Brian Walshe, who admitted disposing of his wife’s body but denied killing her, was found guilty of first-degree murder by a Massachusetts jury on Monday in the 2023 death of his wife, Ana Walshe. Ana, 39, was reported missing in early January 2023; a body has never been recovered.
Prosecutors say Brian killed Ana on New Year’s Eve, motivated by anger over her undisclosed affair and stress tied to his separate legal troubles. They presented surveillance footage showing Walshe buying cleaning supplies, new rugs and cutting tools in the days after her death, along with DNA evidence linking both Walshes to bloodstained items later recovered from several dumpsters. Investigators also recovered numerous internet searches from the period, including queries such as “best ways to dispose of a body,” “Can I use bleach to clean my wood floors from blood stains,” and “can you be charged with murder without a body.” Prosecutor Anne Yas told jurors the searches and physical evidence showed premeditation and that Walshe cut up and discarded Ana’s body to keep anyone from finding out how she died.
Walshe had pleaded guilty shortly before jury selection to lesser charges of misleading police and willfully disposing of a human body, but the trial that followed centered on first-degree murder. Prosecutors called about 50 witnesses over eight days, including Ana’s friends, co-workers and the man she was having an affair with. The defense rested without calling witnesses.
Defense attorney Larry Tipton conceded Walshe dismembered and disposed of Ana’s remains but argued he did so out of panic and concern for their three young sons after a sudden, unexplained death in the couple’s home following New Year’s Eve celebrations. Tipton said Walshe feared losing custody — he had been under house arrest and faced federal art fraud sentencing — and acted out of desperation. He argued the timing of the internet searches showed they occurred after Ana was found unresponsive, not as part of a plan to kill her.
Prosecutors disputed that account, saying Ana had been active and healthy and that the absence of a body prevented an autopsy or official cause of death. They highlighted phone and device data showing searches and activity across Jan. 1–3, 2023, and said Google searches were found on a son’s iPad synced to the same Apple ID as Walshe’s devices. Prosecutors also pointed to cell-phone location data placing Walshe near dumpsters where items tied to Ana were recovered.
The couple’s marriage had been strained in the lead-up to her death. Ana, who emigrated from Serbia and later worked in real estate, had accepted an executive job in Washington, D.C., in February 2022 and purchased a D.C. townhouse. Brian, who had pleaded guilty in 2021 to selling counterfeit Andy Warhol paintings and was facing restitution and sentencing, remained in Massachusetts under house arrest. Prosecutors said Brian searched divorce-related topics between Christmas and New Year’s. A life insurance representative testified Ana had a policy worth over $1 million with Brian as beneficiary.
William Fastow, the real estate agent who sold Ana the D.C. condo, testified that he and Ana began an affair in March 2022 and that their relationship became intimate. Prosecutors used that testimony to support a motive rooted in anger over the relationship.
Surveillance and forensic evidence played a central role in the case. Prosecutors showed footage of Walshe shopping at stores including Walgreens, CVS, Stop & Shop and Lowe’s, often wearing a face mask and paying with cash, and buying items such as Band-Aids, antibiotics, hydrogen peroxide, ammonium, a Tyvek suit, shears and a hacksaw. They said Walshe purchased scented candles, area rugs and cleaning supplies on Jan. 2, and that one of the purchased rugs matched one later found with blood embedded and a piece of Ana’s Gucci necklace attached. Dumpsters searched near Walshe’s mother’s apartment yielded clothing Ana had been reported wearing, a COVID-19 vaccination card with her name, rugs, the Tyvek suit, a hammer, shears, a hatchet and a hacksaw. Some items contained DNA matching one or both Walshes.
Prosecutors also noted what they described as Walshe’s methodical behavior after Ana’s disappearance: preparing records for investigators, informing loved ones of her disappearance and sending messages to Ana asking about her whereabouts even though she was missing. One text read, “I still love you!!! Haha.”
Both sides agreed the Walshes celebrated New Year’s Eve at home with a friend who left around 1:30 a.m. on Jan. 1, 2023. Accounts diverge about what happened later. Walshe told investigators Ana left early on Jan. 1 to catch a flight to D.C. for a work emergency, wearing Hunter boots, a black jacket and a Hermes watch; prosecutors said there was no evidence of such a trip and the dinner guest testified no work emergency was mentioned. Investigators found no rideshare data showing she traveled to the airport, and Ana’s phone last pinged in the Cohasset area in the early morning hours of Jan. 3.
In closing, prosecutors said Walshe did not want anyone to find Ana’s body or know how she died, while the defense said the searches and disposal actions were the panicked reactions of a man confronting an unexpected death and worried about his sons’ future.
The jury deliberated roughly six hours over two days before returning a guilty verdict. Walshe, who sat staring ahead as the verdict was read, faces life in prison without the possibility of parole and is due to be sentenced on Wednesday.