Live updates from Matthew Farwell's trial in the Sandra Birchmore case

A federal jury found Matthew Farwell guilty on both counts Tuesday afternoon, convicting him of killing Sandra Birchmore to stop her from reporting him and of causing the death of her unborn son (CBS Boston). Her family gasped when the verdict was read. Her cousin Barbara Wright said, “We finally got justice” (CBS Boston).

“Despite Mr. Farwell's attempt to silence Sandra Birchmore, today her story is told,” U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley said (NBC Boston).

Life in prison is mandatory. Chief U.S. District Judge Denise J. Casper set sentencing for Feb. 3, 2027 (NBC Boston; CBS Boston). This live coverage has ended. Follow the case file.

The jury went back to deliberating Tuesday morning (WCVB; NBC Boston). The judge can give jurors an “Allen charge,” an instruction that urges them to keep working toward a unanimous verdict. None had been reported as of Tuesday morning (NBC Boston). Farwell had pleaded not guilty.

The jury sent Judge Denise Casper two notes Monday afternoon. The first asked about scheduling. The second said the jurors were deadlocked and didn't expect that to change soon (Boston.com). Casper read the deadlock note aloud in court, and the jury was dismissed for the evening. She said she was inclined to bring jurors back Tuesday without further instructions (Boston.com). “I don't think it's been so long in my estimation,” she said afterward (Boston.com).

No verdict was reported Friday. Jurors deliberated about three hours, went home for the weekend and were to resume Monday morning (CBS News Boston).

Twelve jurors began deliberating Friday afternoon, and the four alternates stayed behind (Boston 25 News). CBS News Boston reported the jury went out at 2:14 p.m. (CBS News Boston).

Farwell has pleaded not guilty. To convict on the witness-killing charge, prosecutors must prove he killed Birchmore to keep her from telling law enforcement about a possible federal crime (CBS News Boston).

In rebuttal, Assistant U.S. Attorney Liz Riley said the medical evidence supports homicide and that there “is nothing undetermined about this case” (CBS News Boston).

Riley told jurors that Birchmore shared even small things with the people around her. “If she had a hangnail, she told people,” she said (CBS News Boston).

“Matt did not kill Sandra,” defense lawyer Kimberly Stevens told the jury (CBS News Boston). She argued that Birchmore had a long history of mental illness and pointed to texts in which Birchmore wrote about her despair (The Boston Globe).

Stevens challenged the prosecution's strangulation expert, Dr. William Smock, saying he had never performed an autopsy. She also argued there's no evidence Farwell ever had a key to Birchmore's apartment (CBS News Boston).

Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Fogerty told jurors that Farwell went to Birchmore's apartment on Feb. 1, 2021, to stop her from exposing him. “He was there to save himself,” Fogerty said (The Boston Globe; CBS News Boston).

Prosecutors say phone data shows Birchmore's phone locked at 9:13 p.m., Farwell entered the elevator about a minute later, the phone last moved at 9:40 p.m. and he left about three minutes after that (The Boston Globe).

“After the defendant arrives, no one hears from Sandra Birchmore ever again,” Fogerty said. He argued she wasn't suicidal. Testimony showed she sent no serious text that night, the Globe reported (The Boston Globe).

Fogerty also pointed to medical testimony that prosecutors say shows she was strangled. Bench Watch isn't describing that evidence further (CBS News Boston).

Farwell told the judge Wednesday that he chose not to testify in his own defense (NBC Boston).

The defense called a board-certified pathologist and a digital forensic expert, then rested at 4:50 p.m. There was no court Thursday (NBC Boston).

Defense DNA expert Maher “Max” Noureddine testified that “the lab interpreted a mixture that they should not have.” On cross-examination, he acknowledged he hadn't had the evidence tested independently, though he could have (Boston.com).

Casper interrupted a cross-examination to warn the lawyers they “may be losing the jury here” (Boston.com).

Dr. William Ralston, Kentucky's chief medical examiner, testified for the defense that Smock isn't a board-certified forensic pathologist and doesn't make official rulings on cause and manner of death (Boston.com).

On cross-examination, Ralston acknowledged past professional disagreements with Smock. A forensic anthropologist testified that one piece of the medical evidence didn't point to one explanation over the other, and acknowledged it didn't rule out strangulation (Boston.com).

Dr. Melissa Piasecki, a psychiatrist who reviewed Birchmore's records but never treated her, testified she had long-term risk factors. “This type of catastrophic loss would have been very overwhelming for her,” she said (Boston.com).

On cross-examination, she acknowledged that Birchmore neither searched for ways to die by suicide nor sent messages about suicide that day (Boston.com).

A man who briefly dated Birchmore in 2016 testified she struggled after her mother's death. On cross-examination, he said he never saw her attempt suicide and wasn't worried she would (Boston.com).

Dr. Mindy Hull, the state's chief medical examiner, testified for the defense about autopsy procedure and how evidence is preserved. Court ended early (Boston.com).

Digital forensics expert Jessica Hyde testified about the phone data. “There are no steps detected after 9:40 p.m.,” she said (The Boston Globe). Boston.com reported that Farwell arrived at 9:14 p.m. and that surveillance video showed him leaving at 9:43 p.m. (Boston.com).

Hyde was the last of more than three dozen prosecution witnesses, and the government rested (The Boston Globe).

The defense's first witness, a community college administrator, testified about a 2017 report he filed after a meeting in which, he said, Birchmore talked about suicide (Boston.com).

Dr. William Smock, a police surgeon called by prosecutors, testified he believes Birchmore was killed. “Ms. Birchmore was the victim of a homicidal act,” he said. Bench Watch isn't describing the medical testimony further (Boston.com).

On cross-examination, defense lawyer Joanne Daley stressed that Smock isn't a board-certified forensic pathologist (Boston.com). Smock acknowledged that the state medical examiner had viewed some of the evidence differently (The Boston Globe).

On cross-examination, Alkhalil described Birchmore's history of grief, depression and isolation. On redirect, she said she called State Police after the death because she didn't believe Birchmore was suicidal (Boston.com).

Dr. María del Mar Capó-Martínez, the state medical examiner who performed the autopsy, testified she first ruled the death a suicide and wasn't asked to consider homicide. The ruling was later changed to undetermined (Boston.com).

Diala Alkhalil, Birchmore's mental health counselor, testified she saw her on Jan. 31, 2021, the day before her death. “I had just seen her on the 31st and there was no indication of suicidation,” she said (The Boston Globe).

“She was a fighter,” Alkhalil said. “She was very resilient.” A longtime friend also testified that Birchmore was confident and happy about the pregnancy (The Boston Globe).

The man DNA showed was the baby's father testified under a grant of immunity. He said he never saw signs she was suicidal. “I had never seen her so upbeat, so full of joy and happiness,” he said (Boston.com).

Casper told jurors to weigh his testimony with “particular caution” because of the immunity (Boston.com).

A State Police forensic scientist testified Farwell was excluded from one set of DNA samples. On cross-examination, she said she couldn't speak to DNA transfer (Boston.com).

Stoughton Det. Daniel Barber testified that he called Farwell on Feb. 7, 2021, about a rumored relationship with Birchmore, and that Farwell denied it. Barber also recounted an earlier conversation in which, he said, Farwell told him, “I got to put crazy back in the bag” (Boston.com).

Det. Sandra Barrett testified that Farwell told her a woman was threatening to disclose an affair. Friends of Birchmore's also testified (Boston.com).

A forensic psychologist, Dr. Lisa Rocchio, gave general testimony about grooming and delayed disclosure. She had not reviewed the case files (Boston.com).

Kelsch finished after about nine hours over three days. She testified that DNA testing excluded Farwell as the father (Boston.com).

Birchmore's obstetrician testified the pregnancy was viable in January 2021 (Boston.com). A police dispatcher described the January 2021 call to the station about the relationship and said Farwell got upset and told him not to discuss it (Boston.com).

A lawyer Birchmore had asked about visitation rights testified. “She was optimistic, she was happy,” Jessica Katz said (Boston.com).

Kelsch read messages in which, she said, Farwell asked Birchmore to delete their messages. She charted 49 times the two met (Boston.com).

She read a message Birchmore sent a friend: “He knows I have the upper hand.” Kelsch said Birchmore told about 85 people she was pregnant and never expressed doubt that Farwell was the father (Boston.com).

On cross-examination, Kelsch agreed that another man was the biological father. Defense lawyer Joanne Daley asked her about Birchmore's writings and posts that referred to suicide (Boston.com).

Holmes testified that he gave FBI investigators a “heads up” in 2022. The department's internal investigation had found that Farwell behaved inappropriately with Birchmore (Boston.com).

An FBI examiner estimated about 240,000 communications were recovered from Birchmore's devices, about 24,000 of them with Farwell. On cross-examination, he said most of those came from Birchmore (Boston.com).

FBI Special Agent Heidi Kelsch, a key investigator in the case, began testifying. She said the FBI interviewed about 130 people (Boston.com).

Robert Kuhn, a Stoughton police officer who knew Farwell when both were detectives, said he recognized Farwell in video of a man entering Birchmore's building. “For him to be wearing a mask was very odd to me,” Kuhn said (Boston.com).

Chief Donna McNamara, who is on leave, testified about the department's Explorers program and its policies. A digital forensic analyst said he found no messages between Birchmore and Farwell on Farwell's phone (The Boston Globe).

Former Deputy Chief Brian Holmes began testifying about the department's internal investigation. He said he listened to a recording of a January 2021 call to the station about the relationship and didn't delete it, but that it was automatically purged (The Boston Globe).

State Police Trooper Matthew Dunne testified that Farwell lied to investigators about the timeline and nature of his relationship with Birchmore in a first interview held in a school parking lot (Boston.com).

Dunne testified that investigators didn't interview neighbors because none had reported a disturbance (Boston.com).

A State Police toxicologist testified that tests found no alcohol or other commonly abused drugs (Boston.com).

Testimony began before Chief U.S. District Judge Denise J. Casper (The Boston Globe). Stoughton police Det. Heather Cheever, who had known Birchmore since 2013, when Birchmore was in the department's Explorers program, testified first. “She never expressed to me that she was ever suicidal,” Cheever said (CBS News Boston).

A former assistant principal at the Sharon school where Birchmore was a teacher's aide said Birchmore was excited about her pregnancy. “It didn't fit with her character,” Cheryl Carlson said of suicide (The Boston Globe).

When the defense asked to call the photos the scene of Birchmore's death, Casper appeared to deny the request. “I think it is an alleged crime scene,” she said (The Boston Globe).

After openings, court recessed for the holiday weekend. Testimony is expected to start Tuesday, Oct. 13, with court sitting from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The trial could run about five weeks (NBC Boston; CBS Boston).

Prosecutor Torey Cummings told jurors Farwell killed Birchmore because of what she knew: “She could end his life with the information she had, so he was going to end hers first” (CBS Boston).

Defense lawyer Kimberly Stevens told jurors, “Matthew Farwell did not kill Sandra Birchmore” (NBC Boston). The defense says she died by suicide. “Matthew Farwell is a man who had an affair,” Stevens said. Prosecutors say Farwell began a sexual relationship with Birchmore when she was 15 (CBS Boston).

Jury selection began Oct. 6 (WBUR). By Oct. 9, the court had seated 10 men and six women, who make up 12 jurors and four alternates. Which four are the alternates will be decided at random when testimony ends (The Boston Globe; CBS Boston). Chief U.S. District Judge Denise Jefferson Casper is presiding.