The Brian Walshe Case

Since January 1, 2023, mother of three Ana Walshe has been missing, and law enforcement believes her husband, Brian Walshe, dismembered and disposed of her remains. According to CNN, Walshe told the police that he last saw her on January 1, when she took a flight to Washington, DC for her job. Authorities believe that he misled them and have charged him with murder. Walshe has pleaded not guilty (CNN). 

Here is a timeline of events using information from the affidavits, trial proceedings, and other news sources. 

December 27, 2022

According to CNN, Walshe Google searched, “What’s the best state to divorce for a man?”

December 31, 2022

Walshe and his wife hosted a New Year’s Eve dinner at their home. They hosted their friends and went to sleep around 1:30 am. According to Walshe’s police statement, his wife had a work emergency and needed to fly to Washington the next morning (CNN). 

January 1, 2023

Evidence gathered by the prosecution shows that Walshe made a series of Google searches on his son’s iPad, including “How long before a body starts to smell?”, “10 ways to dispose of a dead body if you really need to?”, “How long for someone to be missing to inherit?”, and “How to clean blood from wooden floor?” (CNN). 

He also told police he left their home to get groceries at around 3 pm, and went to see his mother, who lives an hour from his home, at about 4 pm but got lost, making the trip longer. He eventually returned home at around 8 pm, according to NBC. 

January 2, 2023

Ana Walshe’s cell phone pinged in the area of their Cohasset home on both January 1 and January 2. Her husband told investigators that he took his children for ice cream and went to Home Goods, where he purchased three rugs (NBC). 

At around noon, Walshe made more Google searches: “Hacksaw best tool to dismember”, “Can you be charged with murder without a body?”, and “Can you identify a body with broken teeth?” Senior Lauren Markarian believes that Walshe was “asking to be caught” by authorities due to the “disgusting and immoral Google searches made on a public network.”

Surveillance videos provided by The New York Times show Walshe traveling to Home Depot wearing a mask and gloves and leaving with $450 of cleaning supplies, which he paid for in cash. 

January 3, 2023

Brian Walshe allegedly made more Google searches, including “What happens to hair on a dead body?”, “What is the rate of decomposition of a body found in a plastic bag compared to on a surface in the woods?”, and “Can baking soda mask or make a body smell good?” (NBC). 

Cell phone data tracked Brian Walshe’s whereabouts to an apartment complex in Abington at 4:27 p.m., according to prosecutors. Surveillance video shows he exited his car with a heavy garbage bag and put it into a dumpster.

At 4:48 p.m., he traveled to another apartment complex in the same town, and at 5:10 p.m. he went to an apartment complex in a different town where he again discarded items in a dumpster, according to prosecutors (CNN). 

These garbage bags were taken to a location to be shredded and incinerated and were destroyed by the time police located them, according to The New York Times.

January 4, 2023

Ana Walshe’s workplace, the real estate company Tishman Speyer, called police to report she did not show up for her job, according to Cohasset police logs provided by CNN.

Cohasset Police arrived at Ana Walshe’s home for a well-being check, according to an affidavit. Brian Walshe spoke with investigators multiple times and provided the above timeline for his actions and whereabouts on January 1 and 2.

Police noticed that Brian Walshe’s vehicle had the back seats down and a plastic liner in the back of the car, according to prosecutors.

January 5, 2023

CNN states that Walshe traveled to the corner of an apartment complex where there is a dumpster, according to prosecutors. Ten trash bags that originated from this dumpster contained blood stains, cleaning materials, a hacksaw, a hatchet, a purse and boots worn by Ana Walshe, and her Covid-19 vaccine card, according to prosecutors.

Cohasset Police announced Ana Walshe as missing and asked the public to come forward with any information. 

January 6, 2023

Police launched their search for Ana Walshe (CNN). 

January 7, 2023

At least six investigators were tasked with driving to the north shore area of Massachusetts and watching surveillance video to try to verify Walshe’s timeline of events, the affidavit states. They did not observe him on video at the Whole Foods or CVS in Swampscott on January 1 as he had stated. Police announced the search for Ana Walshe was concluded (CNN).

January 8, 2023

Investigators obtained a search warrant for the Walshe’s Cohasset home and found blood and a bloody knife in the basement, according to The New York Times. Brian Walshe was arrested and charged with misleading a police investigation.

January 9, 2023

Walshe was arraigned in court and pleaded not guilty to a charge of misleading police. However, prosecutors say that they had no evidence of Ana Walshe taking a rideshare from their house on January 1 (CNN).  

The judge set bail at $500,000 and the next hearing is set for February 9. Prosecutors released the affidavit in support of a criminal complaint that lays out authorities’ timeline of the prior week. 

The affidavit outlines several trips he made that were not requested and approved beforehand and that may represent violations of the terms of his probation.

According to NBC, investigators conducted searches north of Boston and collected a number of items that will be processed and tested, according to a statement from the Norfolk district attorney. The statement also referred to Ana Walshe’s disappearance as “suspicious.”

January 17, 2023

An arrest warrant charging Brian Walshe with murder was issued in the death of his wife, Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey announced (CNN). 

January 18, 2023

Brian Walshe was arraigned in Quincy District Court on charges of murder and disinterring of a body without authority.

Prosecutor Lynn Beland accused him of dismembering his wife and disposing of her remains in dumpsters. She also laid out some of the evidence that led to the charges, including the discovery of Ana Walshe’s belongings and blood in the garbage and Brian Walshe’s Google searches.

A not-guilty plea was entered on his behalf. Mr. Verdon believes that the evidence against Walshe “should be enough to put him behind bars” however, his attorney, Tracy Miner, issued a statement suggesting the evidence against him was not strong.