Brian Walshe’s horrifying body disposal searches revealed as he pleads not guilty to murder of wife Ana Walshe
The husband of missing Massachusetts mother Ana Walshe allegedly made multiple horrifying internet searches on the day of her disappearance - including “10 ways to dispose of a body”, “how long before a body starts to smell” and “can you identify a body with broken teeth?”.
New details about Brian Walshe’s Google search history were revealed in a criminal complaint on Wednesday as he faced arraignment on murder charges in Quincy District Court. The 47-year-old convicted art fraudster entered a not guilty plea.
An internet search history from his son’s iPad also showed Mr Walshe had looked up “how to stop a body from decomposing”, “dismemberment and the best ways to dispose of a body” and “what happens when you put body parts in ammonia”, in the hours after his wife was last seen alive on 1 January, according to prosecutor Lynn Beland.
Prosecutors revealed that he had looked up “What’s the best state to divorce?” on 27 December, four days before Ms Walshe’s disappearance.
“Rather than divorce, it is believed that Brian Walshe dismembered Ana Walshe and disposed of her body,” the prosecutor said.
Mr Walshe stared blankly at the prosecutor for much of the 20 minute hearing, speaking only to confirm his name.
At one point he shook his head as the prosecutor read out the criminal complaint before a packed courtroom.
The not guilty pleas were read out in court by Mr Walshe’s attorney.
On Tuesday, Mr Walshe was charged with the murder of his wife of seven years, who has been missing since New Year’s Day.
Prosecutors believe he dismembered her body and discarded it at an unknown location.
He told investigators his wife had departed for a work emegerency in Washington DC at about 6am on 1 January, and that he had visited his mother and shopped at CVS.
However, he was seen on CCTV using cash to purchase cleaning products from a Home Depot store on 2 January.
That same day, prosecutors say he searched online: “hacksaw best tool to dismember a body”, “can you be charged with murder without a body”, and “can you identify a body with broken teeth?”, according to the criminal complaint.
On 3 January, before Ms Walshe had been reported missing, Mr Walshe allegedly searched “what happens to hair on a dead body”, and what rate a body decomposes in a plastic bag compared to in the woods, it was revealed in court on Wednesday.
After Ms Walshe was reported missing by her employers Tishman Speyer on 4 January, police conducted a search of their Cohasset home where they found blood and a knife in the basement.
The case took an even darker turn when investigators found a hacksaw and blood from at a nearby garbage processing centre.
Mr Walshe has been in custody since 8 January when he was arrested for misleading the police investigation.
He has been ordered held without bond until his next appearance on 9 February.
The couple’s three children have been placed in state custody.
