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Brian Walshe Killed Wife Ana Over Over Suspected Affair, Prosecutors Allege
Brian Walshe, 48, is accused of killing his wife Ana Walshe, who was last seen in the early morning hours of New Year's Day.
A Massachusetts man accused of murdering his realtor spouse, who vanished in the early morning hours of New Year's Day, pleaded not guilty to her slaying this week.
Brian Walshe, 48, the alleged art fraudster charged in the murder of his wife, Ana Walshe, formally entered his not guilty plea on Thursday in Norfolk Superior Court, the Associated Press reported. A judge ordered he be remanded into custody without bail.
Ana Walshe was last seen alive on Jan. 1. She vanished after reportedly calling for a rideshare to Boston’s Logan Airport. Brian Walshe told investigators she’d left for the airport to catch a flight to Washington, D.C. for a purported work-related emergency. Ana Walshe, however, never checked in for her flight. The real estate executive was officially reported missing on Jan. 4. Her body hasn’t been found.
RELATED: Grisly Details In Ana Walshe Case Revealed As Husband Pleads Not Guilty To Her Murder
In the immediate aftermath of Ana Walshe’s disappearance, Brian Walshe was charged with misleading investigators regarding his wife’s whereabouts. He was later indicted on murder charges.
Why do prosecutors think Brian Walshe killed his wife Ana?
Prior to her disappearance, Ana Walshe was in the process of leaving her husband, officials said.
A friend told investigators that on Dec. 28 Ana Walshe confided that she believed her husband, who was on house arrest at the time on federal art fraud charges, would ultimately be convicted. Ana Walshe reportedly told the acquaintance she was ready to leave Brian Walshe should he be incarcerated.
“Ana believed Mr. Walshe was going to be incarcerated on his pending criminal case. Ana told her friend that she intended to relocate her three children to Washington, D.C., and was prepared to leave Mr. Walshe,” the document stated, the Associated Press reported.
According to newly filed court documents, Brian Walshe also suspected that his spouse was being unfaithful.
"In December 2022, Mr. Walshe suspected Ana was having an affair," prosecutors said, Boston television station WCVB-TV reported, citing court records.
Prosecutors say Brian Walshe directed his mother to hire a private investigator to follow his wife the day after Christmas "for the purpose of proving infidelity,” according to the outlet, who cited court records.
This week, Tracy Miner, Brian Walshe’s defense attorney, acknowledged her client’s mother had hired a private investigator to track Ana Walshe, however, she pushed back on prosecutors’ claims that she’d done it at her son’s behest.
"She told Mr. Walshe she was doing that. He said she was crazy, 'Ana is a good girl, but go ahead you will be proved wrong,'" Miner said in Norfolk court on Thursday, WCVB-TV reported.
Prosecutors, who suspect Brian Walshe dismembered his wife before dumping her body at an unknown location, said security camera footage also ties him to Ana Walshe’s slaying.
On Jan. 1, Brian Walshe was captured by CCTV cameras at Lowe’s buying five-gallon buckets, a hacksaw, towels, a hammer, protective suit, a mop, trash bags, and cleaning products. He was recorded again later that day purchasing hydrogen peroxide and ammonia, prosecutors said, according to ABC News.
The following day, he was also seen at Home Depot buying more buckets, 24 pounds of baking soda, a hatchet and plastic sheeting.
Prosecutors also allege that Brian Walshe stood to financially benefit from his wife’s death. He was the sole beneficiary of a $2.7 million life insurance package in Ana Walshe’s name.
Brian Walshe’s defense attorney, however, countered in court this week that the prosecution has no concrete evidence that Ana Walshe is no longer alive. An individual isn’t legally presumed dead for seven years “because it is easy for a single person to disappear if they want to disappear,” Miner said.
What did Brian Walshe allegedly search on the internet before his wife disappeared?
Brian Walshe also began surreptitiously surveilling his wife’s movements online the month she vanished, prosecutors alleged.
In December, Brian Walshe would “repeatedly access the Instagram page of one of Ana's male friends from Washington, D.C.," court documents added.
Investigators also found someone had searched “divorce” on his eldest child’s iPad, per the Associated Press. He also allegedly searched for “dismemberment and best ways to dispose of a body,” “how long before a body starts to smell” and “hacksaw best tool to dismember,” per the Associated Press.
