Art fraudster Brian Walshe has finally revealed his version of events for the day his wife Ana Walshe disappeared – claiming he found her suddenly dead in bed and disposed of her body in a state of panic.
Walshe, 50, is accused of murdering the successful realtor and mother of his three children at their home in Cohasset, Massachusetts, on New Year’s Day 2023, before dismembering her body and disposing of it in multiple dumpsters.
At the time, Walshe was facing jail for selling fake Andy Warhol paintings and Ana was allegedly having an affair with another man.
Walshe was charged with first-degree murder, willfully conveying a human body in violation of state law and misleading police in the death of his 39-year-old wife.
Then, in a bombshell move on the first day of jury selection last month, Walshe suddenly pleaded guilty to the two lesser charges – admitting to getting rid of her body and lying to cops. But the 50-year-old is still claiming his innocence of her murder.
In opening statements of his trial in Norfolk County Superior Court in Dedham on Monday morning, defense attorney Larry Tipton laid out Walshe’s story – claiming that there was no murder.
Instead, he claimed Ana died from a ‘sudden, unexplained death’, with Walshe discovering his wife dead in their bed not long after they had happily rang in the New Year together.
‘Brian Walshe never killed Ana. He never thought about killing Ana. He would never do that. Brian Walshe is not a killer,’ Tipton told the jury.
Art fraudster Brian Walshe enters the courtroom in Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham for opening statements in his murder trial
According to Lipton, the couple had hosted a New Year’s Eve dinner with their friend Gem Mutlu at their home.
When Mutlu left at around 1.30am that morning, Ana went to bed and Walshe cleaned up the kitchen, Tipton said.
Walshe then alleges he went to their bedroom, ‘intending nothing more than to crawl into bed with Ana Walshe, the woman he loved.’
But, according to his version of events, Walshe found his 39-year-old wife unresponsive.
‘He nudged her in a frantic and panicked reaction to where she actually rolled off [the bed],’ Tipton said.
Walshe was ‘panicking’ and ‘didn’t understand’ what was happening. ‘It didn’t make sense to him,’ he added.
At that point, Walshe panicked that he would be blamed for her death – and feared what would happen to their three children with both parents gone, Tipton told the court.
‘What would happen to their three boys now that Ana is no longer here? What will happen if they think he did something bad to Ana? Where will those three boys go?’ he said.
Walshe, 50, is accused of murdering Ana Walshe at their home in Cohasset, Massachusetts, on New Year’s Day 2023
Walshe clutched rosary beads as he watched his attorney present his version of events for the day Ana Walshe disappeared – claiming he found her suddenly dead in bed and disposed of her body in a state of panic
And so, Walshe began making a string of damning internet searches for ways of disposing of a body.
The damning searches, previously revealed in court documents, included: ‘how long before a body starts to smell,’ ‘dismemberment and best ways to dispose of a body’ and ‘how to dispose of a 115-pound woman’s body.’
Tipton described this as ‘a frantic and tragic search’ made by a husband as he ‘wrestled with the fact that Ana Walshe was dead.’
‘That evidence you will hear will be hard to understand, but it’s true,’ Tipton said.
Walshe clutched rosary beads in his hands as he intently watched his attorney lay out his story of his wife’s final moments for the very first time.
The defense attorney also denied that the Walshe marriage was over, claiming the couple were considering divorce – but only as a means to protect their financial assets from Walshe’s legal troubles.
At the time of Ana’s disappearance, Walshe was awaiting sentencing on federal charges over an art fraud scheme where he had sold two fake Andy Warhol paintings online for $80,000.
Walshe was sentenced to 37 months in prison in February 2024 on three federal fraud charges over the scam. He was also ordered to pay $400,000 in restitution.
Surveillance footage captured Walshe buying several items from a Home Depot on January 1, 2023, including mops, brushes, splash guard goggles and a utility knife
Walshe is seen throwing trash bags into a dumpster outside an apartment complex in Massachusetts
Prosecutors allege Walshe had recently learned his wife was having an affair with a man who lived in Washington DC and hired a private investigator to follow her.
In the state’s opening statement, prosecutor Greg Connor told the jury that Walshe murdered Ana inside the family home in the early hours of New Year’s Day and then dismembered her. Her body has never been found.
Connor told the court how Walshe’s chilling internet history began at 4.54am with a search for ‘best way to dispose of a body’ – around three hours after their friend left the home.
Other searches were made at 6.24am and 9.33am, including ‘How long for someone to missing to inherit’ and ‘best way to dispose of body parts after a murder.’
Ana was only reported missing on January 4, when she didn’t turn up for work in Washington, DC.
Audio of Walshe’s first interview with police that day was played in court Monday.
In the clip, Walshe is heard telling investigators Ana woke him up early on the morning of January 1 to say she was traveling to DC for work.
Walshe claimed one of their sons also said goodbye to her that morning before she got a rideshare to the airport.
In the audio, he is heard repeatedly telling the officers his wife had been feeling unwell recently.
Now, Walshe admits he lied to police during that interaction and that, by then, he had already cut up and hidden his wife’s body.
Over the coming days, Walshe continued to lie in interviews with police.
Surveillance footage captured Walshe buying several items from a Home Depot on January 1, including mops, brushes, splash guard goggles and a utility knife – tools prosecutors allege he used to dispose of Ana’s body.
Ten trash bags containing bloody items were found near Walshe’s mom’s home in Swampscott.
Inside investigators found a hacksaw, hatchet, bloody towels and rags, gloves, a bloodstained rug, a protective suit, Ana’s COVID-19 vaccine card, her Prada purse and necklace. Several of the items contained both Ana and Walshe’s DNA.
Investigators allege Walshe’s phone data shows he traveled to several other locations to dispose of evidence into dumpsters. Trash from these other locations had been incinerated before police could obtain it.
Blood and a bloody knife was discovered in the basement of the family’s Massachusetts home.
Prosecutors said Ana Walshe was having an affair with a man who lived in Washington DC
Brian Walshe was facing jail for selling fake Andy Warhol paintings at the time of Ana’s disappearance
Walshe also would have landed a $2.7 million life insurance windfall in the event of his wife’s death.
Walshe’s trial was set to begin on October 20 but was suddenly delayed after the defense argued he was not competent to stand trial following a recent attack in jail.
Walshe was stabbed by another inmate inside Norfolk County Sheriff’s Correctional Center in Massachusetts in September. He was taken to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston for treatment, and was discharged later that day.
Walshe’s defense asked the judge to delay the trial, arguing he was ‘mentally and physically unable at this time to fully participate in his defense and to tolerate the physical requirements of attending full days of trial.’
The judge ordered a competency evaluation, after which time Walshe was ruled competent to stand trial.
Days later, he changed his plea on the two lesser charges.
Walshe has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder.
If convicted, he faces life in prison.
