The panel of eight men and four women began deliberating shortly before 2:30 p.m. after closing arguments concluded earlier in the afternoon. Jurors asked to continue past 5 p.m. and were permitted to stay until 6 p.m. before being sent home for the weekend. Deliberations are scheduled to resume Monday.

Farwell, who chose not to testify, rested his defense on Wednesday. The trial has spanned 19 days and featured testimony from 50 witnesses.

Prosecutors allege Farwell strangled Birchmore after she told him she was pregnant and that he was the father. DNA evidence later showed Farwell was not the father of the unborn child. According to the government, Farwell groomed and sexually exploited Birchmore beginning when she was 15 through his role as a police Explorers volunteer, and continued the relationship into her adulthood.

In his closing argument, Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Fogerty described the killing as carefully planned. He said Farwell knew Birchmore would be home during a snowstorm on Feb. 1, 2021, and that the timing was driven by the impending arrival of Farwell's third child the next day. Fogerty said Farwell, who typically resisted wearing masks, arrived at Birchmore's building masked and hooded with his hands in his pockets — conduct the prosecutor characterized as part of a deliberate plan to avoid detection.

Fogerty told jurors that Farwell had been kind to Birchmore in the days before her death to gain access to her apartment, and that Birchmore had noticed him inspecting her closet and bathroom. He said Birchmore's phone showed no activity after 9:13 p.m. that night while Farwell was present, aside from a movement of eight steps.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Riley, delivering the government's rebuttal, emphasized that Birchmore had been making plans for her future — discussing babyproofing her apartment and ordering items for the child — and was known among friends and family as someone who shared openly about her life. Riley argued it would have been out of character for Birchmore to tell no one if Farwell had broken up with her that night.

Defense attorney Kimberly Stevens argued that Birchmore's death was a suicide, pointing to the medical examiner's initial ruling and the absence of Farwell's DNA under Birchmore's fingernails. She noted that Birchmore's death was investigated for three months before being classified as a suicide, and that the manner of death was later changed to undetermined — not homicide — after three and a half years. Stevens also cited testimony that 28% of people under 40 have broken hyoid bones in hangings and said there was no bleeding around Birchmore's broken neck bone, suggesting the injury occurred after death.

Stevens told jurors that Farwell's wife was due to give birth the next day and that he went to Birchmore's apartment only to end the relationship. She said there was no evidence Farwell ever possessed a key to the apartment, and that Birchmore locked the door behind him when he left.

The case has drawn national attention and follows other high-profile Massachusetts prosecutions, including the trials of Lindsay Clancy and Karen Read. No video is permitted in the courtroom because it is a federal trial.

U.S. Attorney Leah Foley and FBI Special Agent in Charge Josh Levy were among those in the courtroom for closings, along with a cousin of Birchmore and her therapist, Diala Alkhalil.

Judge Allison Burroughs told jurors they must elect a foreperson as their first order of business and read them the charges and verdict form before deliberations began. If the trial continues into next week, deliberations are scheduled from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.