A pregnant Massachusetts woman who previously accused three Stoughton police officers of sexually abusing her when she was just 13 years old may have been killed despite her death initially being ruled a suicide.
Sandra Birchmore’s death was officially ruled a suicide by a Massachusetts state medical examiner after Birchmore’s body was found hanging in her apartment in 2021.
Now, a pathologist hired by Birchmore’s family has refuted the state medical examiner’s report.
Former New York City chief medical examiner Dr. Michael Baden, in his investigation into Birchmore’s death, concluded, “Ms. Birchmore did not die of suicidal hanging … The cause of Ms. Birchmore’s death is ‘Strangulation,’ and the manner of death is ‘Homicide.’”
Police Chief Donna McNamara said, “While I am not a trained medical examiner, and I am not qualified to draw any direct conclusions, the findings certainly warrant further examination at the highest level.”
Pregnant woman who accused three cops of sexually abusing her as teen didn’t die by suicide: pathologist https://t.co/VTzXevWkcT pic.twitter.com/uzQ9520xNu
— New York Post (@nypost) June 25, 2024
Per The New York Post:
A pregnant Massachusetts woman who accused three cops of grooming and sexually abusing her as a teenager did not commit suicide and may have been killed, a high-profile pathologist hired by her family has claimed.
Sandra Birchmore’s death had been ruled a suicide by a state medical examiner after the 23-year-old was found hanging in her Canton apartment back in February 2021.
The medical examiner and investigators had said at the time that the young woman’s autopsy — which also determined she was three months pregnant — had shown no evidence of foul play.
But former New York City chief medical examiner Dr. Michael Baden, who was hired by her family amid an ongoing civil legal battle against the three cops, has since rejected those findings, the Boston Globe reported.
“I must disagree,” Baden wrote in a June 18 letter to a lawyer for Birchmore’s estate.
“Ms. Birchmore did not die of suicidal hanging … The cause of Ms. Birchmore’s death is ‘Strangulation’ and the manner of death is ‘Homicide.’”
CBS reported in 2022, an internal investigation by the Stoughton Police Department discovered three of its officers sexually abused Sandra Birchmore.
Stoughton police chief “profoundly disturbed” by new information in Sandra Birchmore’s death @LouisaMoller https://t.co/ID6YXMnj2X
— WBZ | CBS News Boston (@wbz) June 24, 2024
The Stoughton Police Department has since dismissed the three officers.
