As Brian Walshe awaits a trial in his wife Ana’s murder, Massachusetts prosecutors allege it wasn’t a crime of passion but a calculated plan to protect his freedom and fortune.
Ana Walshe, who split her time between Washington, D.C., and her family home in Cohasset, Massachusetts, was last seen on New Year’s Day 2023, when she reportedly got into a rideshare to catch a flight to D.C. to deal with a work emergency. Police in Massachusetts confirmed Walshe never got on the plane.
Her husband of seven years is charged with first-degree murder, improper transport of a human body and misleading police in his wife Ana’s disappearance and faces separate federal charges for art fraud. He has pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors allege Brian Walshe believed that if Ana were “deceased or disappeared,” he could avoid federal prison time from a previous art fraud conviction in Los Angeles.
In 2021, Walshe pleaded guilty to a federal art fraud scheme involving the sale of two fake Andy Warhol paintings. He was sentenced in February 2024 to 37 months in prison and three years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $475,000 in restitution.
This theory casts Walshe’s alleged actions as a deliberate effort to eliminate his wife as a means to remove his looming federal prison term.
Ana reportedly confided in a friend shortly before her disappearance that Walshe was convinced having custody of their children in Massachusetts would help him evade incarceration in the federal case, according to prosecutors.
At a recent evidence hearing, Walshe’s lead defense attorney argued prosecutors have no proof Brian knew about Ana’s affair, a central piece of the state’s theory of premeditation.
Retired Massachusetts Superior Court Judge Jack Lu told Fox News Digital premeditation doesn’t require a long timeline.
He added that the legal threshold at the grand jury level is only probable cause, not proof beyond a reasonable doubt, making it unlikely the defense can suppress the search data.
Judge Freniere recently denied the defense’s motion to exclude the incriminating digital evidence, allowing jurors to consider Walshe’s alleged search history for body disposal during the trial.
Additional court filings revealed that, on Christmas Day 2022, Walshe allegedly Googled the name of Ana’s rumored lover multiple times.
Prosecutors also disclosed that Walshe’s mother had hired a private investigator to follow Ana in Washington, D.C., where she lived during the week, and was allegedly conducting the affair.
The prosecution further cited a $2.7 million life insurance policy naming Brian Walshe as the sole beneficiary, bolstering what they claim is a financial motive in the case.
Jury selection in his trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 20, with proceedings expected to last approximately three to four weeks.
Fox News Digital’s Chris Eberhart contributed to this report.
