跟进：前警探Farwell谋杀审进入辩方举证：专家称Birchmore自杀风险高、控方当庭质证其不了解案发当天
马萨诸塞州前 Stoughton 警探 Matthew Farwell 被控杀害 Sandra Birchmore 一案，本周在波士顿（Boston）的联邦法院进入辩方举证阶段。据当地媒体《The Enterprise》10月30日的法庭报道，控方本周三在传唤38名证人后完成举证，辩方同日开始传证；本周五（10月30日），辩方传唤的法医精神科专家在陪审团面前作证称，Birchmore 生前的长期丧失、创伤与心理健康问题使她处于自杀高风险之中。控方随即在交叉质证中指出，这名专家并不了解 Birchmore 生命最后一天的许多情况。Farwell 已作无罪答辩。
检方指控 Farwell 杀害了当时23岁、已经怀孕的 Birchmore，并把现场布置成自杀的样子。Birchmore 于2021年2月4日被发现死于她在 Canton 的公寓。州法医最初认定其死于自杀，后来把死亡方式改为「未定」。辩方则主张 Birchmore 是自己结束了生命。
辩方专家、内华达大学 Reno 医学院长期任教的法医精神科医生 Melissa Piasecki 周五作证说，她审阅了 Birchmore 从童年到成年的医疗、心理健康与学校记录。Piasecki 说，Birchmore 自幼没有父亲，母亲重病且有成瘾问题，她10岁时就被诊断出注意力缺陷障碍和一种未指明的情绪障碍；不到十年间，她接连失去了母亲、祖母和一位姨母。Piasecki 作证说，童年失去父母的孩子成年后自杀风险更高；她形容 Birchmore 冲动、应对能力有限、「对丧失与被抛弃极其敏感」，其记录显示出与边缘型人格障碍一致的症状、伴随很高的自杀风险，但她强调自己并不是在给 Birchmore 下诊断。她还说，Birchmore 的抑郁在怀孕期间加重，治疗师曾试图把她转介到强化门诊治疗、并形容她「临床上不稳定」，这一点「非常重大」。Piasecki 说，失去长期男性伴侣对 Birchmore 而言将是「灾难性的」，并在后面说明她指的是 Farwell。Piasecki 没有在 Birchmore 生前见过或治疗过她。
交叉质证中，助理联邦检察官 Brian A. Fogerty 开场便问：「你是在说，有心理健康问题的人就不可能被谋杀吗？」辩方提出异议，法官 Denise J. Casper 支持了异议。当被追问两人的关系时，Piasecki 承认，她不知道 Birchmore 开始与 Farwell 互发短信时是多大年纪；庭审早先出示的证据显示，两人开始发短信时 Birchmore 15岁、身为警官的 Farwell 27岁。被问到 Birchmore 生命的最后一天时，Piasecki 只知道她当时在家用电脑，不知道她那天去上过班；Fogerty 列出 Birchmore 当天联系过的约十几个人，Piasecki 说她只知道其中三人，包括 Farwell。她还承认，自己不知道 Birchmore 宣布怀孕的计划——包括她预约了做头发、以及家人朋友围绕怀孕给她的帮助——也没有审阅全部数字取证材料。
在再直接询问中，辩方律师 Kimberly C. Stevens 指出，Birchmore 把怀孕的消息告诉了大约80个人，控方此前以此说明她不可能自杀。Piasecki 给出了不同解读：这显示 Birchmore 在寻求依恋与积极联系，她对怀孕、分娩和此后生活建立起了「非常细致、多彩」的期待。Stevens 又回到辩方的主张——Farwell 已于2021年2月1日结束两人的关系、并告诉 Birchmore 孩子不是他的；Piasecki 说，失去他「将是她失去的最后一段关系」。在再交叉质证中，Fogerty 再次要求 Piasecki 确认，她并不了解 Birchmore 生活中的全部关系，包括她与 Farwell 关系的方方面面，她确认了这一点。
Piasecki 是辩方传唤的第五名证人。辩方预计于11月4日（周三）完成举证，联邦地区法官 Denise J. Casper 表示，陪审团最早可能于周五开始评议。
关联：前斯托顿警官法威尔杀人案 10 月 6 日在波士顿（Boston）联邦法院开始遴选陪审团
Follow-Up: Defense Case Under Way in Farwell Murder Trial: Expert Calls Birchmore a High Suicide Risk as Prosecutors Challenge Her Knowledge of the Final Day
The federal murder trial of former Stoughton, Massachusetts, police detective Matthew Farwell entered the defense phase this week in Boston. According to court reporting by The Enterprise on October 30, prosecutors rested on Wednesday after calling 38 witnesses, and the defense began calling witnesses the same day. On Friday, October 30, a forensic psychiatrist called by the defense told jurors that Sandra Birchmore's long record of loss, trauma and mental health struggles left her at a high risk of suicide. Prosecutors then used cross-examination to show the expert did not know much about Birchmore's last day. Farwell has pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors accuse Farwell of killing Birchmore, who was 23 and pregnant, and staging her death to look like a suicide. She was found dead in her Canton apartment on February 4, 2021. The state medical examiner first ruled the death a suicide and later changed the manner of death to 'undetermined.' The defense contends Birchmore took her own life.
Defense expert Dr. Melissa Piasecki, a forensic psychiatrist and longtime professor at the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine, testified on Friday about her review of Birchmore's medical, mental health and school records from childhood through adulthood. She said Birchmore grew up without her father, that her mother was seriously ill and struggled with addiction, and that by age 10 Birchmore had been diagnosed with attention deficit disorder and an unspecified mood disorder. Less than a decade later, she lost her mother, grandmother and an aunt. Children who lose a parent in childhood face a higher risk of suicide even well into adulthood, Piasecki said. She described Birchmore as impulsive, with limited coping skills and 'exquisitely sensitive to loss and abandonment,' testified that her records showed symptoms consistent with borderline personality disorder, which carries a high risk of suicide, and stressed she was not diagnosing her. She said Birchmore's depression worsened during her pregnancy, which also brought back her grief over her mother; her therapist had tried to refer her to intensive outpatient treatment and described her as 'clinically unstable,' a fact Piasecki called 'very significant.' Losing a long-term male partner would have been 'catastrophic' for Birchmore, she said, adding later that she was referring to Farwell. Piasecki had not met or treated Birchmore during her life.
On cross-examination, Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian A. Fogerty opened by asking, 'Are you saying people with mental health issues can't be murdered?' The defense objected, and Judge Denise J. Casper sustained the objection. When pressed about the relationship, Piasecki said she did not know how old Birchmore was when she exchanged text messages with Farwell; evidence presented earlier in the trial shows they were texting when she was 15 and Farwell was a 27-year-old police officer. Asked about Birchmore's last day, Piasecki said she knew only that Birchmore was home on her computer; she did not know Birchmore had gone to work. When Fogerty listed about a dozen people Birchmore was in contact with that day, Piasecki said she knew about three, including Farwell. She also said she did not know about Birchmore's plans to announce her pregnancy, including a hair appointment she had booked and the help she received from family and friends surrounding her pregnancy, and had not reviewed all of the digital forensic evidence.
On redirect, defense attorney Kimberly C. Stevens noted that Birchmore had told about 80 people about her pregnancy, a fact the prosecution has pointed to as a reason she could not have died by suicide. Piasecki offered a different interpretation: it showed Birchmore was seeking attachment and positive connection, and appeared to be building 'very detailed and colorful' expectations for her pregnancy, delivery and life beyond. Stevens returned to the defense's contention that Farwell ended the relationship on February 1, 2021, and told Birchmore the baby was not his. Losing him, Piasecki said, 'would be the final relationship she would be losing.' On recross, Fogerty again asked Piasecki to confirm she did not know about all of the relationships in Birchmore's life, including aspects of her relationship with Farwell. She confirmed she did not.
Piasecki was the fifth witness called by the defense, which expects to rest its case on Wednesday, November 4. U.S. District Judge Denise J. Casper said the jury could begin deliberations as soon as Friday.
Related: Jury Selection Begins Oct. 6 in Boston Federal Trial of Ex-Stoughton Officer Matthew Farwell
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
图片来源：图：位于 Boston 的 John Joseph Moakley 美国联邦法院大楼与 Boston Harborwalk（资料图），Farwell 案在此审理。照片：NewtonCourt，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / The John Joseph Moakley U.S. Courthouse and Boston Harborwalk (file photo). Photo by NewtonCourt, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
- 2026-10-06 02:39前斯托顿警官法威尔杀人案 10 月 6 日在波士顿（Boston）联邦法院开始遴选陪审团
- 2026-10-31 09:42跟进：前警探Farwell谋杀审进入辩方举证：专家称Birchmore自杀风险高、控方当庭质证其不了解案发当天本篇
