A federal jury found Matthew Farwell guilty of killing Sandra Birchmore and her unborn child.^[1] Farwell is a former Stoughton police detective.^[2] The verdict was read in federal court in South Boston on Tuesday afternoon.^[3] He was convicted of killing a witness and causing the death of an unborn child.^[4] He had pleaded not guilty.^[5] A death first called suicide Birchmore was found dead in her Canton apartment in February 2021.^[6] State authorities initially ruled the death a suicide.^[7] At trial, the defense argued she died by suicide.^[8] Prosecutors alleged that Farwell groomed Birchmore from the time she was 15.^[9] She learned she was pregnant in 2020.^[10] The father of the unborn child was a former United States Army recruiter.^[11] Twenty-nine minutes Surveillance video captured Farwell entering Birchmore's apartment at 9:14 p.m. on 1 February 2021.^[12] It captured him leaving at 9:43 p.m.^[13] The two times are 29 minutes apart. He was arrested and charged in August 2024.^[14] That was three and a half years after she died. A jury that nearly did not decide Jurors heard from 50 witnesses over four weeks.^[15] The day before the verdict, the jury reported that it was deadlocked.^[16] The two accounts of the deliberations differ. WBUR reported that jurors deliberated nearly two full days.^[17] WHDH put it at roughly 16 hours over three days.^[18] Farwell had no noticeable reaction when the verdict was read.^[19] The sentence Killing a witness carries a mandatory sentence of death or life in prison.^[20] The Department of Justice chose not to seek the death penalty.^[21] Causing the death of an unborn child carries a minimum sentence of life.^[22] Farwell faces mandatory life in prison without parole.^[23] Sentencing is set for 3 February 2027.^[24]