Brian Walshe back in court today to face murder charge in wife's disappearance

Mary Whitfill, The Patriot Ledger

April 27, 2023 at 7:27 PM·3 min read

This story will be updated.

DEDHAM − Cohasset's Brian Walshe is due to appear in Superior Court on Thursday to face accusations he murdered his wife and illegally moved her body. Ana Walshe has been missing since January.

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Ana Walshe, the mother of three young boys, was last seen by a family member in her Cohasset home between 4 and 5 a.m. New Year's Day. She was reported missing a few days later.

Ana Walshe, of Cohasset, was last seen Jan. 1.

The case made headlines nationwide in the weeks following her disappearance.

At Brian Walshe's Quincy District Court murder arraignment, Assistant District Attorney Lynn Beland described the Google searches, movements and purchases that made him the main suspect in his wife's murder.

Beland presented a timeline of what investigators say were Walshe's suspicious actions both before and after his wife was reported missing, starting with a Dec. 27 internet search of "What is the best state to divorce for a man?"

"Rather than divorce, it is believed that Brian Walshe dismembered Ana Walsh and discarded her body," Beland said in court.

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Authorities say that after the murder, Brian Walshe bought cleaning products, tarps, a hatchet and a Tyvek suit; disposed of large trash bags at apartment complexes in Abington and Brockton; and cleaned out his car, where trace amounts of blood were found.

On Jan. 8, police and crime scene services searched the Walshes' Cohasset home.

"They found blood in the basement, a knife with presence of blood; the knife was damaged. A second knife was also found in that basement," Beland said, adding that tarps were also found.

Walshe is also in the middle of a probate case that accuses him of stealing money and property from the estate of his dead father.

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Reach Mary Whitfill at mwhitfill@patriotledger.com.

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