Farwell to skip stand in Birchmore murder case
The former federal official told the judge he does not elect to take the stand, leaving the jury to weigh digital evidence and expert testimony.
By Adrian Kovalenko ·
The courtroom went quiet when the defendant spoke.
Matthew Farwell told Judge Denise Casper on Wednesday that he will not testify in his murder trial. Speaking in a firm voice, the defendant stated, “At this time I do not elect to testify.” Farwell faces charges for the killing of 23-year-old Sandra Birchmore and her unborn child. Prosecutors allege he staged the death to resemble a suicide. Birchmore’s body was discovered in a seated position with a strap tied around her neck and secured to a doorknob.
The state claims Farwell killed Birchmore to prevent her from exposing federal crimes. Those crimes include the sexual exploitation of a child. Prosecutors say Farwell had been grooming her since she was 15. She was part of the Stoughton Police Explorers mentoring program at the time. The defense maintains that Birchmore took her own life.
Final witnesses for the defense focused on gaps in the prosecution's digital evidence. Thousands of text messages between Farwell and Birchmore were recovered from her devices. A defense forensic expert testified that best practices were not used to preserve Birchmore’s MacBook. When asked if those standards were met, the expert answered, “No.”
The defense attempted to show Birchmore had searched for the color of the suicide ribbon before her death. The expert confirmed she performed a complete search for the term “suicide ribbon” at 7:50 p.m. and 32 seconds. The prosecution used cross-examination to point out what was missing from the phone. The expert testified there was no suicide note. There were also no goodbye messages to friends on the day she died.
Farwell now awaits the jury's decision without adding his own voice to the record.
