Brian Walshe appears in court on murder charge

Brian Walshe appeared in court today after he was charged Tuesday with murdering his wife, Ana Walshe.

Walshe was read the charges and the court indicated not guilty pleas would be entered on his behalf. The defense did not contest bail, and a judge ordered him held without bail.

During the hearing, prosecutor Lynn Beland outlined the evidence that investigators have gathered so far against Walshe — including a chilling list of internet searches that she said Walshe made using his son’s iPad starting on Jan. 1, the last day Ana was seen.

If you’re just reading in now, here are some of the key moments from Wednesday’s hearing in Walshe’s case:

Prosecutor Lynn Beland said in court on Wednesday that when police first spoke with Brian Walshe after his wife went missing, he told them that his wife left their Cohasset, Massachusetts, home around 6 a.m. ET on New Year’s Day.

Beland said that while investigating what happened to Ana Walshe, Cohasset police were granted permission to ping her phone.

Their search showed Ana’s phone was “in the area of the Cohasset house” on New Year’s eve until 3:14 a.m. on Jan. 2, when it was turned off, the prosecutor said. 

Brian Walshe, center, listens during his arraignment on January 18 at Quincy District Court, in Quincy, Massachusetts.

Brian Walshe’s defense attorney called out prosecutors Wednesday for leaking evidence to the press, saying she believes their case against her client in the alleged murder of his wife Ana Walshe is not strong.

Miner also said she has not been given any evidence yet so she will not comment on it, and said she will not try the case in the media.

“We shall see what they have and what evidence is admissible in court, where the case will ultimately be decided,” Miner said in the statement. “It is easy to charge a crime and even easier to say a person committed that crime. It is a much more difficult thing to prove it, which we will see if the prosecution can do.”

Massachusetts prosecutors unveiled chilling details about the evidence they collected against Brian Walshe in the murder of his wife, Ana, including several items found strewn across several garbage disposal sites.

Prosecutor Lynn Beland delved into the stunning details at arraignment in a Massachusetts courtroom Wednesday, saying investigators discovered 10 trash bags with items, including stains consistent with blood.

Among the items secured were towels, rags, slippers, tape, gloves, cleaning agents, a Covid-19 vaccination card in the name of Walshe’s wife, Ana Walshe, a hacksaw, and a hatchet, Beland said.

During the hearing, the prosecutor described surveillance and evidence from Brian’s phone showing he purchased items such as towels, bathmats, squeegees and a trash can at Lowe’s, HomeGoods, and TJ Maxx. CNN has reported evidence showed he also purchased various cleaning supplies.

Investigators also discovered personal items amid the trash, including a portion of a necklace consistent with one Ana had been seen wearing in photos.

The state crime lab performed tests on items recovered from trash cans and determined human blood was present.

State lab tests show that Ana and Brian’s DNA were contributors to the blood found on slippers, and a Tyvek suit – a protective near full body suit.

Brian Walshe remained mostly silent during Wednesday’s arraignment. The only words Walshe spoke were “I do” when asked if he understood the charges he now faces. 

Walshe appeared unfazed as prosecutor Lynn Beland outlined a list of gruesome Google searches she claimed Walshe conducted on how to cover up a murder. He shook his head when she alleged he conducted searches on his son’s iPad.

The list of Google searches presented in court was made on Jan. 1 — the last day Walshe’s wife, Ana, was seen — and in the days after. They included a search at 4:55 am on Jan. 1 for “how long before a body starts to smell.” Several minutes later, Beland said, he searched “how to stop a body from decomposing.”

Throughout the morning of Jan 1, the prosecutor said Walshe continued to make searches along these lines — including “ten ways to dispose of a dead body if you really need to,” and “what does formaldehyde do?”

On Jan. 2, the prosecutor said, Walshe did more searches, including “is a hacksaw the best tool to dismember?” and “can you be charged with a murder without a body?” 

The courtroom was packed — but largely with press. CNN did not see Ana’s friends or relatives represented in court.

Brian Walshe appeared in court today after he was charged Tuesday with murdering his wife, Ana Walshe.

Walshe was read the charges and the court indicated not guilty pleas would be entered on his behalf.

Walshe only spoke in court to say he acknowledged the charges and appeared largely stoic throughout the reading of evidence. 

Defense did not contest bail and a judge ordered him held without bail.

Feb. 9 is the next status date.

Ana Walshe is seen in an undated photo. A portion of this image has been blurred by CNN to protect a minor's identity.

Massachusetts prosecutors say Ana Walshe’s DNA, as well as Brian Walshe’s DNA, were found as contributors to several blood samples tested within the garbage recovered during their expansive search of the missing woman. 

At Brian Walshe’s arraignment, a prosecutor detailed the items that they say Walshe bought in connection to his wife Ana Walshe’s murder.

Here are the details, according to prosecutors:

During Brian Walshe’s arraignment on murder charges in a Massachusetts court this morning, the prosecution listed a series of online searches on how to cover up a murder that they say Walshe made from his son’s iPad.

Here are the searches that prosecutor Lynn Beland listed in court:

January 1:

January 2:

January 3:

Beland said there was one earlier Google search to note — on December 27, the prosecutor added Walshe searched: “What’s the best state to divorce?”

“Rather than divorce it is believed that Brian Walshe dismembered Ana Walshe and discarded her body,” Beland said.

Brian Walshe appears in Quincy District Court for his arraignment on January 18.

Brian Walshe is in court for his arraignment in Quincy District Court in Massachusetts. He faces a murder charge in the death of his wife, Ana Walshe, who has been missing since New Year’s.

The office of Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey said Tuesday that the “continued investigation” has allowed police to obtain the arrest warrant to charge Walshe.

Walshe is being held in custody after being arrested last week for misleading police investigators. He pleaded not guilty to those charges and is being held at the Norfolk County House of Correction, Morrissey said.

Details of Brian Walshe’s tumultuous legal history have also emerged in recent days, revealing harsh criticisms of him made by a relative and family friends during a 2019 dispute over his father’s will.

In affidavits submitted by his father’s nephew and close friends, Brian is described as a dishonest, “very angry and physically violent person.” The two close friends also described him as a “sociopath,” the affidavits show.

Dr. Thomas Walshe, who headed the neurology division at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston for over a decade, died in 2018 in India, according to court documents. He bequeathed to Brian only his “best wishes” and “nothing else” from his estate, noting that he was no longer in contact with his son, according to photographs of the will included in court documents.

However, Brian Walshe objected in an affidavit in November 2019, arguing that he was “one of only two legal heirs” to his father’s estate. He said his father’s health had been “very poor” when he signed what Brian described as a “suspect” will, and he suggested his father’s signature on the document was a “possible forgery.”

He also claimed that he and his father had been estranged over the years but had “reconnected” in 2015 and began “speaking regularly” in 2016. He also claimed the two properties tied up in the estate had an estimated value of over $1 million.

In their affidavits rejecting those claims, his father’s nephew and friends detailed years of alleged swindling and manipulation by Brian Walshe.

“My Uncle’s Last Will and Testament confirms what he had told many people over the years that he did not want his son, Brian, to inherit anything from his Estate,” wrote Andrew Walshe, the estate’s executor and one of Dr. Walshe’s nephews, in an affidavit.

Federal fraud charges: Separately, Brian Walshe was indicted on federal fraud charges in 2018 for allegedly selling fake Andy Warhol artwork on eBay, according to court documents.

He allegedly took real paintings from a friend to sell, but never did, according to the documents. He did not compensate the friend for the art either, prosecutors alleged.

In 2021, he pleaded guilty to three federal fraud charges and has been on house arrest and monitoring as he awaits sentencing.

In a letter to the federal judge hearing the case, Walshe said he was “extremely sorry” for his past conduct and promised he had changed since the crime was committed. Ana Walshe also wrote a letter to the court that she was grateful he was able to remain under house arrest during case proceedings.

Brian Walshe, the Massachusetts man charged with murdering his wife and mother of his children, Ana Walshe, also faces a charge of improper transport of a body, according to the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office.

An arrest warrant charging Walshe with murder was issued Tuesday. 

It remains unclear whether investigators have recovered Ana Walshe’s body.

Evidence supporting the murder charge against Brian Walshe is likely to be presented in court Wednesday, Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey said Tuesday. 

Walshe is expected to appear in court this morning for arraignment.

Brian Walshe told police he last saw his wife Ana Walshe on Jan. 1 when she left their home in the coastal Massachusetts town of Cohasset for a flight to Washington, DC, for her job.

But authorities have accused him of misleading investigators and said they found a bloody knife in the basement of their home.

Using information from a criminal affidavit, police, prosecutors and defense attorneys, CNN put together a timeline of the couple’s movements and actions:

Jan. 1: As Brian Walshe told police, in the morning, Ana Walshe “got ready and kissed him goodbye and told him to go back to sleep,” the affidavit states. She usually took an Uber, Lyft or taxi to the airport and left between 6 and 7 a.m. ET, the affidavit states.

He further told police a babysitter arrived in the afternoon and he left home to get groceries at about 3 p.m. ET, the affidavit states.

He told police he then went to see his mother at about 4 p.m ET. in Swampscott, about an hour drive from Cohasset, but did not have his cell phone and got lost, making the trip longer than usual, the affidavit states. He said he left his mother’s home within about 15 minutes of arriving to run errands for her at Whole Foods and CVS and eventually returned home to Cohasset at about 8 p.m. ET, according to the affidavit.

Jan. 2: Ana Walshe’s cell phone pinged in the area of their Cohasset home on Jan. 1 and 2, according to prosecutor Lynn Beland.

As Brian Walshe told investigators, he took one of his children for ice cream at a juice bar in Norwell on Jan. 2 while the babysitter watched his two other kids, the affidavit states. Investigators confirmed this trip occurred, according to the affidavit.

According to surveillance video, Brian Walshe traveled to a Home Depot in Rockland wearing a surgical mask and gloves and made a cash purchase, the affidavit states. There, Walshe bought $450 of cleaning supplies, including mops, a bucket, tarps and various types of tape, according to Beland.

Jan. 4: Ana Walshe’s workplace, real estate company Tishman Speyer, called police to report she did not show up for her job, Beland said. According to Brian Walshe’s defense attorney, he called her workplace to ask if they knew of her whereabouts prior to the workplace’s call to police.

Cohasset Police arrived to 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 Jan. 1 and 2.

Jan. 5: Cohasset Police announced Ana Walshe is missing and asked the public to come forward with any information. Police said she was last seen “shortly after midnight on New Year’s Day.”

Jan. 6: Police launched a massive search for Ana Walshe that included K-9 officers and search and rescue teams in the wooded areas near her home.

Read the full timeline:

Chief William Quigley reports that the Cohasset Police Department is seeking the public's assistance in locating a missing resident who was last seen in the early morning hours of Jan. 1. Ana Walshe, age 39, was last seen at her home in Cohasset shortly after midnight on New Year's Day.

Related article A timeline of the missing Massachusetts mother Ana Walshe and her husband Brian Walshe | CNN