Missing mom murder rap
Mass. man charged with wife slay
The husband of Ana Walshe was charged with murder over her disappearance Tuesday, Massachusetts officials announced.
Brian Walshe (inset) had already been jailed for hindering the police investigation into his missing wife when he was handed the arrest warrant for murder, Norfolk District Attorney Michael W. Morrissey confirmed in a statement. He will be transferred to the Quincy District Court for arraignment on Jan. 18.
Evidence has been mounting since Brian, 47, told police he last saw his wife alive early morning on Jan. 1, when he claims she left their Cohasset home for a “work emergency” around 6 a.m.
Ana, 39, who commuted between Massachusetts and Washington, DC, for her job with property developer Tishman Speyer, has not been seen since.
Despite reports of the work trip, there are no records of her getting in a ride-share or boarding a plane at Boston Logan International Airport.
The mom of three was first reported missing by her employer around noon Jan. 4, whereas police blotters show Brian did not call to report her missing until later that same day — three days after he claimed to have last seen her.
Brian, already under house arrest with an ankle monitor after pleading guilty to federal fraud charges in 2021, was taken into custody on Jan. 8 on the charge of misleading investigators.
In court, prosecutors alleged the Boston native had deceived police by trying to conceal his whereabouts in the days after Ana was last seen. In addition to seemingly lying about running errands for his elderly mother on the afternoon of Jan. 1, Brian failed to disclose a Jan. 2 trip to Home Depot, where he was caught on camera buying $450 of cleaning supplies.
Prosecutors also announced a search of the family’s home had uncovered blood and a damaged knife in the basement.
A subsequent search of a waste facility near to Brian’s mother’s house saw items including a hacksaw, hatchet and carpet taken as evidence by officers.
Sources close to the investigation also claimed a search of Brian’s phone had found he had Googled “how to dispose of a 115-pound woman’s body” in the days after Ana went missing.
Brian pleaded not guilty to the initial charge against him, and is being held in lieu of $500,000 in bail.
It is unclear if investigators have discovered Ana’s body or are relying on other evidence.