PLYMOUTH, Mass. — Brian Walshe, the Cohasset man accused of dismembering his wife, Ana Walshe, with a hacksaw and disposing of her remains after using his son’s iPad to Google the best ways to get rid of a body, was back in court Friday afternoon for a pre-trial hearing.
Court video:
Walshe briefly appeared in Plymouth Superior Court via Zoom, one week after his attorneys last week asked a judge to limit some of the evidence that can be presented at his trial in October.
Larry Tipton, Walshe’s lead defense attorney, argued last week that the prosecution didn’t present sufficient evidence to the grand jurors to indict his client for first-degree murder on theories of premeditation.
Tipton wants his client’s first-degree murder charge tossed on those grounds.
Earlier this week, the judge presiding over the case ruled that prosecutors can use evidence from Walshe’s son’s iPad during the trial.
In court on Friday, the judge announced that there could be a conflict due to a state attorney who is a friend of hers. The judge then gave Walsh and Tipton time to discuss the possible conflict and said they would touch base next week, marking an end to the hearing, which lasted about 15 minutes.
The judge determined that investigators did not exceed the scope of Walshe’s consent when searching his devices. However, the judge agreed to suppress certain search warrants related to the GPS system on Walshe’s mother’s car and specific days of records from his cellphone.
Prosecutors allege that Walshe killed his 39-year-old wife and misled investigators about her disappearance in early 2023.
In March 2023, a Norfolk County grand jury indicted Walshe on a charge of murder, misleading a police investigation/obstruction of justice, and improper conveyance of a human body in connection with his wife’s death. He has pleaded not guilty to those charges.
Ana Walshe, a mother of three young children and a real estate professional who worked in Washington, D.C., vanished on New Year’s Day 2023 and was reported missing a few days later, authorities said.
Prosecutors have alleged that Walshe killed his wife in their Cohasset home on New Year’s Day. The couple’s three young boys were reportedly home at the time.
Days after Ana’s disappearance, a hacksaw and a blood-soaked rug believed to contain biological evidence were recovered from their home by investigators.
Police later searched trash bins, dumpsters, trash trucks, and trash facilities in the areas where Brian Walshe traveled following her disappearance.
Prosecutors have also previously said that a broken knife with blood on it was found in the basement of the Walshe family home.
The Norfolk District Attorney’s Office previously said that it was awaiting DNA test results from dozens of items.
In September 2024, prosecutors announced that they wouldn’t call then-suspended-and-now-fired Massachusetts State Police trooper Michael Proctor to testify in Walshe’s upcoming trial. Proctor was the lead investigator assigned to Ana Walshe’s murder.
State police suspended Proctor in July 2024 following Karen Read’s mistrial. While testifying during Read’s trial, Proctor received criticism for inappropriate texts he sent about Read. He was fired from his role with the law enforcement agency in March, and Read was acquitted of murder and manslaughter charges just months later.
Walshe has been held without bail since his arrest.
He is currently serving a three-year prison sentence for selling fake Andy Warhol paintings.
His murder trial is scheduled to begin on Monday, October 20.
Ana’s body has never been found.
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