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Judge orders mental health evaluation for Brian Walshe as murder trial approaches
Prosecutors accuse the Cohasset man of killing and dismembering his wife, Ana Walshe, before disposing of her remains.
Just two weeks before his murder trial was set to begin, Brian Walshe was ordered on Monday to undergo a 20-day mental health evaluation at Bridgewater State Hospital, according to court documents.
Norfolk County Judge Diane Freniere set the next competency hearing for Oct. 27, a week after the trial had been scheduled to start on Oct. 20.
Ana Walshe, a Cohasset mother of three, went missing around New Year’s Day 2023. Prosecutors allege her husband, Brian Walshe, killed and dismembered her before disposing of her remains.
Prosecutors cite evidence that he searched online for information about dead bodies and bought a hacksaw, hatchet, and cleaning supplies shortly after her disappearance. Police have never found Ana Walshe’s body.
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Walshe pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, misleading police, and improper conveyance of a human body.
On Sept. 11, he was reportedly stabbed in jail while awaiting his trial.
His lawyers, Larry Tipton and Kelli Porges, in an affidavit filed with Norfolk Superior Court on Friday, say Walsh was stabbed multiple times in an unprovoked attack by another inmate.
Staff brought Walshe to a hospital, where medical personnel treated his injuries before returning him to the medical unit of the jail on Sept. 12. When his lawyers visited him, they described Walshe as “in pain, disoriented and fearful.”
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While Walshe was in “isolation” as an investigation into the attack continued, his lawyers say he had limited access to his discovery or the law library to prepare for his upcoming “complex” trial.
Despite showing progress since the attack, Tipton wrote that the “mental and physical effects of the violent assault” continue to prevent Walshe from fully participating in preparing his defense, adding that he is not functioning at the same level as before the incident.
Tipton asked to continue the trial to December, citing the commonwealth’s additional DNA testing and the withholding of evidence involving former Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor, who investigated both the Walshe and Karen Read cases.
Walshe’s lawyers have previously questioned whether the federal materials could contain relevant exculpatory information.
In response, prosecutors filed an opposition with the court, requesting that the judge deny the request to delay the trial.
The state said that although there was discovery in this case and other cases involving Proctor, there was “no indication of malfeasance.”
Prosecutors also say they will not call Proctor to testify at trial.
“While some of former (Trooper) Proctor’s text messages are misogynistic, unlike the female defendant in Read, this defendant is a white man,” prosecutors wrote. “Although the issues involving former (Trooper) Proctor are widely known, they are not relevant to the trial of this matter.”
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Prosecutors also cited the recent Gordon case, in which the Supreme Judicial Court released its opinion announcing a new rule stating that substituting an expert witness is no longer permissible.
The state analyst who performed the DNA testing in this case will be unable to testify due to major surgery, so the state conducted a second round of testing, with results expected on Oct. 9, by someone who could testify.
Prosecutors say they are continuing to prepare for the trial, which will involve around 60 witnesses who will be traveling from California, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Washington, D.C., New York, Nevada, Israel, and Australia.
Prosecutors argued that the judge should consider the “need for additional time against the possible inconvenience, increased costs, and prejudice.”
Court documents show that officials rescheduled the final pre-trial conference and jury trial but did not set new dates.
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