Therapist Tells Boston Jury of Dead Mother's Midnight Visit to Sandra Birchmore

BOSTON, MASS. — A licensed mental health counselor told a federal jury in Boston on Friday that her patient, Sandra Birchmore, had described a visit from her dead mother in the night, according to a roundup published by Weird Darkness. The counselor, Diala Alkhalil, said the account was given at their last session on January 31st, 2021.

As relayed to jurors, the room had turned cold and Sandra's mother stood at the foot of the bed holding Sandra's unborn baby. Alkhalil testified that she described it as a visit rather than a dream. She said she did not endorse the belief but was respectful of it. Asked by the defense whether she had judged it a hallucination, she said no.

Prosecutors say Matthew Farwell, then a Stoughton police detective, strangled Birchmore in her Canton apartment the next day. Farwell has pleaded not guilty to two counts, including causing the death of her unborn child. The defense contends that she took her own life after he ended their relationship, and one attorney called the death an "impulsive act of despair".

Alkhalil testified that she had treated Sandra since 2016, after the deaths of her mother and grandmother a month apart, and that she saw no signs of suicidal thinking. She said Sandra seemed happy about her pregnancy. Under defense questioning she agreed that suicidal thoughts can rise when a patient starts antidepressants, which Sandra had been taking.

A close friend also testified that Sandra believed the baby was an angel sent by her late mother. A state medical examiner ruled the death a suicide in 2021, but the office has since changed the manner to undetermined. Prosecutors expect to finish their case in the middle of next week, with closing arguments possible in early November.