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A suspected affair, a private investigator, and a $2.7 million life insurance payout: Prosecutors lay out alleged motive in Brian Walshe case
Brian Walshe pleaded not guilty to charges including first-degree murder Thursday in the alleged killing of his wife, Ana Walshe. He was held without bail.
More on the Ana Walshe case:
Brian Walshe suspected his wife of having an affair and had his mother hire a private investigator to follow Ana Walshe in the days before he allegedly killed her and dismembered her body, prosecutors said Thursday.
The 48-year-old Cohasset man was arraigned in Norfolk Superior Court on charges of first-degree murder, misleading police, and improper conveyance of a human body. He pleaded not guilty, shaking his head as the charges were read aloud, and was ordered held without bail.
Prosecutor: Ana Walshe was prepared to leave her husband
On Ana Walshe’s Instagram page, festive Christmas photos and sentimental posts about her family paint a rosy picture of December 2022.
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Behind the scenes, however, the days leading up to the 39-year-old’s disappearance were full of turmoil, according to Norfolk Assistant District Attorney Greg Connor.
Allegations of fraud and deceit swirled around Brian Walshe, who had pleaded guilty to selling two fake Andy Warhol paintings in 2016 and was awaiting sentencing. He was also in the middle of a legal dispute over his late father’s will.
On Dec. 28, Ana Walshe allegedly told a friend that she believed Brian’s legal troubles would result in his incarceration and said she was prepared to leave him and take their children to Washington, D.C., where she worked for real estate firm Tishman Speyer.
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Brian Walshe, meanwhile, believed his wife was cheating on him and routinely visited the Instagram page of one of her male friends, Connor said. He allegedly had his mother hire a private investigator to follow Ana and searched “what’s the best state to divorce for a man” on Google.
Walshe’s attorney, Tracy Miner, asserted that her client’s mother hired the private investigator on her own, and that Walshe felt it unnecessary.
“Mr. Walshe had no idea that his wife was having an affair until he learned it in discovery in this case,” Miner said.
Connor also offered a potential financial motive, noting that Ana Walshe had a total of $2.7 million in life insurance policies — all with Brian Walshe as the sole beneficiary. Miner countered that her client wasn’t in need of money, citing his “wealthy” mother.
The evidence against Brian Walshe
Ana Walshe was last seen alive early on New Year’s Day, after a friend joined the couple for dinner at their Cohasset home.
“They were having champagne. They each signed the outside box of the champagne bottle saying that 2023 was going to be their best year ever,” Miner said, adding, “There was no indication of discord — no silences, no feeling that there was anything but happiness between the couple.”
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A few hours later, prosecutors say, Brian Walshe made a series of disturbing Google searches on his son’s iPad, including “How long before a body starts to smell” and “10 ways to dispose of a dead body if you really need to.”
“I get that they’re problematic,” Miner said of Walshe’s Google searches. However, she pointed to more innocuous searches made, including a question about lottery winnings and a search for family vacation destinations.
Over the next several days, Connor said Walshe purchased a hacksaw, hatchet, Tyvek suits, and various cleaning products. Walshe also allegedly visited dumpsters in several Greater Boston communities, where investigators believe he disposed of his wife’s body and evidence of her murder.
By Jan. 8, most of the dumpsters Walshe visited had been emptied and their contents shredded and incinerated, according to Connor.
In one Swampscott dumpster, however, investigators allegedly found Ana Walshe’s COVID-19 vaccination card and clothing that matched the outfit she was last seen wearing, as well as stained rugs consistent with ones from the Walshes’ home.
Investigators also found a Tyvek suit with a red-brown stain that tested positive for Ana Walshe’s DNA, according to Connor. Authorities recovered a small piece of bone from the hacksaw, he said, adding that the items are being processed for DNA.
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Investigators also found blood present in the Walshes’ basement and in Brian Walshe’s car, the prosecutor noted.
However, Miner pointed to a notable absence in prosecutors’ evidence against Walshe: His wife’s remains.
In the four months since Ana Walshe went missing, “there has been no body found,” Miner argued. “There’s been no indication of if she died, how she died. There’s no murder weapon, there’s no motive.”
Brian Walshe is due back in court on Aug. 23.
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