What is next for Brian Walshe?
BOSTON – Prosecutors revealed gruesome allegations against Brian Walshe in Quincy District Court as he was arraigned on a murder charge for the death of his wife, Ana Walshe. So what is next for the case?
WBZ-TV chief investigative reporter Cheryl Fiandaca broke down Wednesday's arraignment, saying prosecutors revealed a "massive amount of evidence."
Assistant Norfolk District Attorney Lynn Beland said in court that Brian Walshe allegedly "dismembered Ana Walshe and discarded her body" on January 1.
Beland alleged that Brian Walshe used his son's iPad to search a host of topics that day, including "10 ways to dispose of a dead body" and "How long before a body starts to smell?"
Investigators have not yet found Ana Walshe's body, and believe it is possible her discarded remains were incinerated at a trash facility.
Fiandaca said that even if prosecutors do not locate Ana Walshe's remains, it will not prevent them from a possible conviction.
"Defendants are convicted without bodies all the time," Fiandaca said. "There's a long history of cases that show that. In this particular case, not only do they have the searches showing 'Dismemberment' and 'How do you get rid of a body?' and all the searches, and there appear to be quite a number showing what he was doing and what a plan was, you have the trash bags that are filled with blood and DNA that show that something happened."
Walshe's attorney Tracy Miner released this statement to WBZ-TV after the arraignment Wednesday:
"It is easy to charge a crime and even easier to say a person committed that crime," Miner said. "It is a much more difficult thing to prove it, which we will see if the prosecution can do. I am not going to comment on the evidence, first because I am going to try this case in the court and not in the media."
Fiandaca said that of all the evidence presented in court on Wednesday, the volume of Google searches was most shocking.
"I would say the number of searches I was not aware of. The number of searches, that's very significant in this case," Fiandaca said.
Brian Walshe is being held without bail. The case is scheduled for a February status hearing that will be held virtually.
Fiandaca said it is likely that there will eventually be a direct indictment in the case. Prosecutors would bring evidence to a grand jury that will vote whether to directly indict him on the murder charges. That would take the case out of Quincy District Court and bring it to Superior Court, where the rest of the case would unfold.
