OAN Brooke Mallory
UPDATED 6:19 PM – Friday, March 31, 2023
A man from Cohasset, Massachusetts, named Brian Walshe was charged with murder on Thursday in connection with the disappearance of his wife Ana Walshe, a corporate real estate investment manager and mother who went missing at the beginning of the year.
Brian, 48, was already charged previously in January with murder and other crimes related to the disappearance, but he pleaded “not guilty” to all charges, requiring that a later trial be held.
Officials said that they finally discovered undeniable proof this week that Brian killed and mutilated his wife and gruesomely disposed of her remains.
According to the police affidavit, Brian told authorities that he last saw his wife in the morning on January 1st, when she supposedly informed him that she had a work emergency in Washington, D.C., before abruptly leaving their residence.
Prosecutors asserted that there was no proof that Ana Walshe, 39, ever arrived in D.C., nor that she took her usual taxi or rideshare car to the airport.
Ana Walshe’s employer at Tishman Speyer called police and reported her missing on January 4th, which prompted a massive search.
County District Attorney Michael W. Morrissey said that once the Norfolk County Grand Jury issued an indictment, the case would be transferred from district court to county superior court, and a fresh arraignment would be scheduled.
Prosecutors stated that Brian Walshe foolishly carried out a series of nefarious internet searches. The searches included questions like: “How long before a body starts to smell?” and “How to stop the decay of a body?”
Ana Walshe had also recently acquired a property portfolio worth $2.8 million, which her husband was eager to gain after her death, as insinuated by his internet search history.
In a garbage collection facility, crime investigators found 10 trash bags full of evidence, including a hacksaw, a hatchet, and various items with both Brian and Ana Walshe’s DNA on them.
The day after his wife was last seen, Brian Walshe allegedly spent $450 on cleaning products, mops, tape, and other suspicious items.
This was the first day that prosecutors publicly stated that they believed Ana Walshe was no longer alive, although they did not specify whether her body had been discovered yet.
Prosecutors said that they believed that Brian Walshe murdered his wife in order to end their marriage and attain her properties. They also claimed that he had told police false information about some of his daily activities and whereabouts in the days after she “vanished.”
According to Morrissey, the Grand Jury charged Brian Walshe on January 8th with murder, deceiving investigators, and improper conveyance of a human body.
Walshe is currently being detained without the ability to post bail. In Massachusetts, a first-degree murder conviction like this one entails an automatic life sentence without the possibility of parole.
He also leaves behind his three young sons, who now have no mother or father to raise them.
Tracy Miner, Brian’s lawyer, did not immediately respond to a comment request.
“This is only a step in a long process, during which Brian Walshe enjoys the constitutional presumption of innocence and all of the protections afforded him under the Constitution… We are thankful to the detectives who have put so many hours into assembling the evidence in this matter and the witnesses who have assisted us in coming to this step,” said Morrissey.
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