Justice For Sandra Birchmore, Stoughton, Massachusetts | Part One with advocate, Susanne Cleveland

Episode 69 | Justice For Sandra Birchmore (part one)

Subjects include sexual abuse, miscarriage, coercive control, self harm, suicide, homicide, police misconduct and WAP by Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion.

Sometimes I swear. Listen with care.

*Episode updated to reflect additional information provided by Sandra's family members

Sandra's case has been languishing for over 3 years (minus a decade of abuse).
In August 2024, Matthew Farwell, a former Stoughton, Massachusetts police officer was arrested and charged with her murder - a murder that was first deemed a suicide when she was found on February 4, 2021. Sandra's friends and family never believed she took her own life. They were right. Justice is coming.

Stoughton is a small town with a few notables like superstar songwriter, Lori McKenna, and Nicola Sacco of the notorious prohibition-era anarchist crime duo of Sacco and Vanzetti (or were they?).

What happens when those sworn to serve and protect become the perpetrators of unspeakable crimes? This episode of Crime of the Truest Kind unravels the harrowing story of Sandra Birchmore from Stoughton, Massachusetts, a case stained by misuse of power, child sexual abuse, and systemic failures.
Setting the stage for Sandra’s tragic narrative, which has shockingly been overlooked until recently. Special guest Susanne Cleveland, a relentless advocate for Sandra, joins us to bring truth, clarity and respect to her memory.

Tracing Sandra’s heartbreaking journey from her introduction to her abusers through the Police Explorers program at just 13, to the relentless abuse she endured, culminating in her tragic death and exposing not only the predatory actions of these individuals, but also the complicity of other officers like Robert C.  Devine, who enabled this abuse and was a participant. The systemic failures and the betrayal by those in authority serve as a grim reminder of the broader issues within law enforcement.

We confront the dismissive and misogynistic attitudes that trivialize women's experiences and the historical context of labeling women as "hysterical." The fight for justice in Sandra Birchmore’s case goes on.
If you are experiencing abuse of any kind - coercive control, sexual, physical, financial, emotional, there is help:
•Jane Doe Inc - janedoe.org/find_help
• National Domestic Violence Hotline - thehotline.org

Chapters

• 0:00 Crime of the Truest Kind
• 6:40 We travel to the town of Stoughton
• 7:34 Stoughton Superstar, Lori McKenna
• 8:40 Sacco and Vanzetti, the prohibition-era anarchists
• 13:58 Support Crime of the Truest Kind!
• 18:12 Tragic True Crime Story Unfolds
• 37:04 Law Enforcement Abuse and Accountability
• 53:59 Fight for Justice in Sandra's Case
• 1:05:28 Uncovering Layers of Law Enforcement Betrayal

Transcript

Anngelle Wood, Host
00:00
Well, hello, my name is Anngelle Wood, and this is Crime of the Truest Kind. 

Well, hello, and how do you do? Welcome back to the show. Season four commences now. What kind of summer did you have? I really did try to make the most of it, but where did the time go? 

My name is Anngelle Wood. This is Crime of the Truest Kind Massachusetts and New England crime stories. We get a bit of a history lesson and I walk you through the stories things that happen here, about the people and places. 

00:56
Thank you to everyone who has supported the show. Thank you to Patreon supporters. Four tiers starting at just $1. Patreoncom slash Crime of the truest kind. I will talk a bit more about that. Support the show, tell your friends, follow, subscribe. Leave a five-star rating and review at Apple Podcasts. Subscribe to the mailing list. Buy some merch. I have new merch rolling out this fall. Everything at CrimeOfTheTruestKind.com. 

01:30
A lot has been going on in our neck of the woods. There was a major trial that took place this summer. It got beyond national attention, international attention. Now, admittedly, I have not followed the Karen Reid trial, like some of you have, but it has been instrumental in bringing to the forefront the story of a 23-year-old girl who was found in her apartment in Canton, massachusetts, in February of 2021. Welcome to season four. Technically, this is the third year of Crime of the Truest Kind because I did take a longer than expected hiatus, but we were back in full force. But we're back in full force. Next live show we cover North Shore crime cases, thursday night, october 10th. Back it off. Cabot and Beverly tickets are available right now. 

02:36
This is episode 69. Justice for Sandra Birchmore, stoughton, massachusetts. Justice for Sandra Birchmore. We see these pages and these hashtags, but what does it all mean? In an attempt to put the life of an actual, living, breathing, loving person into focus, we break down some of the more overlooked facts of this very sad story. Now her case has gained a great deal more traction in the last few weeks. I want to thank Suzanne Cleveland from the Justice for Sandra Birchmore movement for taking the time to walk me through Sandra's story. We spoke quite a bit. In the second half of this episode I talked to Suzanne Cleveland. Suzanne has been an extraordinary advocate and speaking to Sandra's story with such care and empathy, and I appreciate her so much for doing that. 

03:56
And since the initial release of this episode, I have gone in and made changes based on information provided by Sandra's family. It is a case, a criminal case, one of misconduct and abuse of power, one of deception and coercion, one of grooming and child sexual abuse. So please listen with care. I go forth with the express intention to illuminate what went on in Sandra's life and avoidable death. 

04:31
Sandra's story, like so many other victims of violent crime, has been turned into internet fodder, made for shocking headlines, a source for the looky-loos and the kind of detectives that is a now constant source of churning social media content to well satiate a rabid public. 

04:50
There are parallels between Sandra's case and the very publicized and frenzied case surrounding the death of Boston police officer John O'Keefe in what became the Karen Reed murder trial. While I readily admit to not following the twists and turns of that case leading up to the start of the trial and not injecting myself into that case in any way, to say there's nothing to see here would be disingenuous. I did a two-part recap at the start of that trial and someone left me a review on Apple Podcasts. I had to laugh because, well, I will quote it. I had to shut this off a few minutes in because it was just women tearing down another woman who has not been convicted of a crime because of her clothes Disappointing. What year is it? Well, bitch, it's 2024 and and you should listen to more than two minutes before you leave a misinformed review. I will review your review. 

05:50
Sorry, you don't understand sarcasm and do you only read the headlines and none of the articles? I share that with my tongue and cheek, since that person could really give a shit what I think. Hate my show but listen longer than two minutes. The last thing I will say about that and the Reed thing. I called it. I called a mistrial, but this is about Sandra Birchmore, not Reed, and the two are not alike at all. Reed is alive and she will have a life, sandra is not, and no one seemed to care for a very long time, and I will do my best to give you a clear setup of the players in this case. For anyone in Massachusetts who isn't paying attention I'm sure there are some of you and everyone whose nightly news hasn't picked up on Sandra's story yet. 

06:44
We travel to the town of Stoughton, stoughton, stoughton, stoughton, a town with an approximate population of just under 29,000 people. Surrounding towns are Canton, brockton, sharon, randolph, easton, and one thing no one from Massachusetts will really cop to. We often say where the fuck is that when some smaller town less familiar to us may be cited in some story, or where the fuck is that Named after William Stoughton, appointed chief justice of the Salem Witch Trials because that went so well. It'll take an hour to Worcester. Logan Airport is about 30 minutes away. At the minimum. 

07:33
Two names stood out to me among the list of notables from the town of Stoughton. One is Lori McKenna, grammy Award-winning singer and in-demand songwriter. She has, as her bio states, carved out an enviable niche for herself as one of Nashville's most in-demand songwriters, all while maintaining a prolific and remarkably consistent career as a solo artist. She reportedly still lives in Stoughton with her family. She has co-written things like I'll Bet you Think About Me with Taylor Swift. The list goes on. Morgan Wade, maren Morris, little Big Town, faith Hill, miranda Lambert, tim McGraw, the Highway Women with Brandi Carlile, reba McEntire, carrie Underwood Impressive Indeed. 

08:21
The next one, impressive for different reasons Nicola Sacco. One half of Sacco and Vanzetti, the infamous Italian-born prohibition anarchist duo believed to have pulled off the April 15th 1920 armed heist at the Slater Immoral Shoe Company in Braintree, massachusetts. Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti. They faced a controversial murder trial that saw their conviction and death sentence for the murders of FA Parmenter, a shoe factory paymaster. Today, that would be what accounts payable. And the guard who accompanied him to deliver the payroll, alessandro Miradel. 

09:05
It was the height of the Red Scare and symbolized the prejudiced views against immigrants, labor unions and political radicals that were fueled by the Department of Justice raids known as the Palmer Raids. Those happened in targeted communities. They recalled that derogatory term of the time, wap W-O-P. Its etymology, I learned, is specifically meant for people of Italian descent, a pejorative term derived from the Spanish guapo, meaning good looking, but not to be confused with the modern day WAP, the Cardi B and Megan the W-A-AP. Like Vince Vaughn says in old school, earmuff it. For me, if you're sensitive to modern slang, wap stands for wet ass pussy. Sorry, to ruin the surprise, the men went on trial on May 31st 1921, before Judge Webster Thayer at the Massachusetts Superior Court, and on July 14th both were found guilty by verdict of the jury. Socialists and radicals protested their innocence, saying their arrest and trial was unfair and the men were only convicted due to their radical anarchist beliefs rather than for the crime for which they had been tried. 

10:24
Despite a 1925 confession by Celestino Medeiros, a Portuguese immigrant convicted of murder, he was in the Dedham jail in November 1925 with Sacco when he sent Sacco a note that he was involved in the armed robbery as part of the Joe Morelli gang. Now the Morelli gang, a gang of Italians who robbed freight cars in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, led by Joe Morelli, included his brothers Mike, patsy, butsy and Fred, as well as Bibba Barone, gip the Blood or Jip the Blood, I'm not sure on that Mancini, celestino Medeiros and Steve the Pole. That gang were suspects all along, according to the New Bedford Police. Until Sacco and Vanzetti were arrested, a motion for a new trial based on this revelation denied. The state Supreme Court refused to upset the verdict because at that time the trial judge had the final power to reopen a case on the grounds of additional evidence. Judge had the final power to reopen a case on the grounds of additional evidence. 

11:27
Sacco and Vanzetti were sentenced to death on April 9, 1927. It was met with massive protests. Then-governor Alvin Tufts Fuller appointed an independent advisory committee consisting of presidents from Harvard and MIT and a former judge. On August 3, 1927, the governor refused to exercise his power of clemency. His advisory committee agreed with the stand. Demonstrations spread across the country and in cities across the globe. Bombs went off in New York City and Philadelphia. I mean they were anarchists, after all. 

11:59
The men maintained their innocence throughout the seven years of legal appeals and the many international protests, but Sacco and Vanzetti were executed by electrocution at Charlestown State Prison on August 23, 1927. Gang member Medeiros, the man who confessed to the shoe factory arm robbery and murders, he too was electrocuted that same night for murdering a bank cashier. Now, sacco had been on a hunger strike and his body lacked the salt and water that conducts the electricity, so his voltage was ratcheted way up to ensure death would be swift. The subject of their guilt remains a divided topic. If the two men were innocent victims of a prejudiced legal system and a mishandled trial, many historians believe, however, that the men should have been granted a second trial in view of their trial's significant defects. Sounds familiar. 

12:58
On the 50th anniversary of their execution on August 23rd 1977Governor Mike Dukakis issued a proclamation stating that Sacco and Vanzetti had been treated unfairly. There was clearly bias due to their anarchist associations Something prevalent in the 1920s, with subversives and disruptors considered known threats. Take the Boston Molasses Flood, for example. It was first blamed on those subversives but we learned it was just gross negligence. Some might say the modern day version of an anarchist is a libertarian. Now I don't talk politics here, you know this. It takes away from the importance of the victim's story. But to back that comment, libertarianismcom says anarchism and libertarianism two sides of the same coin. Early anarchist thinkers blurred the line between socialist and capitalist. End of topic. Who knew Stoughton had such history? 

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CrimeTimeLines does a tremendous job with detail and timeline In this case and several others, Sandra Marie Birchmore, born May 13, 1997. 

14:51
She is the only child of her mother, denise. During her adolescence, sandra would attend enrichment programs for behavioral and social development. One such program was the Respect Program in 2005, when she was eight. In 2006, sandra attended the 14-week Strengthening Family Program, sfp for high-risk families. This was sponsored by the Stoughton Youth Commission. In 2010, when she was 12, sandra learned about the Youth Explorers Program from the Stoughton Police and set her sights on joining that program with the goal of becoming a police officer one day. In March of 2010, she was put on the standby list for the program and by spring she was enrolled. 

15:37
Here is where the intersection of the players in this case begins, starting with Robert C Devine and the introduction of the two Farwell brothers, who are, yes, indeed, key players. Now I'm going to run through this, so keep your ears open. September 1998, 12-year-old twin brothers, matthew and William Farwell. From here on, they are MF and WF. They joined the Police Explorers Program to address behavioral issues at school. Question, though were the Farwell brothers abused? If so, by whom? 1999, devine becomes an advisor for the Police Explorers 2001 through 2004,. Police Explorers 2001 through 2004. Devine serves as a school resource officer. Devine takes over Stoughton Police Explorers program beginning in 2003. Same year, devine brings in former explorers Matthew and William Farwell as guest instructors. They are 17. Matthew Farwell was suspended from Stoughton High for attendance and eventually dropped out in 11th grade 2003,. 

16:48
Devine and Detective Roger Hardy, stoughton Police Juvenile Detective and School Resource Officer, opened a gym at the O'Connell Middle School. A little sidebar here that popped up in my research. There is another Roger Hardy with a very unfortunate legal problem of his own. A Dr Roger Ian Hardy, a once sought-after Massachusetts fertility doctor, had a list of accusations from women who say he sexually assaulted and inappropriately touched them that date back more than three decades. Dr Roger Ian Hardy reportedly surrendered his license to practice medicine in the Commonwealth in 2014, because they were coming to take it and he moved to Thailand. What became of said Dr Roger Ian Hardy? We don't know that Officer Hardy I mentioned appears to still be with the Stoughton Police Department listed on the roster as Sergeant Hardy, fleet Maintenance Supervisor, moving on 2004 through 2006,. Devine serves as Sergeant of Stoughton PD. He is made Lieutenant in 2006. In 2008, devine was named Executive Officer for his cooperation with prosecutors during the investigation into corruption involving a chief and a sergeant. He gets an award for his do-gooding in 2011. In 2012, devine serves as the acting chief, while the current chief trains with the FBI. In 2013, devine is named the department's first deputy chief and works with youth programs like the Police, explorers Academy and Oasis organizing against substance abuse in Stoughton. 

18:31
Matthew Farwell, mf. 2003,. He dropped out of high school. Junior year 2004. Earns a GED in Maine, enlists in the Army, trains as an explosives expert. In 2006, he takes a six-month deployment in Afghanistan. 2008, mf returns to Massachusetts. His military service has ended and he was hired by Wellesley Police Department where he works from 2008 to 2012. 

18:59
2010, during his time on Wellesley PD, mf met Sandra Birchmore as part of the Explorers program. She is 13. He is 11 years her senior. His grooming begins. Mf begins showing up at the school library under the guise of helping her study. On October 28, 2012, mf sends a Facebook friend request to the 14-year-old Sandra. 2012, mf gets commendations, including one for performing CPR on a man who collapsed in the gym Not a lot of crime in Wellesley. March 2012, mf is hired by Stoughton PD. Robert Devine is on the hiring board. 

19:49
In 2013, sandra was 15. Mf is 27. He began to sexually abuse her. This is statutory rape under Massachusetts law, full stop. Meanwhile, mf is in a public adult relationship with a woman named Michelle, whom he marries on May 11th 2013, while he is sexually abusing a teenage girl. 

20:16
Sandra writes about this in her journal, describing her encounters with MF. It is not a relationship. It is not a love story. It is not an affair, nor is he her boyfriend. She is a child. This is sexual abuse that continues. Sandra's journal entries detail continuous and sometimes violent sexual encounters with MF, like using sex acts to punish her. According to these journal entries, mf would engage in forceful sex acts to punish her. According to these journal entries, mf would engage in forceful sex acts to punish her for her mistakes, such as bad grades, failing to share her cell phone location. In the 45-page affidavit issued on August 28, 2024, upon the arrest of Matthew Farwell, charged with Sandra's murder, text messages between the two where she cites their first sexual encounter as April 10, 2013, five days before the Boston Marathon bombing, when she is 15. Mf continues to abuse her. There are implications of Divine and brother William Farwell also participating in this abuse. It can't stop with just Sandra, though, can it In the spring of 2015, sandra graduated from high school and that meant her participation in the Explorers program came to an end, but the involvement of those officers did not. 

21:48
Things take a tectonic shift in her life in 2016, when, on May 18th just five days after she turns 19, sandra's mom dies. She's only 52. One month later, she loses her Aunt, claire, who was incredibly close. It's emotional upheaval for Sandra and with two losses so close together, makes it that much more difficult. Records show she struggled. There were thoughts of self-harm documented, but she used that energy to move forward the best she could. She went on to take the Massachusetts Civil Service exam to be eligible to join the police force. Text messages exchanged between Sandra and Farwell show the hold that he still had on her. 

22:39
In 2018, sandra went to the shelter in Stoughton to adopt a cat. There she met a man named Joshua Heal, the animal control officer for the town. They formed a friendship and she would tell him about MF, how he was tracking her location, how he knew she was at the shelter and demanding to know why. She shared a number of things with Heal. Perhaps she trusted him. According to Joshua Heal, they engaged in a consensual sex act after working hours at the shelter. When questioned later, he said Sandra said, among other things, that her goal was to have a family where her and MF would live together and have children together and live quote happily ever after. 

23:27
While the two did fall out of touch, they remained Facebook friends and, adding to the pain and isolation, sandra miscarried in 2020. In those last months of her life, she was trying to make improvements, going to therapy, taking medication. She had gotten her own apartment in Canton and she was hired at East Elementary School in Sharon as an instructional assistant. She had struggles. When questioned, her co-workers said she overshared, telling them personal details unsolicited and sometimes making them uncomfortable, and many of them knew she was involved with a Stoughton cop. 

24:13
Mf remained a presence in her life. Given her lack of experience in healthy relationships, she held on. He reportedly helped her move into her new apartment, but his behavior became increasingly more erratic. He was always violent. He was always abusive and controlling. It got worse In October 2020, sandra found out that MF's wife was pregnant with baby number three. 

24:43
Learning that was painful for her. She had confided that she miscarried in 2019, a timeline confirmed by Sandra Birchmore's family member. According to that family member, the miscarriage took place in the early summer of 2019, just a few months before she lost her beloved aunt Alice, who passed away in October of that year. It was Josh Heal who told Sandra about the wife before she lost her beloved aunt Alice, who passed away in October of that year. It was Josh Heal who told Sandra about the wife. Sandra decided that she would tell MF have a baby with her or she would spill their secret, Though she didn't hold back on telling people about who she called her boyfriend, a married cop on the Stoughton PD. By the end of 2020, sandra was pregnant. 

25:27
Mf was cruel. Why would he start being kind now? This confrontation where she said this is what I want was a turning point. Feeling the pressure, losing control, afraid of being exposed for the monster he is, mf began to forge his evil plan. That concluded with the discovery of 23-year-old Sandra Birchmore, deceased in her Windsor Woods apartment on February 4, 2021. In text messages to MF, she said that she was leaving work early on Monday, february 1. 

26:04
A Nor'easter was making its way across the east and residents were told to stay off the roads. Snow totals of 8 to 14 inches were expected, according to Channel 7 News in Boston. Sandra is seen that afternoon going in and out of her building with an ice scraper, more like a snow brush. At 9.03 pm, sandra sends a Snapchat message to a co-worker to ask about their work schedule, possibly to see what the deal was for school the next day. At 9.10 pm, sandra sends a text message to MF saying the door is open for him. It is the last message sent from her phone. At 9.14 pm, surveillance footage shows MF entering 3307 Windsor Woods Way. 9.28 pm, that co-worker responds to Sandra a message that she never opened. I learned by 12.20 am on February 2nd. 12.7 inches of snow had fallen in Canton. 

27:11
Sandra never returned to her job at school and her missing just one day of work should have set off red flags, but it wasn't until someone at the school put out a request for a wellness check on Thursday, three days later, and Canton officers responded to 3307 Windsor Woods Way. No one answered the door. At her apartment, they saw that her vehicle was in the parking lot covered in snow and had not been moved since the snowfall on Monday February 1st. They then contacted the building management, entered her apartment and found Sandra. She was still in the same clothes that she had been wearing. On Monday. The last person to see her alive was MF Matthew Matthew Farwell, because cameras do not lie. He is all over her apartment building's camera footage Footage that contains the last recorded moments of Sandra's life. 

28:17
I spoke to Susanne Cleveland. We spoke a lot. For a long time Susanne has been a force in the Justice for Sandra Birchmore movement. This is part one of our conversation. I read through the 45-page document. I have subsequently been reading through some other information about the other players in this case and I come up with the same feeling every time, Susanne, that I'm pissed off about men deciding the fate of women, and this comes down to a lot of that for me in this true crime space that I have found myself in. I know Sandra's case has been in the news for a couple of years post when she passed away. Now that this one perpetrator has been arrested and taken into custody and is facing some pretty substantial charges, people are really just now starting to find out what happened. People are learning. 

Susanne Cleveland, Guest
29:30
People are saying holy shit, what do we do Not that nobody was noticing? It's that there's this shocking, sad story and then there's a big space in between any subsequent action and it's just all hitting a lot of people at once. And we're doing our best as thoughtful communicators in this world, in this crazy world of true crime, and trying to approach answers to these questions in an empathic and compassionate way, but while also being absolutely furious and disgusted that this situation could happen and for such an extensive period and for her and her unborn baby to die. 

Anngelle Wood, Host
30:20
Going back through the history of Sandra being involved in starting with the Explorers program when she was, you know, 12 and 13 years old. That's an incredibly impressionable time for anyone. I feel like that may have caused a little bit of arrested development in a woman like Sandra. 

Susanne Cleveland, Guest
30:45
She was certainly looking for some guidance and some protection and some way to channel this. The way it's sort of been described to me by loved ones and friends is this boundless energy and this, you know, this desire to put good into the world and to be a caretaker and, to, you know, be a rescuer. So, you know, as an energetic child, she was looking for ways to be just like we all are right, to harness their energy and to do good things. As a precocious child, she was seeking, you know, activities and things to do and, in her family, was seeking enrichment programs, you know, through, through the school, that were touted, as you know, bonding experiences between mother and daughter, but also exposing to, you know, programs, fun activities. 

31:43
And that's where, fade in to the scene, we have Robert Devine as a school resource officer, sort of. I don't really know how to paint the picture, but we'll just say that he was. He was present and making it known that they were great new initiatives that the kids could participate in, and then he was going to be their fearless leader into those programs and, to his own sort of words, he wanted to get the families involved right away so that he could let them know we're all family, which is where the subject of grooming comes in. He wanted to get as close as possible. 

Anngelle Wood, Host
32:29
it seems that harkens back for me and probably you as well, Susanne what we learned about the Catholic Church in Boston. 

Susanne Cleveland, Guest
32:40
Of course there's a lot of parallel. I mean, this has got all the elements of that type of grooming, coercive, just horrendous behavior that I refer to as sort of hiding in plain sight. You lull the families into a feeling of safety and community and you know, with the Catholic Church is, you know, we're together in the name of religion. What could be more pure than that Right, more pure than that In Sandra's case it happened to be law enforcement. Protect and serve. That was sort of I would say, and I don't think the family would begrudge this statement that protect and serve was her religion. 

Anngelle Wood, Host
33:28
She was doing something pretty common for a child her age and to the credit of her family, to the credit of Sandra's family, they were doing all the right things. A lot of us didn't have family members who were probably that in tune to us and they were doing all the right things. 

Susanne Cleveland, Guest
33:52
They were feeding into her. You know quest for belonging. You know she was wanting to do all the things and was energetic. It wasn't misguided on their part because the reality is, I mean, when you're looking for ways to strengthen your family and enrich your child's life, you're not thinking about that there's a predator amongst that community. You're thinking this is a safe place for my child to go, and, and you also had the person there cheerleading. You know this, this effort, um, and welcoming it, um, and and it looked, I mean, at the at the onset of it. It was looking good. You know Sandra was thriving in these programs and you know getting excited for all the activities that she was in and was seemingly doing well, her mom was a good mom. 

Anngelle WoodHost
34:52
She had her grandmother before they passed. That is one of the many misconceptions about this story. Is that she's been happens to the story. The family does not want anybody to profit off the memory of her of her. 

Susanne Cleveland, Guest
35:38
That's correct. But also they have to be extremely cautious because they're in the midst of the civil suit, which it could be argued that the civil suit process is what, in a lot of ways, commanded the action that is going on now, because there wasn't any action going on. There was because there wasn't any action going on, there was a lot of inaction. But yes, when people are asking where's the family in all of this, it's important for them to know that the family who was present at the onset of this process they were very close-knit and a very loving family. They were lulled into this atmosphere. They were assured you know what we've got you she's. You know, we're all family, we're looking out for her. So, as things furthered along into Sandra's teen years, when her mother struggled with some illness and inevitably passed away, they were under the belief that she was in good hands. And then, shortly thereafter, her grandmother, who was her secondary caretaker, or I would say both primary caretakers passed away as well, and then her favorite aunt passed away not too long after that. 

36:52
This poor girl went through a lot of heartbreak and loss in her family and there are still many, many more family members who adored her and are present in ways. However they can be in this process. But we also have to take into consideration that people are allowed to choose, particularly if they're in some state of grief, or I guess I don't want to get too highfalutin with the psychological terms, but disenfranchised grief, which is you know fancy way of saying. Where do you put that grief? We don't even know what it is. You all and I say you all, I'm actually starting to wring my hands with frustration you all told us that she died by suicide. We're trying to grapple with that, but we don't believe that that's what happened and we know that they were right. 

Anngelle Wood, Host
37:43
Because they knew that she was so excited and so looking forward to having this baby. That's really all she wanted at that place in her life is all she wanted was to have that baby. There's too. All she wanted at that place in her life is all she wanted was to have that baby. 

Susanne Cleveland, Guest
37:58
There's too many tragic things to list here, but at the top of the list is that Sandra was making it known that she wanted to thrive and that she wanted to have a life, and that having this baby was the way to do it. However, we feel about the messiness of it or. You know how it came to be. She was going to do it and, by all rights, she deserved to be able to carve out her place in the world. However she chose to, and it was taken away by the person who was hurting her the most for at least eight years. 

Anngelle Wood, Host
38:37
It's incredible to me. There's a lot of things that are incredible about this case to me and I'm sure that you have even more insight than I know you have more insight than I do about this case. It's incredible to me that the things that went on At least three law enforcement officers, slash detectives were involved in abuse, involved in abusing this girl turned woman. How many people look the other way? I don't know if we'll get an answer to that question ever, but it's very obvious that somewhere along the line somebody could have maybe stepped in to try to help, and it seems as though some of Sandra's own friends eventually did that much later on, calling the police department, et cetera. 

Susanne Cleveland, Guest
39:24
Right, Well, there was an effort to it's the friend's story to tell about how that came to, be for sure, but there had to have been some sort of I don't know if the right word is panic. Certainly people knew that this situation was going on and that they were encouraging Sandra to take care of herself and to find a way to be healthy, in spite of the fact that it was a clearly unhealthy situation. So, whether you want to call it warning signs or finding you know some type of way to stir the nest and get eyes on it, I can't put myself in those shoes personally, because I want to believe, if I had a hint of a nuance, that somebody I loved was in a situation like that, I would be human wrecking ball. But how can you be when you're dealing with the force of an entire police department and the fact that she was consistently telling anybody who cared about her I love this person. She basically loved all of them because she was a loving, caring person and wanted to be and idolize these officers. 

40:44
I still I kind of have trouble saying officers because I don't even want to give them they don't really deserve the integrity of being considered law enforcement officials, obviously the integrity of being considered law enforcement officials, obviously, but she was idolizing and looking up to them and they turned that into something so ugly and so awful and I'm sure that her loved ones suffered through some confusion and not knowing what to do. But also there's fear. I mean, when it comes to situations where there is violence and ongoing abuse amongst law enforcement professionals, they don't even tell on each other because the threat or fear of retaliation and violence is eminent throughout that time. So now you have, you know, average, random folks like me, and what we think we're just going to march in. And, by the way, along the way, this is an interesting sort of tangent, if you'll allow At some point there was a person who did get agitated about something that seemed, you know, not right going on with this Explorers program, which was another individual who was being groomed by Robert Devine, and God bless her. 

42:02
She did take something that she found in her daughter's room, which was a love letter that she wrote to Robert Devine, and she marched her ass into that police station, slammed it on someone's desk and said what is this? What is going on in this department? And you know what was done with it. You're going to tell me Pretty much nothing. It was put into a file folder Put it in the drawer and locked it away. 

42:28
Yes, well, it was actually a WB Mason box, but yes. 

Anngelle Wood, Host
42:32
To be absolutely specific and that's really important in this case. These facts are the most important going forward because, look, anybody who has listened to my show probably has figured out now that I can be very irreverent when I talk about these cases, never at the expense of a victim or the victim's family. But I will tell you of a victim or the victim's family, but I will tell you these motherfuckers got to go down. Yes, they do. These motherfuckers got to go down. In Massachusetts, my beloved home state, yours as well we look like absolute morons for a lot of people outside looking in, for a lot of people outside looking in do in large part to all of the headlines that have gone national and international over the course of the last couple of years, based in the fair town of Canton, massachusetts. I'm saying this for myself and you can say at any point whatever you want about the case, but to deal with the John O'Keefe slash Karen Reed story is a whole entire rabbit hole, a whole entire series of episodes. But I am grateful. 

Susanne Cleveland, Guest
44:01
I am grateful that Sandra's case has gotten more attention, for the sheer fact that that got so much attention. 

44:04
I know you can speak to this because you have had interaction with a lot of the folks who have been part of Karen Reed's support team. 

44:08
Yes, there is definitely a symbiosis between the cases and it has definitely lent to a groundswell of support for Sandra In the din of all of that. 

44:17
Okay, we were already outraged because you have this high profile case and, at the very least, a whole shit ton of investigative mishaps and then, as we chug along some abysmally misogynistic and shaming and mental health damning and health issue damning behavior that was just gut-wrenching to hear and observe, at the very least. 

44:47
And when I think about that in perspective with the details of Sandra's story, I almost want to say and it doesn't fit the situation, but hold my beer, because you are not ready to hear the Google search involved with this monster. You're not ready to hear what Trooper Fanning decided was not critical to the investigation, including that monstrous video that we've all looked at and said, holy shit, that motherfucker did this to her. We took two seconds, saw that video, you've seen it, we've all seen it and said why isn't. Why isn't he in jail? Wait, I'm sorry, trooper fanning. You pulled up next to him in a parking lot and you had a casual, like I picture, arm on the door leaning in little chit chat about a 23-year-old deceased pregnant woman that this man had an extensive relationship with. 

Anngelle WoodHost
45:51
Who he subsequently made jokes about how they found her. Yes, he did. It's unforgivable, quite frankly. I'm sure that the family members of these men are reeling, but it can't be any sort of surprise to a lot of these people, because if this is the way they're treating someone, if this is the way they're treating someone like Sandra, it's not limited to Sandra. They have to, in some way, shape or form, also be treating loved ones similarly. 

Susanne Cleveland, Guest
46:29
And to any of the loved ones who have suffered through or incurred this behavior, that I would to the I fear countless victims in this case that there are resources, there are confidential places to go. 

46:50
We now know about them. Most of us have known about resources that you can go to for quite a while. There aren't a lot of big bright spots right now, but certainly with Matthew Farwell's apprehension, the seismic shift in that process has definitely created a little tiny opening for anyone who was thinking I'm not safe to do anything, I can't move forward or how you know, how am I going to live through this? Well, that motherfucker is in a holding cell right now and you can get help because all eyes are on this case right now and you know we still have. There's still more work to do because there are still two others at the very least, and there's no getting around that. 

47:39
It's already provable that the others were involved in her harm for an extensive period, definitely orchestrated and continued this behavior for a long time. Did they do exactly what he did? I guess in the world of law enforcement and legal terminology they weren't physically there, but you all destroyed her, you all participated in her death. It was already awful when it was earmarked as a suicide, which it wasn't. It was already awful then and you were already responsible then. And now here we are, and there's two that are still out there and there's one that should have been locked up immediately girl in the way that they have is certainly not exclusive to this program, I'm quite sure. 

Anngelle Wood, Host
48:39
But the fact that you have the mindset. My mind is blown at the fact that the mindset of these men is like this when I read that 45-page affidavit about Matthew Farwell, where they really fully detail and things shift for Sandra. She wants to have a baby and she makes a plan. However she decides to do this is not up to us to judge or she wanted to do this and she decided that it was going to happen and she wanted it to be with him. Apparently, when she started to gain some, a little bit of agency, things started to shift. And when Sandra started to get some control, what an animal came out in him, more so than had been previous. I mean, he's an animal for doing what he did for that whole entire time, starting when she was a teenager. But you saw that shift and he became increasingly angry and vengeful. 

Susanne Cleveland, Guest
49:46
See, when somebody refers to the uptick or the escalation in this case and they say that he suddenly became violent. This is where I I have a difficult time sort of keeping my reaction down is I'm sorry. Are you having trouble understanding that statutory rape is not violence? Are you having trouble understanding that that eight plus years of grooming and coercive control is not fucking violence? Is that a difficult concept? And that was the version of I don't like saying relationship. That's the only relationship that Sandra got to experience because it started when she was a child. 

Anngelle Wood, Host
50:33
When I say arrested development, I mean it in terms of she didn't have anything else to measure by. This is the only emotional relationship I mean yes, we know it was, we know it was abusive. There was an emotional for her, certainly as a, as a young woman turning, you know, young girl turning into a young woman, and the implications of this abuse on her changed the woman that she would have been, I think, if she had had the opportunity to have something healthy. 

Susanne Cleveland, Guest
51:06
It seemed like a lot of it was, you know, began as survival instincts and just you know something like surviving, which is how trauma works. You know, you figure out something that you can live with or that seems like normalcy. And when you're getting to be a young woman who did have hopes and dreams and was trying to achieve them and was working with children in schools and was taking night classes to become a nurse and was trying to make her way in the world, and then decide, seeing everybody around her having families, having something, not anything like what her terrible experience was missing her mother, missing her grandmother, missing her aunt and feeling very lost and thinking maybe I can fix this Again, I'm putting together something that she should be here and alive to recover from and decide for herself. So I'm piecing it together just from some knowledge that I can figure it out and then I can start my own family. 

Anngelle Wood, Host
52:21
She was seeing a therapist. She was getting treatment, for if she was feeling down I mean, who wouldn't feel down after she lost such close family members the way she did? She was seeing a therapist. I know that she had an appointment to see her therapist on the day that she was found. 

Susanne Cleveland, Guest
52:40
Correct. I'm not glad that you brought that up. It's terrible to talk about, but I want to mention something that's really important. So the fact that she was in treatment, which is all positive, you would want that for someone. What happens in these situations and I have experience with this in my own life is that if you're, if you're being isolated and coerced, you you might skip your therapist because this person is is kind of shitting on it and saying you know, oh, you're just going to go there and talk about what a monster I am, Hopefully God willing, yeah, and then maybe become free of it. So you know, we don't get to know about those conversations, but any effort to get better means an effort that takes away from their control. 

53:27
And where I find this to be additionally troublesome, I'll say, at the very least, is that the language of talking about Sandra seeking help or being in therapy was used as part of the Massachusetts State Police argument that this is why she died by suicide. This is among we call them the fanning lies, which is sort of dismissively answering to those who are asking, and by that I mean reporters or, you know, family members, asking people like me, asking what happened, how did this happen. And you know why aren't you talking more to Matthew Farwell? He knew he was a detective. You know you guys are in the same job and he said one. 

54:20
Matthew Farwell is not a real detective, he's just. You know he was dismissive about the fact that this man had the capability to understand the inner workings of a crime scene and how to manipulate that in his favor, while he was clearly thinking about how to end her life. So he dismissed that and then segued right into dismissing the fact that I know it's hard to grasp that she died by suicide, but you know I see it a lot, it happens all the time. She made an impulsive decision. Women are emotional. 

Anngelle Wood, Host
54:56
We're the ones that get the shit done. 

Susanne ClevelandGuest
55:04
But I want you to imagine that that's you know. Saying that women get emotional is this dismissive, misogynistic, absolutely abysmal way of writing off. We don't really need to do anymore, we don't need to investigate, because that's just. Women just lose their shit and just decide that the moment that, um, that this monstrous human being is no longer going to be a part of their lives, that it's over, because they're just so magical that that it happens within three minutes. It's an insane position to take, that that's a justification for doing nothing more than just buttoning up that scene. As you know, it just happens. Women were emotional and that stuff happens. 

Anngelle Wood, Host
55:46
Going back decades, there were hospitals for women who were, quote unquote, hysterical. They wanted to have some agency. Oh well, that's where we weren't allowed to have when you're pushing back and seeking freedom and safety. 

Susanne Cleveland, Guest
56:03
That's where you're crazy, right then you're a crazy bitch. 

Anngelle Wood, Host
56:06
If you have any sort of, if you raise your voice, then you're hysterical. Or if you're not just quiet and taking up as little space as possible and smiling all the time, then you know you deserve to be degraded. We've seen it. We continue to. 

Susanne Cleveland, Guest
56:23
The unified decision by all of these players involved in her case definitely gets to me a lot that there was no exploration into the possibility of what happened to this poor girl. You guys were just okay with just chalking it up to bitches. Be crazy. 

Anngelle Wood, Host
56:42
Yeah, the way that cops, you know high five and grab ass, Don't step on any toes in the blue line, and all of the things that we've heard over the years. I cannot fathom the conversations that went on among these men when they found Sandra in the state that they found her, and what they said about her because of this, the associations I'm not going to say relationships because it wasn't relationships the associations that she had had with men like the Farwell brothers and Divine. I'm sure that those people, those men we can't really call them men tainted the information by just saying things like that dismissive, you know, wave your hand. She was just a crazy bitch. I didn't want to go out with her. I broke up with her. She's just a crazy bitch. 

Susanne Cleveland, Guest
57:35
She was just a crazy bitch. I didn't want to go out with her. I broke up with her. She's just a crazy bitch. Was a longstanding abusive relationship of the statutory ilk. And his answer was well, you know she was. She was with other guys. We've got the mental health shaming already. We've got the fact that you know it's just, it's just a suicide. You know women get emotional. There's no stopping them from making these terrible decisions. And then you've got the. I'm not going to use the word, but the shaming. You can use any words that you want. Well, I'm not going to use the word, but the shaming you can use any words that you want. 

58:18
Well, I don't like to use the S word and it's not real. You're talking about a person who didn't ever get to experience a real romantic relationship. 

58:29
And when somebody says that there's oh, there were other men. Well, unfortunately, if there were any other men besides the monstrous people who are hurting her, they didn't stand a chance because these decisions and the behavior were not her own. None of what happened was the true Sandra. The true Sandra didn't get a chance to be her. She didn't get a chance to fulfill her hopes and dreams and have a naturally existing organic relationship with a normal human who loved her, because they stole that from her. So don't talk about dating or flings or her you know, making choices with other men because there were no choices you know making choices with other men because there were no choices. 

Anngelle Wood, Host
59:16
No, she was programmed from a very young age by these monster men who have proven in these men, particularly Matthew Farwell, being the prime example and having it all as evidenced in this affidavit. As time went on, he was very abusive, very violent. They spoke about it in these text messages, about how he wanted to be abusive sexually. 

Susanne Cleveland, Guest
59:49
She did not know what to do, and I can speak to this again. We're talking about pattern of behavior. She knew that if she was responsive and that version of kindness gratifying towards him, To her, it was okay. He wants to see me. 

01:00:17
He wants to be with me. When you've only experienced that kind of exploitation and pain, it's a bizarre kind of reward to have him just show up. You know, um, and there was a point where this, this one really, really gets to me, that that she's believing that him attending to any one of her asks and needs means that means that he cares, or that he's coming around, and at that point where they're this back and forth about the um, about the pregnancy, and he does this seemingly innocuous gesture of bringing her a ginger ale, and she speaks to I think it was a friend about how nice it was that he brought her a ginger ale because she was experiencing morning sickness, I'm sure, because that was the time frame he brought her a ginger ale and she thought he was a hero. He brought her ginger ale so that he could case her apartment. 

Anngelle WoodHost
01:01:17
And he looked around and she couldn't figure out what he was doing and she thought he was being kind. 

Susanne ClevelandGuest
01:01:22
She thought he was coming around. There's no level of comprehension that leaves room to understand the monstrosity of that behavior. Here's this loving, kind, energetic person who's excited that, oh my God, he brought me a ginger ale. It's awful that the bar is that low, that you know. So he spent 99 cents at Cumberland Farms and stopped by on patrol, most likely to go here and then use your surroundings against you. 

Anngelle WoodHost
01:01:57
It was so evil the way that he premeditated what happened on February 1st decided thinking he's very clever, that now I'm going to placate her Instead of him pushing back and not really wanting to respond to her and anything that she would bring up to him about this baby. That was February 1st. He was expecting a child to be born within a period of hours, so at that point he got in his head. I know how I'm going to fix this. So he went to her home. 

01:02:52
He cased the place I mean, he had been there a number of times before, but he went there with the express intent to carve out his plan with how he was going to quote unquote take care of this situation, because he didn't want to be burdened with this baby that she was so very happy that she was having happy that she was having she did want him involved. I want you to come to my OBGYN appointments. I want to have a gender reveal. I want to have all of these things which she should have been able to have. When she said in her text messages with her friend he's coming around, that's the moment that he made the plan he was going to kill her that's certainly the conclusion that the fbi came to. 

Susanne Cleveland, Guest
01:03:45
Um, they, they drafted out very craftily in that affidavit um, those moments and I don't wish it on anyone and didn't even wish it on you and Angel, to sort of put yourself, place yourself in the logistics of those moments we all, those of us who have been, you know, acting in a way to try and get something like, I mean, we want full justice for Santa Birch more obviously, but something even remotely like that didn't seem tangible or close for quite some time. Those of us who've been on that task for quite some time have already sort of felt and understood the depth of that, those moments in that story, and it's just, it's very overwhelming. 

Anngelle WoodHost
01:04:34
So let's switch gears for a moment. You have been such a strong proponent for Sandra and such an advocate. How did that come? 

Susanne ClevelandGuest
01:04:50
should be human nature to look at a situation like this and just say this is unspeakably wrong and I want to do something. It just so happens that this case, the news of it and the layers of it broke in one of the most high profile crime cases that we've had in Massachusetts history in a long time. So we're already in this and, as you know, I was present in a lot of that and continue to be. But when the news of this case dropped and those of us were trying to find ways to express how to get everybody to pay attention to Justice for Sandra, it was disorienting. There's already this outrage and this wrongdoing by law enforcement and this fear of what is happening to women. And then you get this story and it was so. It was around. I mean, I've certainly participated in advocacy in other cases, but it was in September 2022. Other cases, but it was in September 2022. When Chief McNamara's incantation of what had happened dropped, there were already a lot of eyes and ears available with regard to the high-profile case in the same neighborhood, if you will. So we just sort of staggered into the scene with those signs and became acquainted with one another in this movement and continue to push forward. 

01:06:22
And I was having when I was having dinner with my daughter last night, and I said how do I put it into words? And she said how about? You have a daughter and you can't take this anymore? And I said well, you know, I've tried to keep you out of the story because you've got your own way of approaching things. And she said well, you know, I've tried to keep you out of the story because you've got your own way of approaching things. And she said oh no, you know, screw that, it's a big part of it. You see, you definitely see her in me and vice versa, and that's absolutely true. I do see a beautiful young woman with hopes and dreams and boundless energy that somebody stole from her and that she somewhat resembles my own grown daughter. 

01:07:09
And when I put that in perspective, that my daughter is still here to fulfill her hopes and dreams and I just can't let go of the fact that Sandra should still be here and it turns out that I was semi-okay at fact gathering and had something to lend to the story or the atmosphere and have been I guess someone else might have said like fiercely loyal to the movement. 

01:07:39
And can you continue to help? And I was like I was just waiting for somebody to ask really. But hell, yes, you know we're going to keep at this until all three that we know of are in jail and that there's some semblance of healing and safety that can incur following this terrible story, Because it shouldn't be about monsters, it should be about young women like Sandra Birchmore. We shouldn't just be. The fact that it got so quiet should be terrifying and we need to get that safety back. And we need to get that safety back. 

01:08:23
We don't have any way of determining or knowing the possibility of other victims, but hopefully the movement allows for the possibility of anyone who couldn't talk or didn't feel comfortable talking can see their way to a safe place to do so. 

01:08:33
And when I say safe place to do so, anybody's encouraged to reach out to any one of us as advocates, but only to be pointed in the direction of the safe professional. This isn't sort of a willy-nilly. We'll just, yeah, we'll pick up the phone and tell your story. There's a delicacy to that, but the atmosphere of continued communication and to helping people understand the language of grooming and coercion and the lack of safety and the fact that those two elements are happening with law enforcement agents. They need to know that there's help available and that the FBI is watching and that they are in on it. And if you were ever thinking about getting out and getting to a place of safety or even moderately telling your story, it's a good time to do it while all eyes are on it, Because the sooner you can get to that place, there can be something like healing, something like having a normal life, which is what Sandra deserved to have like healing, something like having a normal life, which is what Sandra deserved to have. 

Anngelle Wood, Host
01:09:46
We really have a responsibility of being compassionate and having empathy, and these people did not have it. These people, these predators, these men who are directly involved in this case, we see that they are void of that For whatever reason. I don't know what happened to them and that's not up to me to find out. Time will tell what impact this case and the O'Keeffe case will have on other people, because we know that there will continue to be reviews within the Mass State Police, within these police departments, within Stoughton's Police Department, I know, within the Mass State Police, within these police departments, within Stoughton's police department. I know that the chief spoke out. Was it the chief that spoke? 

Susanne Cleveland, Guest
01:10:25
out. Chief McNamara has spoken out quite a bit to express her outrage and disgust with the behavior of these men and the effort of Chief McNamara and former Deputy Chief Holmes. I wouldn't argue that that they, that they didn't put in a tremendous amount of effort to try and suss out what happened with these men. Uh, they for sure did. But when that information was handed in, or you know when that, when that file dropped, you know what happened? Not a whole lot, not nearly enough. Okay, so you lost your jobs. Too bad, so sad. 

01:11:08
You need to be held responsible to the fullest extent of the law, and there's a lot of conversations back and forth about how we won't stop until you know this happens or that happens. Where did the FBI have to take over? Because it's a pretty big deal, it's a really big deal and I don't even know if everybody's processed the impact of that. I just kind of was trying to explain to somebody the nature of the crime of Matthew Farwell, because there are all these arguments about well, the FBI doesn't get involved in murder cases and they do this and they do that. 

01:11:44
Well, the start of the charges, as I'm sure you all know, is killing of a victim witness that is in bold type. That is the beginning, and what that means to me as a not law enforcement, not FBI, is that this person, sandra Birchmore, had already been through horror and already been through enough in her life and that man decided that she couldn't be here anymore when she was trying to stay alive here anymore. When she was trying to stay alive that's my understanding of victim witness is there was a possibility of her being able to survive and be safe and he decided no, and that is and the fact that he was a law enforcement agent puts it in a whole other category. There's so much betrayal and so much lack of safety in his presence in his 38 years, but I would argue the most in the last three. 

01:12:48
He is a second world fighter, but the last three years of still being out there and emboldened by to use Josh Levy's own words nearly getting away with it. Oh yeah, that man was planning, he was banking on it. He was banking on it and he was definitely planning to get away. Imagine three years thinking really Nobody's doing anything, nobody's, nope. Okay, well, I'm just going to keep making money and, by the way, I'm going to start bringing my we're not supposed to discuss anything about anyone else, but bring someone with me as a human shield A juvenile and, and you know, sort of live this, this dual existence of everything's fine, I'm just, you know, we're just back to normal. 

01:13:39
So you know that that he decertified from being a police officer and I just very recently educated myself on on what voluntarily decertifying means. It's very, it's a little confusing, but the bottom line of somebody opting to do that is to agree to whatever misconduct to a certain degree, to pacify the powers that be and to maybe make some kind of gesture to the outward public that you're able to be rehabilitated. And I'm going to call bullshit on that hated. And I'm going to call bullshit on that Because in this case we now know that he admitted to probably the worst of the worst already. I mean it's documented, it's up on massgov that he committed statutory rape. Still nobody did anything about that. We'll circle back to that, but that was as a gesture to take energy and attention away from committing murder. 

Anngelle WoodHost
01:14:46
It's documented that he effectively resigned when this internal investigation was taking place. He clearly had no other choice but to leave the Stoughton Police Department at that period in time. 

Susanne ClevelandGuest
01:15:00
Yes. 

Anngelle WoodHost
01:15:02
Was his twin brother, William, also on the Stoughton Police Department. 

Susanne ClevelandGuest
01:15:07
Yes, so Matthew Farwell started on the Stoughton Police earlier than William Farwell because William Farwell was still out working for the Army as a bomb technician. He was out being all he could be. I had to have a lot of trouble with that. He returned to continue to work in you know, some type of bomb training down on the Cape but was back and forth as a volunteer for the Explorer program, ostensibly, to use his own words checking in with Sandra from time to time and participating in her growing up. We don't 100% fully know what that looks like because, for whatever reason, william Farwell seems to be protected very much right now. 

01:15:55
Was he also involved in the sexual abuse. Was he also involved in the sexual? 

Anngelle Wood, Host
01:16:02
abuse. 

Susanne Cleveland,nGuest
01:16:02
It's certainly documented that from 2019 on or 2020 on. That's what he copped to as part of his misconduct, and I call these things sort of kernels of truth is that you cop to what they have you dead to rights, right. So he admitted to that and being untruthful with the police department, and then invoked his military powers to get job placement with TSA in Maryland, while this internal investigation was still in progress and the military powers. 

01:16:36
It's called the USARA Act means that you make a phone call to your commanding officer and say I'm having some type of trouble at home. Whatever that may be, you probably may be supposed to tell that it's being investigated, but he didn't, and you get protection for you and your family to get moved expeditiously and get a job placement. That was designed in order to help our veterans who fought bravely to keep us safe and maybe suffered some type of damage during the course of that. 

Anngelle WoodHost
01:17:13
Not to invade an internal investigation of sexual abuse of a minor child. 

Susanne ClevelandGuest
01:17:19
an internal investigation of sexual abuse of a minor child. Right, it's supposed to be so that if somebody returns from service, that they have job security and they're not just sort of written off into the ether as taking some menial job. Well, it certainly wasn't a menial job to be a law enforcement officer one and two. It's still very puzzling to me how you can sort of just make that phone call and nobody really well, I wouldn't say nobody batted an eyelash, because that's another layer of trouble, because there are investigations going on with other agencies to explore whether or not there was fraud committed. Obviously there was, because TSA didn't think it was a good look when they saw the news drop and they let him go. The job in Maryland at TSA ended and subsequently he and his family moved to New Mexico. Nobody really knows what from there except occasionally popping up for post-commission hearings and in the civil trial, which is ongoing today. 

Anngelle Wood, Host
01:18:19
Right, yes, from Sandra's estate. 

Susanne Cleveland, Guest
01:18:23
Yes, the civil trial, and I don't want to speak too much on that because everything's a work in progress, right? People are very critical of civil trials. We know that. I would push back on that and say, well, what else would you do if your loved one died that way and nobody did anything and there are multiple law enforcement agencies involved and you didn't get answers and you realize that something is terribly, terribly wrong and the only move is to raise holy hell by way of a civil trial. More power to them for doing that. We wouldn't be here with this broad, sweeping motility happening right now. We wouldn't be here if not for that. I shouldn't say that Obviously the FBI had a hand in that Public outcry, attention and pushback on. Hey, we're not just writing this young woman's life off. We're not going quietly into that good night and just saying, oh, you know, women get emotional. Sometimes they just impulsively decide that it's over, in spite of all this insurmountable evidence that that monster did this to her. 

Anngelle Wood, Host
01:19:34
Let's talk about that evidence. 


Wow, that's a lot, and we will talk about that evidence. Thank you so much, suzanne. With Justice for Sandra Birchmore, you can follow along in real time for developments on the case Justice for Sandra Birchmore the Facebook group. They're very active. It is an energetic group, for sure, and there are a lot of developments in the case and many more to come. Like there was supposed to be a hearing on September 12th that has since been cancelled. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out before it actually goes to trial and who else might be taken into custody before that time comes. 

01:20:45
Thank you for listening. My name is Anngelle Wood. This is Crime of the Truest Kind, Massachusetts and New England crime stories. Thank you, Susanne. Thank you to the Patreon patrons. Welcome Merrill, brand new this week. Support the show. Everything at crimeofthetruestkind.com: show notes, links, photos and an easy way to contact the show. There's much more to the conversation with Susanne about justice for Sandra Birchmore and we will get to that in episode 70. I'm going to go, Lock your goddamn doors.