Closing arguments begin in trial of ex-cop accused of killing Sandra Birchmore

BOSTON (AP) — Closing arguments began Friday in the trial of a former Massachusetts police officer accused of killing a pregnant woman to keep her from revealing he had begun sexually abusing her when she was 15.Federal prosecutors say Matthew Farwell killed Sandra Birchmore, 23, and tried to stage her death as a suicide in 2021 after learning she was pregnant with what he thought was his child. At the time, Farwell was a married detective with the Stoughton Police Department, where Birchmore had participated in a youth program as a child.Lawyers for Farwell, who is now 40, acknowledge he had an extramarital relationship with Birchmore. But they say he didn't kill her and didn't have sex with her until she was an adult.The trial has unfolded in federal court in Boston, partly because local prosecutors never brought criminal charges.Massachusetts State Police officers and investigators, some with personal connections to Farwell, quickly concluded Birchmore's death was a suicide after sh