Brian Walshe trial opens with his explanation of wife's "sudden and unexplained" death
The trial of Brian Walshe began Monday with opening statements as his attorney for the first time offered an explanation of how Walshe claims his wife died. Walshe is facing a charge of first-degree murder in the death of Ana Walshe nearly three years ago at their home in Cohasset, Massachusetts.
Both sides presented their statements at Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham. Walshe has pleaded not guilty.
After opening statements, Cohasset Police Sgt. Harrison Schmidt was called as the first witness of the trial. He is expected to continue testifying for several hours on Tuesday before a Massachusetts State Police investigator takes the stand to tell jurors about Brian Walshe's allegedly violent electronic search history.
A jury of 16 people was seated on November 20. Judge Diane Freniere said she expects the trial to last three to four weeks. Freniere said she will monitor the weather conditions on Tuesday and if necessary cut the day short as snow is expected in the area.
Assistant District Attorney Greg Connor is among the prosecutors, while attorney Kelli Porges and Larry Tipton are defending Walshe.
Ana Walshe had three children with Brian Walshe. She was last seen alive on Jan. 1, 2023. Her body was never found. The couple hosted a New Year's Eve dinner at their home in Cohasset with friends that night. Brian Walshe told police that his wife left early in the morning to get a ride to the airport to deal with a work emergency in Washington, D.C. Investigators said there's no evidence that she ever got a ride or boarded a plane.
Walshe will be allowed to remove his handcuffs throughout the trial so he can actively participate in his defense. On Monday, he could be seen clutching rosary beads.
Interviews with police
Schmidt took the stand around 11:15 a.m. and was still testifying when court wrapped for the day.
With Schmidt on the stand, Connor played audio from Walshe's interview that took place in the dining room of the family's Cohasset home while Ana Walshe was considered missing.
Walshe can be heard explaining that his wife had to leave for a work emergency.
"It's been like that the last months where she has to cut back on family time and it's been difficult for us," he said at one point in the interview. "I was putting a lot of pressure on her for more family time."
Walshe told police about his wife during the interview, "She felt she was pale recently."
In the interview that was played for jurors, Walshe was asked by police "Did you guys have any arguments or anything on New Year's Eve?"
"No, no. On New Year's Eve everything was fine," Walshe responded, later adding "I love my wife this family doesn't work without her, we can't function without her."
Brian Walshe's defense
Earlier, defense attorney Larry Tipton began his opening statement at 10:25 a.m. by making the claim that Brian Walshe cleaned up following the New Year's Eve dinner, then returned to the bedroom and sensed something was wrong.
Tipton told jurors "you will hear evidence in this case of a sudden and unexplained death."
"He goes back upstairs, and she was dead," in bed Tipton said. The defense attorney claimed that "Now [Brian Walshe] is panicking and he doesn't understand what has happened and what is happening."
During the prosecution's opening statement, Connor said Ana Walshe had become friends with a real estate agent named William Fastow, and the relationship had become romantic. Tipton also said that Ana Walshe was keeping her affair a secret.
"Yes there was an affair. An affair does not make someone a bad person, does not make someone a bad mother," adding that "Ana Walshe did everything she could to hide that affair."
Tipton tried to show that during text messages between the couple and conversations at the New Year's Eve dinner, the Walshes were talking about the future.
Their dinner guest from the night described the mood as jovial, saying in the hours that he was there, he saw no problems.
During the dinner party, the group signed a box from the champagne they had that night.
"Let's make 2023 the best one yet," Ana Walshe wrote.
Tipton closed his opening statement after about 20 minutes by claiming that Brian Walshe would never have considered killing his wife.
"The impossible, the unimaginable happened. It didn't make sense to Brian Walshe. It was confusing. He never thought anyone would believe that Ana Walshe was alive one minute and dead the next. All he could think about was those three boys," Tipton said. "What would happen to their three boys now that Ana is no longer here? What will happen if they think he did something bad to Ana? Where will those three boys go? And so he told a story. He told lies. He tried to hide, so he could hang onto those boys. Brian Walshe never killed Ana. Brian Walshe never thought about killing Ana. He would never think about that."
Prosecution opening statement
Connor began his opening statement just before 10 a.m.
The prosecutor highlighted that on January 4, 2023, Brian Walshe contacted his wife's employer to say he had not heard from her in days. Still, Connor said, Brian Walshe never reported his wife missing to Cohasset police. It was Ana Walshe's employer who first reported her missing.
Connor told jurors they will hear from witnesses that include friends and colleagues of Ana Walshe. He said they will also see evidence that includes a hatchet and a hacksaw.
Jurors will also hear recordings from Walshe's interview with Cohasset and Massachusetts State Police, Connor said.
The prosecutor said Ana Walshe had traveled to Ireland the weekend of Thanksgiving and Fastow joined her. He returned to the U.S. and Ana visited her sick mother, which caused her to miss Thanksgiving.
Weeks later, Ana and Fastow went to dinner in Annapolis, Maryland. Ana had to drive to Cohasset, causing her to miss Christmas Eve and most of Christmas Day, Connor said.
In interviews with police, Walshe said the couple was happily married, but he did not want to have to have an argument with his wife about missing another holiday.
"He says they were very happy and biggest problem was that they were apart," Connor said.
Connor said jurors will also have access to financial records that show Ana Walshe had more than $1 million in life insurance, and her husband was the beneficiary of that policy.
According to Connor, evidence will show that Brian Walshe's cellphone was tracked in the area of a dumpster and trash compactor by his mother's apartment complex in Swampscott after Ana Walshe's death.
On January 9, 2023, police went to the dumpsters and took them to a facility in Peabody. They found a Hermes watch, clothing, a COVID vaccination card with Ana Walshe's name on it, rugs, a hammer, sheers, snips, a hatchet and a hacksaw.
Connor's opening statement concluded after about 25 minutes.
Will Brian Walshe testify?
While a defendant testifying in their own trial is rare, WBZ-TV legal analyst Jennifer Roman says it may be the only way to give credibility to the defense's theory.
"The defense is telling us, is previewing for us, that Brian Walshe is going to testify," she said. "The only person who can testify to what happened from the moment those people, their friends left the house, to when Brian Walshe is claiming he found his wife dead, is Brian Walshe."
Brian Walshe trial
Before the jury was brought in, four investigators were recognized by the court. That allowed the judge to make sure they agree to be available to come back during the trial as needed. One of the four was Massachusetts State Police Sgt. Yuri Bukhenik, who played a key role in the Karen Read trial.
There had been some question if the case would ever reach trial. On the first day of jury selection, Walshe pleaded guilty to two lesser charges of disposing his wife's body and misleading police. No plea deal has been reached on the final charge, allowing the trial to start as planned.
During the final pretrial hearing in the case, prosecutors said they have "binders" of materials that were retrieved from Walshe's laptop and his son's iPad. They allegedly include Google searches that included "How long before a body starts to smell?" and "Can you be charged with murder without a body?"
If convicted of first-degree murder, Walshe faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.