Brian Walshe husband of Ana Walshe missing Cohasset realtor appears in court as prosecutors present troubling evidence implicating man in her disappearance and possibly her murder.
Disturbing new revelations seemingly point to a convicted swindler’s involvement in the disappearance of a Massachusetts woman and possibly her death after prosecutors on Monday revealed blood and a broken knife found at family’s basement along with $450 in cleaning supplies. Also disconcerting is a recent Google search, of ‘how to dispose of a body’, the missing woman’s husband made.
Brian Walshe appeared Monday morning at a Massachusetts courtroom following his arrest on Sunday for misleading police in their search for the man’s missing wife, Ana Walshe, 39.
Appearing before a judge at Quincy District Court, the husband pleaded not guilty and was ordered held pending $500K bail. To date, police have not found any direct evidence which indicated the woman’s demise or death at the hands of her husband.
The man’s missing wife, a Cohasset realtor and mother of their three sons, ages from 2 to 6, disappeared according to her husband, during the early hours of New Year’s Day when she took a ride share service to Logan International Airport in Boston for a flight to Washington, DC, for work.
During their investigations, police could not corroborate a ride share picking the woman up nor any flight arrangements on behalf of the woman.
‘how to dispose of a 115-pound woman’s body’
It wasn’t until three days later on January 4 that the husband reported his wife, Ana Walshe missing.
Authorities claimed Monday Walshe lied to police when he said he made a trip to buy ice cream for his oldest son, when in fact the dad had gone out and bought cleaning equipment from Home Depot around 4 p.m. on Jan. 2.
Prosecutor Lynn Beland said Walshe had bought mops, a bucket and tarps, ‘drop cloths, as well as various kinds of tape’ and that he wore a surgical mask and gloves during the trip and paid in cash, FOX News reported.
But there’s more.
Investigators also came across the husband having made internet searches for ‘how to dispose of a 115-pound woman’s body’ and how to go about dismembering a body, law enforcement sources told CNN.
When cops searched the family home, Beland said, ‘Blood was found in the basement area, as well as a knife, which also contains some blood … Part of the knife was damaged.’
Sometime art dealer Walshe is currently under house arrest pending sentencing on federal wire-fraud charges, according to court documents, and has to get permission to leave his house.
NOW: The husband of the missing Cohasset woman, Brian Walshe, is being taken to court for his arraignment. Walshe is charged with misleading a police investigation. Police say Ana Walshe went missing on New Year’s Day. Brian reported her missing last week. @7News pic.twitter.com/PprskI8QXy
— Mari Salazar (@MariSalazarTV) January 9, 2023
Did Brian Walshe murder missing realtor wife?
He told police in an interview he last saw his wife just after 6 a.m. as she had to fly to Washington D.C., where she worked in the week, to take care of a work emergency.
That day Walshe had been cleared to drive his mother home after having recovered from cataract surgery, prosecutors said.
Walshe told investigators his mother had recovered more quickly than expected and had driven herself home, so he used the allotted time to pick her up and run errands at Whole Foods and CVS near Swampscott, Mass., but video footage from the stores did not show him enter either outlet.
The next day, Walshe told investigators, he’d gone out for ice cream with his son during the allotted school drop-off time, as it was a holiday. Prosecutors claimed, however, security footage placed him instead at the Home Depot.
The affidavit against Walshe states: ‘The intentional, willful and direct responses to questions about his whereabouts on the days of Sunday, January 1, 2023, and Monday, January 2, 2023, were a clear attempt to mislead and delay investigators.’
Walshe’s defense attorney Tracy Miner rebuffed, saying Walshe had simply forgotten to mention his trip to Home Depot to officers and pointed out how he has ‘been incredibly cooperative,’ with police, letting them search his phone and home.
Walshe previously pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges in 2021 after stealing two authentic Andy Warhol paintings from a friend and trying to pass off replicas he created of them as the real thing, NBC Boston reported.
Walshe who remains held on $500K bond will next appear in court Feb. 9.
