Brian Walshe indicted on charges of murder, transporting body in case of missing wife
DEDHAM − The husband of a Cohasset mother who has been missing since January was indicted by a Norfolk Country grand jury Thursday in the death of his wife.
Brian Walshe was indicted on charges of the murder of his wife, Ana Walshe, said the office of Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey. He was also indicted on charges of misleading a police investigation/obstruction of justice and improper conveyance, or transport, of a human body.
“This is only a step in a long process, during which Brian Walshe enjoys the constitutional presumption of innocence and all of the protections afforded him under the constitution,” Morrissey said in a statement. “We are thankful to the detectives who have put so many hours into assembling the evidence in this matter and the witnesses who have assisted us in coming to this step.”
Walshe has been in jail since his Jan. 7 arrest on a charge of misleading police. Ten days later, he was charged with murder.
Ana Walshe, the mother of three young boys, was last seen by a family member in her Cohasset home between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. on New Year's Day. She was reported missing a few days later.
The case grabbed the country's attention and made headlines nationwide in the weeks following Walshe's disappearance. At his Quincy District Court murder arraignment, Assistant District Attorney Lynn Beland laid out the Google searches, movements and purchases that made Brian Walshe the main suspect in his wife's murder.
Beland's 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.
Beland said Walshe started Googling things like "How long before a body starts to smell?" "Can you throw away body parts?" and "10 ways to dispose of a dead body if you really need to" on Jan. 1, the last day his wife was seen.
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Beland said surveillance footage shows Walshe buying several rugs at a HomeGoods on Jan 2., as well as cleaning products, tarp, the Tyvek suit and a hatchet at the Home Depot in Rockland. That same day, she said Walsh searched "Hacksaw best to dismember" "Can you be charged with murder without a body?" and "Can you identify a body with broken teeth?"
The next day, Walshe is accused of visiting apartment complexes in Abington and Brockton to dispose of more than a dozen large trash bags. Beland said Walshe is on surveillance video throwing trash bags into the complexes' dumpsters. The bags disposed of in Abington and Brockton were picked up by trash collectors on their regular schedule and incinerated, officials said. That same day, Beland said he searched "What happens to hair on a dead body?" and "Can baking soda mask or make a body smell good?"
On Jan. 4, Beland said police visited Walshe's home and found his Volvo with the seats down and a plastic liner inside. The next day, police said it appeared Walshe had vacuumed the carpet. Later analysis found traces of blood in the car.
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On Jan. 5, Beland said Walshe visited the Swampscott apartment complex where his mother lives and discarded more trash into the dumpster. Ten bags tossed in Swampscott were recovered by police and taken to Peabody, where they were searched. The bags included rugs, cleaning products, the boots Ana Walshe was last seen wearing, a hacksaw, her Prada purse, a piece of a necklace she has been pictured wearing, towels and a COVID-19 vaccine card in her name.
"Inside the trash bags, many of these items contained stains consistent with blood. In fact, a lot," Beland said. "The bags found in Swampscott contained Ana's property, and the items used to clean up, as well as the DNA that was left behind."
On Jan. 8, police and crime scene services searched the Walshe's 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.
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Reach Mary Whitfill at mwhitfill@patriotledger.com
See earlier coverage of this case
Jan. 18: DNA evidence, search history led to murder charge for husband of missing Cohasset woman
Jan. 17: Brian Walshe charged with murder in wife Ana Walshe's disappearance
Jan. 14: Numerous search warrants linked to missing Cohasset woman Ana Walshe delivered to court
Jan. 13: Fight over estate of Brian Walshe's father, who lived in Hull, reveals troubling accusations
Jan. 13: Cohasset vigil offers prayers for missing Ana Walshe and the community
Jan. 13: Cohasset police issue warning about potential scams amid Ana Walshe missing mother case
Jan. 13: Missing Cohasset woman Ana Walshe told DC police Brian Walshe threatened to kill her
Jan. 12:' It can happen wherever': Cohasset residents grapple with news of missing mother as case unfolds
Jan. 10: Possible evidence tested in case of missing Cohasset mother Ana Walshe
Jan. 9: Prosecutor: Bloody knife found in missing Cohasset woman's home
Jan. 7: Husband of missing Cohasset woman arrested and charged with misleading police
Jan. 5: Fire chief: 'I don't know' what caused fire at former home of missing Cohasset woman
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Ana Walshe's husband indicted on charges of murder, transporting body
