Watch live: Brian Walshe will not testify in murder trial, defense not calling witnesses

DEDHAM, Mass. — Defense attorneys in the Brian Walshe murder trial on Thursday morning told Norfolk Superior Court Judge Diane Frenier that they wouldn’t be calling any witnesses, officially resting their case.

The defense also indicated that Brian Walshe won’t take the stand to testify on his own behalf.

When Frenier asked Walshe to confirm the decision of his attorneys, he said, “I will not testify.”

Closing statements in the case will happen on Friday, Frenier informed the court. She then sent the jurors home to allow for additional proceedings between both legal teams.

Thursday’s developments come after the prosecution rested and Frenier denied a motion to dismiss the case on Wednesday.

In opening statements, the defense claimed Walshe discovered his wife, Ana Walshe, dead in their bed on New Year’s Day 2023 and panicked. They argue Ana died of natural causes, not at Brian’s hands.

Up until Thursday morning, the big question legal experts were asking: Will Brian Walshe take the stand in his own defense? Now we know the answer.

Boston 25 legal expert weighs in on if Brian Walshe will take the stand in his own defense

Key testimony

On Wednesday, prosecutors called two of Ana’s close friends to testify, including Alyssa Kirby, who last saw Ana on December 29, 2022.

Kirby told jurors Ana confided that her marriage was strained but insisted Brian wasn’t jealous.

“When she told me that, I was surprised. She said they were open and he wasn’t jealous,” Kirby testified.

This detail contrasts sharply with the defense’s claim that Brian was unaware of Ana’s affair and that their marriage was “going good” at the time of her death.

Gem Mutlu, the last person to see Ana alive at a New Year’s party at the Cohasset home of Brian and Ana, also offered emotional testimony.

Mutlu testified that it was a festive party on the night of December 31, 2022, and Brian and Ana were getting along.

However, he tried to tell the jury that days before, he had a long conversation with Ana and sensed that the couple was having marital problems.

He also told the jury that he had learned Ana disappeared when Brian called him and told him she left because of a “work emergency,” using the word “incredulous” to describe his immediate reaction.

Walshe’s attorneys have contested that the couple was in good shape at the time of Ana’s disappearance.

What’s next

Since the start of the trial, defense attorneys have maintained that Brian Walshe did not kill his wife. Instead, they say he acted irrationally after finding her dead in bed. Prosecutors, however, continue to argue that Walshe murdered Ana, chopped her up, and disposed of her remains.

Brian Walshe remains charged with murder, for which he has pleaded not guilty.

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