On Monday, November 9, the jurors in Matthew Farwell’s federal trial told the judge they were deadlocked. That means they had not reached a unanimous decision at that point. Boston television station WHDH reported the development after jurors returned for a second day of deliberations in the case involving the death of Sandra Birchmore.

A deadlock is not a verdict and it is not automatically a mistrial. The published courtroom reports reviewed for this update did not establish that Judge Denise J. Casper had dismissed the jury or declared the case over. Farwell has pleaded not guilty.

Why It Matters

The difference between a jury’s difficulty reaching agreement and a final court decision matters. Jurors may need to talk further, ask the judge a legal question, or receive additional instructions. Only a verified court action can show what happened next. Readers should not treat a news alert about disagreement as an acquittal, a conviction or a final hung-jury order.

Go Deeper: What the Jury Is Deciding

The federal charges arise from Birchmore’s death in Canton, Massachusetts, in February 2021, when she was 23 and expecting a baby. Prosecutors accuse Farwell, a former Stoughton police officer, of killing Birchmore to stop her from exposing federal crimes, and of causing the death of her unborn child.

Defense attorneys maintain that he did not kill her and argue that Birchmore died by suicide. The court heard competing medical and forensic evidence. The jury must consider the particular federal charges and whether the prosecution proved every required part beyond a reasonable doubt.

This case includes a charge concerning the killing of a potential federal witness or victim, not simply a generic state homicide count. That legal distinction helps explain why jurors may need careful attention to the elements of the crime. The newsroom cannot know which questions, if any, are causing disagreement inside the deliberation room.

How We Reached Monday

Jurors received the case on Friday, November 6, after closing arguments and the judge’s instructions. They deliberated for a few hours and were dismissed for the weekend. They returned Monday morning. Our earlier November 9 report covers that first full day and the underlying arguments without claiming a verdict.

WHDH later reported that the jury came back to tell the judge the panel was deadlocked. Boston 25 independently updated its live court headline to describe the same development. Both are reports of what the jurors told the court, not statements of the final disposition.

What Happens Next?

The court must decide how to respond to the reported deadlock. Jurors could continue deliberating, and any instructions or later court ruling would need separate verification. We have not independently obtained a written jury note or certified transcript for this development.

Follow the trial tracker and our earlier November 9 deliberations article. This newsroom will not describe the case as a mistrial or announce a verdict without credible confirmation. Farwell remains presumed innocent unless a jury returns a guilty verdict.