DOJ decides death-penalty fate of cop accused in murder of teen sex victim Sandra Birchmore

The disgraced Massachusetts police officer accused of murdering his pregnant lover he allegedly began molesting when she was 15 will not face the death penalty if he is convicted, the DOJ said Tuesday.Matthew Farwell faces life in prison after federal prosecutors were directed by US Attorney General Pam Bondi not to pursue capital punishment, NBC Boston reported.The 38-year-old — formerly of the Stoughton Police Department — was charged with murdering 23-year-old Birchmore at her Canton apartment in 2021, then staging her death to look like a suicide.Birchmore was three months pregnant when she was killed, and she allegedly told Farwell that the baby was his.Farwell allegedly began having sex with Birchmore when she was a 15-year-old police department volunteer and he was 26.She began volunteering at the department when she was just 13, and was allegedly groomed and molested by two other officers on the force.Farwell later admitted he had sex with Birchmore, but only after she had turned 16 – which is the age of consent in Massachusetts.She had been desperate to have a child, prosecutors said, and threatened to expose her relationship with Farwell if he didn’t impregnate her.When she finally became pregnant with a son, Birchmore was ecstatic and gave Farwell regular updates about the baby, prosecutors said.“Birchmore expressed excitement to Farwell about her due date, ultrasounds, genetic testing, gender reveals and doctor appointments,” the US Attorney’s Office for Massachusetts said.“She booked prenatal care appointments that post-dated her death.”But it was never to be – she was found dead in her apartment on Feb.

4, with prosecutors alleging Farwell had strangled her days earlier and staged the scene.Her death was originally ruled a suicide, but that was later reversed and Farwell was charged with murder in August.A charge of killing an unborn child was added in October.Farwell has pleaded not guilty to all charges....