Brian Walshe hired investigator to follow wife before murder, suspected affair, prosecutor says
DEDHAM - Brian Walshe, the Cohasset man accused of killing his wife Ana Walshe in January, hired a private investigator to follow her in the days before her murder because he suspected she was having an affair, a prosecutor said Thursday.
Read: What we've learned about Ana Walshe murder
A Norfolk County Grand Jury indicted Walshe last month for the murder of his wife, misleading a police investigation, obstruction of justice, and for improper conveyance of a human body. The indictment moved the case to Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham where Walshe appeared Thursday morning in handcuffs. He pleaded not guilty to the charges. (Watch the arraignment here)
Prosecutor Greg Connor then shed more light on a possible motive, saying Brian Walshe started suspecting his wife was having an affair in December 2022 with one of her "male friends from Washington, DC" where she was working at the time. Investigators said Walshe had his mother hire a private investigator in Washington "to conduct surveillance of Ana for the purpose of proving infidelity."
"It had become evident that Mr. Walshe suspected his wife of having an affair and routinely visited the Instagram page of one of her male friends," Connor said.
In court Thursday, Walshe's attorney said his mother acted alone.
"She told Mr. Walshe that she was doing that. He said that she 'was crazy, Ana is a good girl, but go ahead. You will be proven wrong,'" defense attorney Tracy Miner said.
Investigators said Ana Walshe, 39, the mother of the couple's three young sons, was last seen in the early hours of January 1, shortly after having dinner at home with her husband and a friend.
The friend left around 1:30 a.m. about three hours before police say Brian Walshe began a series of gruesome internet searches on how to dispose of a body. Prosecutors believe Brian Walshe killed Ana Walshe on January 1.
Brian Walshe made calls about Ana's whereabouts three days later and told investigators she had left New Year's Day for a work emergency. "Commonwealth established this was a lie," Connor said. "By this time, he had killed her, dismembered her and disposed of her body."
The remains have not been found.
Prosecutors say they have more than 20 Google searches Brian allegedly made on his son's computer about disposing of a body, they recovered more than 10 bags of trash that included Ana's bloody clothes and personal items, and they recovered two knives and a hatchet. Several of the items were covered in blood and both Ana and Brian's DNA.
Connor revealed Thursday that a bloody hacksaw they found had a bone fragment on it, but that it's still being processed for DNA.
"Mr. Walshe's Volvo SUV also tested positive for the presumptive presence of blood in the driver side seat control areas, the passenger floor mats, and the rear trunk area," he told the court.
He also said Ana Walshe had $2.7 million worth of life insurance and that her husband Brian was the "sole beneficiary."
Brian Walshe was ordered held without bail.
His attorney was hoping to have him released on $250,000, saying there's no body, no murder weapon, no motive and no evidence he suspected his wife of having an affair.
"In that four months, no body was found, there's been no indication of if she died, how she died, no murder weapon, there's no motive," Miner said.
He's due back in court August 23.
