Trial date set for Brian Walshe, Cohasset man accused of murdering and dismembering his wife Ana

A Norfolk County Superior Court judge has scheduled October 20th as the start of the trial for Brian Walshe, the Cohasset man accused of dismembering his wife, Ana Walshe, with a hacksaw and disposing of her remains.

Walsh is accused of murdering and dismembering his missing wife, Ana Walshe, in their Cohasset home over New Year’s 2023.

Ana Walshe’s body has never been found but a series of Google searches, prosecutors say, indicate Walshe killed Ane, cut up her body, and discarded evidence in various dumpsters.

One key piece of evidence was a saw discovered in a dumpster near Brian Walshe’s mother’s home.

Prosecutors want to see if Ana’s DNA is on the teeth of that saw. The saw has been the subject of DNA analysis, but at Monday’s pretrial hearing, we learned that the DNA testing had not been completed.

“Tissue that was found on the saw in the garbage as the mother’s apartment, can’t be done by our state lab,” prosecutor Greg Connor told the court.

Both sides are looking to bring in an outside lab to complete the dna analysis, but there are issues over cost and protocols.

No decision has been made.

At the hearing, Walshe’s lawyers implored for access to an impounded 3,000-page federal report on the Karen Read case.

It was during that federal investigation that now suspended Mass State Police trooper Michael Proctor’s derogatory text messages about Karen Read surfaced.

Proctor also handled the Walshe investigation.

The defense is looking for any evidence of bias against Brian Walshe before he was arrested.

“Trooper Proctor, who was the lead investigator on this case, the moment he stepped foot into investigating Brian Walshe in the disappearance of his wife, he knew he was under federal investigation,” defense attorney Kelli Porges said.

Prosecutor Greg Connor said, to this date, none of the Mass State Police troopers who worked the Karen Read case were ever notified they were targets of a federal investigation.

No decision was made on whether the defense will have access to the federal file.

Prosecutors have also previously said that a broken knife with blood on it was found in the basement of the Walshe family home.

The Norfolk District Attorney’s Office previously said that it was awaiting DNA test results from dozens of items.

In late June, Walshe had a court appearance waived. At that time, prosecutors said during a brief hearing in Dedham Superior Court that DNA results were expected by the end of the month, the Patriot Ledger reported.

State police suspended Proctor in July following Karen Read’s mistrial. While testifying during Read’s trial, Proctor received criticism for inappropriate texts he sent about Read

Brian Walshe is due back in court on January 8.

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