Prosecution rests in Brian Walshe's Massachusetts murder trial
The prosecution in the Brian Walshe murder trial rested its case on Wednesday after less than two weeks of witness testimony. Jurors were then sent home for the day and the defense is set to begin calling witnesses on Thursday.
The prosecution rested its case just after 3 p.m. after calling several key witnesses.
After the jury was sent home for the day, Brian Walshe's defense asked Judge Diane Freniere for a finding of not guilty, claiming the prosecution did not prove first-degree murder.
Defense attorneys argued that the prosecution's case was based on circumstantial evidence and added that "inferences have not been proven."
Defense attorney Kelli Porges argued that the Commonwealth failed to show that Brian Walshe even knew about his wife's affair, adding that there was no evidence to support the theory that it caused him to commit murder.
The prosecution retorted by saying that evidence shows Ana Walshe "met a violent death in the living quarters" of her home at the hands of her husband. They said Brian Walshe saying on New Year's Eve that he had lost his phone was a lie, and he used it as an alibi.
After hearing from both sides, Judge Freniere denied the defense's motion for a not guilty verdict.
Gem Mutlu testimony
Gem Mutlu, a family friend who spent New Year's Eve with Brian Walshe and his wife Ana at their Cohasset home hours before she died, was the first witness on the stand Wednesday.
Court started Wednesday with a voir dire hearing for Mutlu before the jury entered. Mutlu told the court that he and Ana Walshe talked about her "marital issues" in a phone call on Dec. 29, 2022, just before the New Year's Eve gathering.
"Part of it was that she was going back and forth from D.C., which was taking a toll on her, and the fact that Brian had not been able to leave Massachusetts," he said.
He also said there was a different conversation over the summer about Brian Walshe's art fraud case taking a toll on their marriage.
Initially he met Brian Walshe at a semester-long leadership program, and Ana Walshe also worked for him for two years. Mutlu said he was close friends with both Ana and Brian as a couple, and individually.
Early in questioning, Mutlu said Ana Walshe had indicated to him that "they had martial problems." There was an objection by the defense, and the judge struck that comment.
Assistant District Attorney Greg Connor rephrased the question.
Mutlu became choked up several times while answering several questions.
Photographs were shown of a champagne box that Mutlu sign along with Ana and Brian Walshe during their New Year's Eve dinner.
"Wow. 2022. What a year! And yet, we are still here and together. Let's make 2023 the best year yet. We are the authors of our lives," Ana wrote on one side, while Brian wrote on another, "To the best triumvirate ever." Mutlu added, "No place I'd rather be but here. NYE 2022."
Mutlu said Ana Walshe had no injuries and he had no concerns about her physical health that night.
"Nothing was visible. It was a festive night," he testified.
On Jan. 4, 2023 Brian Walshe texted Mutlu to let him know that Ana was missing. He said she had left for a work emergency. Mutlu said he asked Walshe if he and Ana had been in a fight.
"His response was, 'No. Did it look like we had an argument? You were there,'" Mutlu said. "I didn't know what to make of it. I was in shock. I said you've got to call the police, you've got to alert everybody. You've got to let our community know and we've got to find her."
When asked about Brian Walshe's tone, Mutlu responded, "His tone was not panicked."
Gem Mutlu cross-examined
On cross-examination, Porges attempted to show jurors that Mutlu and Ana Walshe had a close friendship and worked long hours together, but Brian Walshe never expressed any signs of anger or jealousy over that relationship.
Porges asked Mutlu about one of Brian Walshe's hearings in federal court. Mutlu sat with Ana Walshe in the courtroom, and said he held her hand during what he described as a tense hearing.
The defense attorney highlighted that Brian Walshe's mother Diana was also in the courtroom. Diana Walshe later told Ana she was upset that she had been holding hands with Mutlu.
"Correct," Mutlu said, though the prosecution objected and the comment was struck.
Porges attempted to show jurors that Ana Walshe developed feelings for Mutlu outside of work.
"At some point while Ana was working for you, Ana confessed that she had a crush on you?" she asked.
Mutlu said he did not specifically remember Ana Walshe using that phrase.
Porges asked about a relationship he had with another coworker that Ana Walshe was jealous of. The prosecution objected, leading to a sidebar.
"When you left the house of your good friends on January 1 at 1:30 a.m., the mood was joyful and happy?" Porges said during her last question. "Yes," Mutlu responded.
Under re-direct questioning from Connor, Mutlu said Ana Walshe told him there were "cracks in the relationship." The defense objected, leading to another sidebar.
Mutlu completed his testimony around 12:30 p.m.
Who is Gem Mutlu?
Mutlu is a residential realtor who works in the Boston suburbs.
Days after Ana Walshe was reported missing in 2023, Mutlu spoke with WBZ-TV's Juli McDonald about the last time the three of them were together.
"We hugged and celebrated and we toasted just what you do over New Year's," Mutlu said. "There was a lot of looking forward to the new year. There was no indication of anything other than celebrating the new year, problems on hold."
Mutlu said he left their home at about 1:30 in the morning. A few days later, Brian Walshe called and told him Ana Walshe was missing.
Ana Walshe's close friend testifies
Alissa Kirby, one of Ana Walshe's best friends, took the stand after the lunch recess. She lived in Chevy Chase, Maryland, and said she quickly became close with Ana Walshe.
"We just kind of clicked like sisters," she said.
Brian Walshe called Kirby on Christmas 2022 saying he had not heard from his wife. Kirby was going to check on Ana, but Walshe was able to get ahold of her.
According to earlier testimony, Ana Walshe had spent Christmas Eve with William Fastow, who she was having an affair with. Her flight home to Massachusetts on Christmas Day was canceled due to snow and she was forced to drive home.
Ana Walshe told Kirby in a phone call on Christmas that she was upset Brian had called her. According to Kirby, Ana was upset because it had only been several hours since she had spoken to Brian so she did not know why he would contact her.
Kirby and Ana Walshe spent the night of December 29, 2022 together.
"Because of what happened after Christmas she as very upset," Kirby said, adding that Ana was "kind of breaking down because everything had been really hard." Kirby said that was out of character, because Ana was a very strong person, and it was out of character to be so upset and crying.
"Their marriage had been strained for a long time, she told me how upset she was and she was really at a breaking point," Kirby said.
Kirby said that Ana Walshe told her that Brian's mother had gone to a psychic. The psychic told Diana Walshe that Ana was having an affair.
Porges highlighted to close her cross-examination that Ana Walshe told Kirby that she wanted her family to remain together if her were sentenced to prison time in his art fraud case.
After Kirby stepped down, the judge provided a stipulation to jurors that Brian Walshe pleaded guilty to charges in his art fraud case.
Moments later, the Commonwealth rested.
Probation officer and Home Depot purchases
Several witnesses took the stand after Mutlu completed his testimony and before Kirby was on the stand.
Brian Walshe's probation officer Marlenny Ramdehai testified about the various ways that he was allowed to leave the house, and the process for submitting his schedule to do so.
Each Thursday Walshe would put in a schedule for what necessities were required the following week.
On January 5, four days after Ana Walshe was last seen, Brian Walshe told Ramdehai that his wife was missing.
Ramdehai said she received information Brian Walshe had taken an unauthorized leave on January 2. She reached out to him and he said he was picking up his children per usual.
Home Depot employee Tony Macrina took the stand next. He works in asset protection for the Rockland store.
Connor played surveillance video from January 2, 2023. Walshe can be seen with a large box in his cart.
A receipt showed that Walshe spent $453.53 on items that included a 12-pound bag of baking soda. He paid using cash.
The property manager from an apartment building in Brockton briefly took the stand as Connor showed surveillance video of Walshe's car driving by on January 3.
Did Brian Walshe prosecution prove premeditation?
Brian Walshe, 50, has pleaded not guilty to a first-degree murder charge in his wife's death. Her body has never been found.
He has pleaded guilty to charges of misleading police and improperly disposing of a body.
Walshe's defense claims that he panicked after finding his wife dead in their bed early in the morning of Jan. 1, 2023. The prosecution alleges that he killed her and is highlighting gruesome online searches he made around the time of her death.
WBZ-TV legal analyst Jennifer Roman said the key for the jury will be deciding if Brian Walshe should be found guilty of premeditated murder.
"I do think the prosecution struggled here to establish premeditated murder," Roman said.
But Roman said a murder can be considered premeditated even if the decision came just minutes before. She said it is possible jurors could settled on second-degree murder if they don't think the prosecution made a strong enough case for premeditation.
"If the Commonwealth can't prove every element of their case, the jury will come back and find guilty of a lesser offense," Roman said.
Brian Walshe trial recap
For the first time on Tuesday, Ana Walshe's DNA was connected to items the prosecution said her husband used to dismember her and clean up the mess.
Forensic scientist Saman Saleen with the Massachusetts State Police Crime Lab testified that Ana Walshe's DNA was on a pair of bloody slippers, a hatchet, a Tyvek suit, a stained rug and several other items police pulled from the trash.
But the defense argued that blood and DNA could have been transferred between items after being placed in bags and pressed together in a trash compactor.
"We all see these shows where they can get a blood sample and a DNA sample off of the smallest, tiniest microscopic piece. That's not real life," WBZ-TV legal analyst Jennifer Roman said.
The day ended with more surveillance footage showing Brian Walshe buying items including towels and bathmats at a HomeGoods in Norwell after Ana Walshe's death. Who is Brian Walshe?