Sandra Birchmore’s Struggles Became Farwell’s Defense. Why Do We Fall for That?
Psychotherapist Shavaun Scott joins me on Hidden Killers to talk about why Sandra Birchmore was the one being judged at Matthew Farwell’s trial. A federal jury found the former Stoughton detective guilty of killing her and her unborn child, rejecting his defense that she took her own life.
To get there, jurors sat through Sandra’s private struggles: her grief, her mental health history, things she’d written years earlier, and her relationships with other men. Farwell’s lawyer told them that Sandra announcing her pregnancy to more than 80 people was a cry for help. Her therapist told them she didn’t believe Sandra was suicidal.
Shavaun and I talk about why calling a woman “crazy” or “too much” ends the listening, why her pain gets treated as proof while her happiness gets ignored, and how her love life becomes a reason for less sympathy. We also talk about why blaming her feels safer to the rest of us, and what to say to a woman who’s afraid she won’t be believed.
Farwell faces mandatory life at sentencing in February.
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This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.
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