Brian Walshe to be sentenced for murdering, dismembering wife who disappeared on New Year’s Day 2023
Brian Walshe is set to be sentenced after he was convicted of murdering his wife, Ana, after she disappeared on New Year’s Day in 2023.
Nearly three years after prosecutors say he killed, dismembered and disposed of Ana’s body, Brian will be sentenced Thursday morning following his conviction for first-degree murder on Monday. Brian previously pleaded guilty to lying to police officers and improper disposal of a body after Ana disappeared.
Brian made a series of incriminating internet searches on Jan. 1, 2023, which were presented in court, and included “how long for someone to be missing to inherit,” “best way to dispose of a body” and “best way to dispose of body parts after a murder.”
His attorney, Larry Tipton, said during closing arguments that his client “loved Ana Walshe, the mother of his three children.”
BRIAN WALSHE DEFENSE SAYS HE FOUND WIFE DEAD IN BED, DENIES UNCOVERING AFFAIR AS MURDER TRIAL BEGINS
“There’s no evidence that he deliberately premeditated the murder. There’s no evidence that he ever intended to kill Ana Walshe. None whatsoever. Brian Walshe is not guilty. He’s not guilty,” he said on Friday during closing arguments.
Meanwhile, Assistant Norfolk County DA Anne Yas said Brian killed his wife then tried to hide her body to avoid accountability.
“Ana Walshe is dead because he murdered her and he intended her death. And Walshe was not missing,” Yas said. “Dying a sudden death from natural causes defies common sense. She was in great shape.”
Prosecutors had alleged two potential motives in the slaying. The first was anger over an affair that Ana was having with a Washington, D.C., realtor, whose name Walshe had searched for.
The second was because he allegedly believed he would have a better chance of avoiding prison in an unrelated art fraud case if his wife were out of the picture and he was the only caretaker for their three children.
Brian chose not to take the stand in his own trial and his defense team rested their case on Thursday, Dec. 11. He will also be sentenced for illegal disposal of a body and misleading police.
Legal analyst Greg Henning told WCVB that Brian will likely receive a life sentence.
“There won’t be too much drama. There’s a mandatory life in prison sentence that Brian Walshe will receive,” Henning said. “The judge has no jurisdiction, no wiggle room.”
Jurors were presented with evidence from a forensic scientist that DNA consistent with Ana’s profile was found on a hatchet and hacksaw recovered from the trash.
Saman Saleem, a DNA unit supervisor at the state police crime lab, said several items found at a trash collection site in Peabody, Massachusetts, that had Ana’s DNA on it, including pieces of a rug, a Tyvek suit, unknown tissue and slippers.
Brian’s wife had a $2.7 million life insurance policy which he was the beneficiary of, court records show. He owed nearly $500,000 in restitution for his federal case.
Fox News Digital’s Michael Ruiz and Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.
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