(DEDHAM, Mass.) — Closing arguments were delivered Friday in the murder trial of Brian Walshe, a father of three accused of killing and dismembering his wife.
The Massachusetts man is accused of killing his wife, 39-year-old Ana Walshe, around New Year’s Day in 2023. He pleaded guilty last month, ahead of the trial, to lying to police following her disappearance and improperly disposing of her body, though he denies he killed his wife and has pleaded not guilty to murder.
Ana Walshe’s body has not been found.
During the trial’s opening statements last week, defense attorneys said Brian Walshe found his wife dead in bed on New Year’s Day in 2023 and then panicked and lied to police as they investigated her disappearance — but maintained he did not kill her.
Brian Walshe allegedly killed and dismembered his wife, then disposed of her remains in dumpsters, according to prosecutors. The internet history on his devices on Jan. 1, 2023, included searches such as “best way to dispose of a body,” “how long for someone to be missing to inherit,” and “best way to dispose of body parts after a murder,” prosecutors said.
Defense attorney Larry Tipton argued the Commonwealth hadn’t proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Brian Walshe — whom he described as a “loving father and loving husband” — killed his wife or there was any motive to do so.
Positing what might account for the “unspeakable” internet searches and how someone could “dispose of the body of the woman that he adored,” Tipton said, “Could it be something that was sudden, something that was unexpected, something which was unbelievable, something that only a medical examiner would understand, have knowledge of, but not a man like Brian Walshe?”
Tipton conceded there’s evidence Brian Walshe lied and disposed of a body, but argued there was nothing proving that he planned to harm his wife. He claimed the internet search on murder came six hours after his wife died and “upsetting” searches about dismemberment and “cleaning up” do not point to a plan but rather his “disbelief.”
“Why is a man searching now if he had intended to kill his wife?” Tipton asked the jurors. “Where is the evidence of premeditation in thousands of pages of records?”
At the start of the Commonwealth’s closing argument, prosecutor Anne Yas told jurors, “Ana Walshe is dead because he murdered her,” while pointing toward Brian Walshe in the courtroom.
She argued Ana Walshe didn’t die of natural causes — but Brian Walshe killed her and then disposed of her body to hide the evidence.
“The defendant did not want anyone to find Ana’s body and to know how she died, so the defendant bought cutting tools at Lowe’s and Home Depot and he cut up Ana’s body — the woman that he claimed to love — and he threw her into dumpsters,” she said.
Yas argued the evidence shows Brian Walshe intended to kill his wife and was “methodical” — that his claims he misplaced his phone for two days around New Year’s Eve “allowed him to carry out his plan” and have an explanation for police as to why he hadn’t been in contact with her. She said he had a list when he was shopping at Lowe’s.
Yas said their marriage was in “crisis,” and they had been having arguments about Ana Walshe being away from the family due to her job in Washington, D.C. She also claimed Brian Walshe knew his wife was having an affair, which the defense has denied.
Prior to the closing arguments, Judge Diane Freniere told the jury during instructions they will be able to choose to convict on second-degree murder, not just the first-degree murder charge the prosecution has argued for and includes the element of premeditation.
The defense rested on Thursday without calling any witnesses. Freniere noted in court on Thursday that it appeared that Brian Walshe would testify in his defense, based on the defense’s opening statement. Though he ultimately waived his right.
Evidence presented during the two-week trial in Dedham included surveillance footage of a man believed to be Brian Walshe buying tools and other supplies at a Lowe’s on Jan. 1, 2023. A receipt showed that items, including a hacksaw, utility knife, hammer, snips, Tyvek suit, shoeguards, rags and cleaning supplies totaling $462 were purchased with cash.
Additional surveillance footage presented in court showed someone throwing out trash bags at dumpsters on multiple days in early January 2023.
Several blood-stained items recovered from dumpsters by investigators — including a hacksaw, a piece of rug, a towel and hairs — and an unknown tissue were linked to Ana Walshe through DNA testing, a forensic scientist from the Massachusetts State Police Crime Laboratory testified during the trial.
Blood was also found in the basement of the family’s rental home in Cohasset, another forensic scientist with the crime lab testified.
Ana Walshe was reported missing by her employer on Jan. 4, 2023. Brian Walshe told police at the time that she had a “work emergency” at her job in D.C. and left their Cohasset home on New Year’s Day, according to video of his interview shown in court.
At the time, Brian Walshe and their three children were living in Massachusetts while he was awaiting sentencing in a federal fraud case after pleading guilty to a scheme to sell counterfeit Andy Warhol paintings.
Ahead of the murder trial, Brian Walshe admitted to lying to police amid her disappearance and improperly disposing of her body. His defense said during opening statements that he panicked after finding her dead in bed, calling her death sudden and unexplained.
Jurors heard testimony, including from a D.C. man with whom Ana Walshe was having an affair, that the mother of three was upset about being away from her young children so much — who were 2, 4 and 6 at the time — and that there was stress in the marriage. The defense maintained that the couple were happy.
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