DA: Brian Walshe indicted on murder charges of wife Ana Walshe

DEDHAM, Mass. — A Norfolk County Grand Jury indicted Brian Walshe for the murder of his wife, Ana Walshe back in January.

“This really is the most important step. Because it means Brian Walshe’s case gets transferred to felony courts, Superior Court, which is the court that has the authority to put him in prison for the rest of his life,” said attorney Wendy Murphy.

Attorney Michael W. Morrissey announced on Thursday that three indictments against Walshe, 48, of Cohasset, were issued including the murder of his wife, for misleading a police investigation/obstruction of justice, and for the improper conveyance of a human body.

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Walshe indictment document

“Brian Walshe entered a plea of not guilty to the charge of murder at his Quincy District Court arraignment in January,” District Attorney Morrissey said. “This indictment moves the case to the Norfolk Superior Court, where it will be arraigned anew in the coming weeks. That date has not yet been set.”

Brian Walshe escorted into court for murder arraignment

Prosecutors have alleged that Walshe killed his wife, 39-year-old Ana Walshe in their Cohasset home on New Year’s Day. The couple’s three young boys were reportedly home at the time.

The Walshe children remain in DCF custody after their father is charged with mother’s murder

Investigators suspect that Ana’s discarded remains may have been incinerated in a trash facility.

“There is a preponderance of a lot of things here that really point in one direction,” said Peter Raider, who was friends with Ana Walshe. “There are so many unanswered questions.”

Raider, who met Ana through their work in the real estate industry, is anxious to see how the case unfolds.

“Everybody who knew and cared about Ana is really watching this thing,” he said. “She had this genuine heart of gold that she wanted to spread around the world.”

Prosecutors have already said that Brian Walshe made more than a dozen disturbing Google searches on his son’s iPad, including “10 ways to dispose of a dead body if you really need to” and “how to stop a body from decomposing”

The state has already presented evidence collected from 10 trash bags that were reportedly disposed of in a dumpster at the Swampscott apartment complex of Brian Walshe’s mother.

Some of that evidence includes a piece of a necklace that Ana had been wearing, a Prada purse, a COVID vaccine card with her name and other items containing both Brian and Ana’s DNA.

At some point in the investigation, prosecutors could bring all of the evidence gathered to a grand jury.

“The returns on the search warrants, the stuff they found, both sides are going to be very focused on that. Because that’s the whole case: What they found when they went searching, not only whether a murder happened but whether they can prove it. Whether there is enough evidence to prove that she is in fact, dead,” said Murphey.

District Attorney Morrissey said his office would provide the arraignment date as soon as it was finalized by Norfolk Superior Court. Walshe remains held without bail.

In Massachusetts, a conviction of murder in the first degree carries a mandatory life sentence in prison without the possibility of parole.

Ana Walshe murder: An in-depth look into where the case stands and what comes next

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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