Kriti Mehrotra
When 23-year-old Sandra Birchmore was found dead inside her Canton, Massachusetts, home on February 1, 2021, the initial belief was that the young pregnant woman had died by suicide. However, as explored in NBC’s ‘Dateline: The Betrayal of Sandra Birchmore,’ suspicions of her allegedly having been murdered soon arose owing to the overwhelming reports suggesting foul play. What came to light is that she was reportedly a victim of sexual assault and sexual exploitation by not one but three men from the Stoughton Police Department, according to court records.
William Farwell’s Police Certification Has Been Permanently Revoked
Although the details of William Farwell’s background are not publicly available as of writing, we do know he is a native of Massachusetts who grew up with a twin brother named Matthew Farwell. The duo allegedly developed a keen interest in law enforcement at an early age thanks to the Stoughton Police Department’s youth-centric Explorer’s Program, only to never look back. In fact, they both went on to join the force under the senority of their former instructor Robert Devine, who eventually made things go full circle by enlisting them as program instructors too.
According to records, this program is where the Farwell brothers first came across Sandra Birchmore as a teenager – we specify teenager because she had first joined at the age of 12 in 2010. According to federal prosecutors, Sandra was allegedly groomed, exploited, and abused, with Matthew Farwell accused of taking advantage of his position to initiate sexual intimacy with her when she was 15. As per the Department of Justice, this illicit involvement continued right until she passed away in February 2021; she was 23 and 3 months pregnant with what she reportedly believed to be his baby. Court records indicate DNA tests later confirmed Matthew was not the father, but investigative reports have alleged that William also engaged in a sexual relationship with Sandra as an adult.
While paternity remains unclear, investigators accused William of having ‘inappropriate’ contact with Sandra after she became an adult, though records do not allege he engaged with her as a minor. According to records, his last sexual liaison with her was in her building’s parking lot 22 days before she was allegedly killed, despite being well aware she thought she was pregnant with his twin’s child. William eventually resigned from the police force during the 2022 internal investigation into the matter, following which he seemingly relocated to a different state so as to start afresh. Since then, while his brother has been arrested for murder, his 2024 voluntary police decertification has been accepted by the Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commission. Thus, today, at age 39, William faces no criminal charges and appears to simply lead a quiet life away from the limelight.
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Robert Devine is Seemingly Still an Active Part of the Justice System
Robert Devine was the leader of the Explorer’s Program when Sandra was an active part of it and the Deputy Chief of the Stoughton Police Department when she was reportedly killed. Like William, not much information is available about his early years, but like William, he has also been accused of having an “inappropriate” relationship with the young woman while on duty. As per records, he allegedly used the alias Marty Riggs – inspired by the character in the ‘Lethal Weapon’ film series – on social media to message her for a sexual encounter while on duty in December 2020. Furthermore, he reportedly called her on the day she died, February 1, 2021, with the details regarding what they discussed, if anything, not being publicly available, as of writing.
Robert has since defended himself by not only denying the accusations but also claiming that Sandra spread lies about him and that the investigators are biased against him. According to records, this alleged bias could have stemmed from the 2015 incident when he was handed down a 60-day unpaid suspension and demoted from Deputy Chief to Patrolman. This punishment was triggered by an internal affairs investigation, during which it came to light that he had a subordinate look into private matters for him. As per reports, he had allegedly been receiving harassing messages while trying to end a reported extramarital affair, so he had someone look into it.
At the time, Robert claimed he had been hacked, and according to records, he asserted the same in 2022 when an internal investigation regarding Sandra’s case was opened. That’s around the same time he retired from the police force, before his police certification was also permanently revoked by the Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commission. However, it’s imperative to note that while Robert has since evolved into a lawyer while continuing to reside in Massachusetts, the investigations into him are ongoing, and he has not been formally charged. In fact, the Commission is seeking to sanction or place a ban on the 53-year-old, citing a “pattern of untruthfulness, abuse of power, and unprofessional conduct.” They actually had hearings for this in the summer of 2025, but no decisions have been made yet. So, he continues to fight for himself to the best of his abilities while keeping his private life well away from the limelight.
