. When a friend of Sandra's called the Stoughton station less than two weeks before her death, the dispatcher testified the desk officer told him to forget about it, and the dispatcher said he'd treated it as a personal call for Detective Farwell.

Shavaun and I talk about the phrase "he would never do that," the way a person's own secrets keep him quiet, and why protecting a brother or a coworker can come before protecting Sandra. We also talk about why speaking up can make people angrier at you than at the man doing wrong, and how to help someone come forward when she's afraid.

Farwell will be sentenced in February.

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Sandra Birchmore wanted Matthew Farwell in her baby's life, and after a federal jury convicted him of killing her and her unborn son, psychotherapist Shavaun Scott helps me understand why she held on. Sandra first knew him as an officer in the Stoughton police youth program.

Prosecutors said their relationship began when she was fifteen, weeks before he married his wife. In the last months of her life, Sandra told her boss the father would leave his relationship once the baby was born, and she told a friend she'd only asked him to visit on holidays.

Shavaun and I talk about how a man's attention can become everything to a girl of fifteen, what growing up with that does to a woman's sense of what's normal, and why a partner who blows hot and cold is so hard to walk away from. We talk about the moment of realizing she'd been used, and how to help a friend who says she loves him anyway.

A DNA test later showed Farwell was not the father of Sandra's baby. He'll be sentenced in February.

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Sandra Birchmore's case ended with a conviction: a federal jury found Matthew Farwell guilty of killing her and her unborn son. I asked psychotherapist Shavaun Scott how the man who did that keeps going.

Sandra believed Farwell was the father of her baby and was already getting ready for him. A stroller box sat in her apartment, and she'd told more than 80 people she was pregnant. A DNA test later showed another man was the father. According to the FBI, Farwell's own wife gave birth to their third child about 13 hours after he left Sandra's apartment, two days before Sandra was found.

Shavaun and I talk about the excuses a man like this builds for himself, how he can keep a loving family at home while hurting another woman, and why some men protect their reputation before anything else. We ask whether a badge and years of getting away with it changed the way Farwell treated people, and whether any of his regret is for Sandra.

Farwell will be sentenced in February and faces mandatory life.

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Sandra Birchmore's jury hit a wall after about ten hours and told Judge Denise Casper it was deadlocked. Bob Motta of Defense Diaries read the wall as the motive half of the federal charge against Matthew Farwell, not the murder. Motta argues Sandra's own life answers it: she had an attorney ready to go after Farwell for child support, and once that filing went public, Motta says she would have told people what Farwell did to her as a teen. Retired FBI behavior chief Robin Dreeke points out that the case did reach federal investigators, which is why this trial exists. The panel also covers the key Sandra had copied, the deadbolt on her door, the blizzard, the C-section, and the DA who declined to charge Farwell in the first place. Motta explains what would happen to her case if jurors never agreed.

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What if Sandra Birchmore's case moved from a federal courtroom with no cameras to a state courtroom where everyone could watch? Bob Motta of Defense Diaries explains how that could happen: if Matthew Farwell's jury hung, Motta says Massachusetts can bring a straight murder charge without proving Farwell's motive. If the jury acquitted, Motta says his wife's research shows the state may be blocked from a murder charge, leaving charges over what Farwell did when Sandra was a teen. Either way, a new Norfolk DA takes over in January. Retired FBI behavior chief Robin Dreeke points out that this federal trial has reached people only through reporters' accounts, and a televised state trial would put Farwell in front of far more of them. Tony asks what a state trial with cameras would do to Farwell's name.

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What if Matthew Farwell walked out of federal court not guilty? Bob Motta of Defense Diaries says Sandra Birchmore's case is in federal court only because the local DA wouldn't bring it, and that choice put justice for her at risk. Norfolk DA Michael Morrissey declined to charge Matthew Farwell. That left federal prosecutors with a statute that demands more than murder: proof Farwell killed Sandra to stop her from reaching law enforcement. Motta's wife, a lawyer, researched Massachusetts law and found that an acquittal in the federal trial could bar the state from trying Farwell for murder later. A hung jury is different, and Motta says the state could take the case then. Retired FBI behavior chief Robin Dreeke and Tony ask whether jurors know any of this, and what it would mean to sit on that jury sure he did it and bound by the law not to say so.

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