The note to U.S. District Court Judge Denise Casper said the impasse appeared unlikely to resolve "anytime soon," according to the court. Casper instructed jurors to go home and return to the Moakley federal courthouse in Boston on Tuesday morning to continue their work.

Farwell, 41, is charged with killing a witness or victim and with causing the death of an unborn child. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole.

Prosecutors argued over the course of a month-long trial that Farwell strangled Sandra Birchmore, 23 and pregnant, in her Canton apartment in 2021 and then staged the scene to look like a suicide. The government's theory is that Farwell killed her to prevent her from disclosing that he had sexually abused her beginning when she was 15 and a participant in the Stoughton Police Department's youth explorers program, where Farwell served as an instructor.

The defense countered that Birchmore took her own life, citing her history of mental health struggles and a prior suicide attempt. The state medical examiner's office initially ruled the death a suicide but later changed the manner of death to undetermined — a shift that has been central to the dispute at trial.

The deadlock note came after a full day of deliberations that followed closing arguments last week. Jurors had been deliberating since Friday.

The case has drawn intense public scrutiny in Stoughton and across the region, raising questions about how a police department supervised its youth programs and how allegations of abuse against an officer were handled. Birchmore's family and supporters have attended the trial, and the outcome is being watched closely by advocates who say the case underscores the vulnerability of young people in police-run mentorship programs.

If the jury remains unable to reach a unanimous verdict, Casper could eventually declare a mistrial, a decision that would leave the government to decide whether to retry Farwell. For now, the panel has been told to keep trying.