Brian Walshe convicted of murdering wife Ana Walshe in Massachusetts
A Massachusetts jury convicted Brian Walshe of murdering his wife, Ana Walshe, who disappeared after New Year’s Day 2023, following a trial in Norfolk Superior Court. Prosecutors presented DNA linking Ana to a hatchet and hacksaw and numerous items recovered from trash (including a Tyvek suit, towels, cleaning supplies, a Prada purse, boots and her COVID-19 card), highlighted a $2.7 million life-insurance policy naming Brian as beneficiary and argued motives tied to an alleged affair and Walshe’s financial and legal troubles; Walshe, who had pleaded guilty to disposing of a body and misleading police, declined to testify while his defense said he found his wife dead in bed.
📌 Key Facts
- A 12-member jury (six women, six men) convicted Brian Walshe of murdering his wife, Ana Walshe; jurors deliberated about six hours. If convicted of first-degree murder he faces life without parole (jurors could have convicted on second-degree instead).
- Prosecutors presented extensive physical evidence recovered from trash/dumpsters near the Walshe family (and his mother’s) homes, including a hatchet, hacksaw/saw, towels, a Tyvek suit, cleaning agents, rugs and slippers, a Prada purse, boots matching those Ana was last seen wearing, and Ana’s COVID‑19 vaccination card.
- Forensic testing found DNA consistent with Ana’s profile on multiple items recovered from trash — including the hacksaw blade and handle, the hatchet head and handle, Tyvek suit pieces, slippers, rug segments and an unknown tissue sample — with the prosecution highlighting a very strong statistical match for the hacksaw blade.
- Investigators tied Walshe to purchases and activity around Jan. 1–4, 2023: surveillance and receipts show a $463.26 Lowe’s purchase of cleaning supplies on Jan. 1 and TJX records show he bought rugs, towels and bathmats on Jan. 2 and Jan. 4 using store credits traced to returns Ana made in December 2022.
- Digital evidence and interviews played at trial included police recordings of Walshe, Google/search history in early January showing queries about dismemberment, odor and disposal of remains (and searches mentioning the alleged affair partner William Fastow), and testimony from a Massachusetts State Trooper digital-forensics witness.
- Travel and timeline evidence contradicted Walshe’s initial statements: JetBlue and CBP testimony showed Ana flew D.C.–Boston Dec. 30, had other flights refunded or marked no‑shows, and K‑9 searches of the Walshe home on Jan. 5 found nothing notable; Walshe initially told police Ana left on Jan. 1 for a flight that records do not support.
- William Fastow, a Washington, D.C., realtor, testified that he and Ana had begun an intimate relationship before her disappearance, spent holidays together (including Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve), last contacted each other on New Year’s Eve, and had planned to meet Jan. 4 to discuss their future — and Ana had said she wanted to tell Brian herself if he ever found out.
- Prosecutors advanced two motive theories: anger over Ana’s alleged affair and financial/self‑interest motives. Relevant context presented at trial included that Ana carried a $2.7 million life‑insurance policy naming Brian as sole beneficiary and that Brian faced substantial restitution and sentencing from a separate federal art‑fraud case (he owed roughly $475,000–$500,000 and was later sentenced to more than three years).
- The prosecution called 48 witnesses; the defense called none and Brian Walshe declined to testify. Separately, Walshe had previously pleaded guilty in state proceedings to charges of misleading police and willfully conveying a human body, but the judge barred jurors from being told of those guilty pleas.
📰 Sources (11)
Brian Walshe convicted of murdering wife after New Year's Day disappearance
New information:
- The jury convicted Brian Walshe of murdering his wife, Ana Walshe.
- Court records show Ana Walshe held a $2.7 million life insurance policy naming Brian as beneficiary.
- Surveillance and receipts show Brian Walshe made a $463.26 purchase of cleaning supplies at Lowe's on Jan. 1, 2023.
- State police DNA supervisor Saman Saleem testified that DNA consistent with Ana’s profile was found on a hatchet and hacksaw recovered from trash.
- Brian Walshe owed nearly $500,000 in restitution in a separate federal case, cited by prosecutors as part of motive context.
Watch live: Verdict reached in Brian Walshe murder trial
New information:
- A jury reached a verdict after about six hours of deliberation.
- Verdict reading is being streamed live from Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham.
- The jury consisted of six women and six men.
- Judge Diane Freniere barred jurors from being told of Walshe’s prior guilty pleas to disposing of a body and misleading police; he has not been sentenced on those counts.
- Prosecution called 48 witnesses; the defense called none, and Walshe did not testify.
- If convicted of first-degree murder, Walshe faces life without parole; jurors could alternatively convict on second-degree murder.
Brian Walshe declines to testify at murder trial as he's accused of destroying dad’s will before murder case
New information:
- Brian Walshe declined to testify, and the defense rested without calling any witnesses.
- Jury deliberations are scheduled to begin Friday, with closing arguments expected beforehand.
- Background probate dispute resurfaced: reporting that Walshe sought control of his late father’s estate in 2018, with allegations he destroyed the will, sold belongings, and removed over $500,000 after being cut out; friends Fred Pescatore and Jeffrey Ornstein provided statements.
- Court records note Ana Walshe carried a $2.7 million life insurance policy naming Brian as beneficiary, and he owed nearly $500,000 in federal restitution.
Closing arguments expected in murder trial of Brian Walshe over wife's disappearance
New information:
- Defense rested Thursday without calling any witnesses; Brian Walshe did not testify.
- Closing arguments are scheduled for Friday.
- Prosecutors highlighted additional circumstantial evidence, including a $2.7 million life-insurance policy naming Brian Walshe as beneficiary.
- Details of friends’ testimony: New Year’s Eve interactions, signs of marital strain, and messages exchanged by Ana with another man.
- Recap of prosecution’s timeline: early Jan. 1 internet searches on dismemberment and odor, same-day purchases of cleaning supplies, Tyvek suit, and tools; delayed missing-person report until Jan. 4.
Ana Walshe's DNA found on hacksaw, hatchet, bloody rug, forensic scientist testifies in husband's trial
New information:
- Massachusetts State Police DNA supervisor Saman Saleem testified that single-source female DNA matching Ana Walshe was found on a hacksaw (blade and handle), a hatchet (head and handle), Tyvek suit pieces, slippers, rug pieces, and 'unknown tissue' recovered from trash.
- The hacksaw blade DNA was 'at least 39 million times more likely' to be Ana’s than an unrelated person’s, according to Saleem.
- Ana’s DNA was also found on a blood-stained rug segment and on 'unknown tissue' from a Swampscott dumpster.
- On cross, Saleem acknowledged the possibility of DNA transfer between items if packed together in a bag.
- TJX loss-prevention manager Michael Roddy presented surveillance and receipts showing Brian Walshe bought rugs, towels and bathmats on Jan. 2 and Jan. 4 using store credits traced to returns Ana made in December 2022 in Baltimore and Washington, D.C.
Testimony at Brian Walshe murder trial details affair his wife was having before she vanished
New information:
- Court played a voicemail from Brian Walshe to William Fastow in which Walshe said Ana hadn’t been in touch for a few days, asked if Fastow had heard from her, and apologized for the call, delivered in an upbeat tone.
- Fastow testified he and Ana Walshe spent Christmas Eve together and planned to meet on Jan. 4 to discuss their future.
- Fastow said the relationship included dinners, bars, time on his sailboat, overnight stays at his home, and a Thanksgiving trip to Ireland.
- Fastow’s last contact with Ana was a New Year’s Eve text; on Jan. 2 his calls to her went straight to voicemail.
- Fastow and Ana discussed telling Brian Walshe about the affair, with Ana insisting he should hear it from her.
Brian Walshe murder trial: Slain wife Ana's lover takes the stand
New information:
- William Fastow, a D.C. realtor and Ana Walshe’s alleged lover, testified they began an intimate relationship before her Jan. 1, 2023 disappearance.
- Fastow said he helped Ana secure a Washington, D.C., townhouse where she set up rooms for her three children, anticipating a move.
- Fastow detailed a Thanksgiving trip to Dublin with Ana and said they spent Christmas Eve together in Washington; Ana later visited Serbia.
- Fastow testified that Ana wanted her husband to hear about the affair directly from her if he ever found out.
- He said Ana told him the children stayed in Cohasset because Brian Walshe’s federal home confinement required him to be their primary caretaker.
- Prosecutors showed jurors a saw and hatchet recovered from a dumpster near Brian Walshe’s mother’s home, along with Ana’s COVID-19 card, clothing, and bloody towels.
- Prosecutors outlined two alleged motives: anger over the affair and a belief that being the sole caretaker would help Brian avoid federal prison.
- Defense denies Brian Walshe knew of the affair, though he referenced Fastow to detectives and allegedly searched him online before Ana’s disappearance.
Brian Walshe told cops his missing wife left for a flight on Jan 1, JetBlue records keeper says otherwise
New information:
- JetBlue records keeper Thomas Menino testified that Ana Walshe’s Dec. 25 flight was refunded, she flew D.C.–Boston on Dec. 30, was a 'no show' for a Jan. 3 return to D.C., and missed four additional January flights previously booked.
- Cohasset Police Officer Gregory Lowrance testified Brian Walshe told him on Jan. 4 that he last saw Ana on Jan. 1 when she left for a Boston-to-Washington flight, a claim contradicted by JetBlue records.
- CBP agent William Foley testified briefly about Ana’s recent air travel in the weeks before she vanished.
- K-9 Sgt. Patrick Reardon testified his search with K-9 Einstein on Jan. 5, 2023 around the Walshe home found nothing notable.
- MSP Trooper Nicholas Guarino’s testimony highlighted additional search history items (e.g., Porsches, diamond jewelry sales, a pornographic video about a cheating wife, and searches for alleged affair partner William Fastow) alongside prior dismemberment/DNA-cleanup queries.
Recordings of Brian Walshe played as prosecutors outline alleged love triangle murder
New information:
- Prosecutors played more than an hour of Walshe’s interview recordings on Monday and plan about 40 additional minutes of excerpts on Tuesday.
- In the recordings, Walshe told police, "I would never do anything to my wife. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with my wife."
- Cohasset Police Sgt. Harrison Schmidt is being further questioned as part of the recordings’ presentation.
- Massachusetts State Trooper Nicholas Guarino, a digital forensics expert, is expected to testify next about alleged Google searches, including the name of the man tied to an alleged affair and disposal of remains.
- A Washington, D.C., realtor alleged to have been involved with Ana Walshe is expected to take the stand Thursday (Fox identifies him by name).
- Defense opening argued Walshe found his wife dead in bed, denied knowing of any affair, and framed the death as potentially sudden and unexplained.
- Prosecutors outlined two motive theories: discovery of an alleged affair and a belief that sole custody of the children could help Walshe avoid prison in a federal art-fraud case.
Brian Walshe defense says he found wife dead in bed, denies uncovering affair as murder trial begins
Brian Walshe goes on trial in death of wife who disappeared more than 2 years ago
New information:
- Prosecutors say Ana Walshe held a $2.7 million life insurance policy naming Brian Walshe as sole beneficiary.
- Detailed items prosecutors say were recovered from trash bags: a hatchet, a hacksaw, towels, a Tyvek suit, cleaning agents, a Prada purse, boots matching those Ana was last seen wearing, and her COVID-19 vaccination card.
- Brian Walshe pleaded guilty last month to misleading police and willfully conveying a human body in violation of state law (separate from the murder charge).
- At the time of Ana’s disappearance, Walshe was awaiting sentencing in an unrelated art-fraud case; he was later sentenced to more than three years in prison and $475,000 restitution.
- Potential witness issues flagged: Massachusetts State Police’s Michael Proctor (linked to the Karen Read case) could affect trial dynamics; he was fired over offensive texts.