Brian Walshe charged in Ana Walshe’s murder in Massachusetts

COHASSET, Mass. – Brian Walshe, the Massachusetts art swindler currently behind bars for misleading a police investigation into the disappearance of his wife, was charged with her murder, the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office said on Tuesday.

“Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey announce the issuance of a murder warrant in the death of Ana Walshe, 39, missing from Cohasset since on or about New Year’s Day,” an emailed statement from the DA’s office. 

“The warrant was issued from Quincy District Court today January 17, 2023; the arraignment may be as soon as 9 a.m. tomorrow dependent on defense attorney availability.”

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Morrissey issued a minute-long statement announcing the new charge, but didn’t provide new details about the case.

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“Detectives from the Cohasset Police Department and Massachusetts state police detectives assigned to the Norfolk District Attorney’s office have been involved in an intensive investigation into the fate of Ana Walshe, a 39-year-old Cohasset mother of three, since she was first reported missing on January 4,” Morrissey said in the video. 

“Early in this investigation the police developed probable cause to believe that her husband, Brian Walshe, age 47, had misled police investigators on material matters important to the search for Ana Walshe.

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“He has (pleaded) not guilty to those charges and is currently being held at the Norfolk County house of correction. Continued investigation has allowed police to obtain an arrest warrant charging Brian Walshe with the murder of his wife.

“Mr. Walshe will be transported to the Quincy District Court for arraignment on the charge of murder. Additional details of the investigation and the evidence in support of those charges are likely to be presented at arraignment but will not be disclosed at this time.”

A spokesperson for the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office said that Walshe will be transported to the Quincy District Court for his arraignment tomorrow.

Ana Walshe, 39, was last seen in the early morning hours of Jan. 1, 2023, shortly after she rang in the new year with her husband and their mutual friend, Gem Mutlu. 

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Mutlu later told local news station WBZ there “was no indication of anything other than celebrating the new year, problems on hold.”

NORFOLK DISTRICT ATTORNEY ANNOUNCES MURDER WARRANT ISSUED

“There was absolutely no indication that any modicum of a tragedy, of disappearance, or anything else could have happened that night,” he reportedly said at the start of the investigation. 

Brian Walshe allegedly told police Mutlu left the couple’s rented home on Chief Justice Cushing Highway in Cohasset around 1:30 a.m., and his wife kissed him goodbye only hours later before supposedly leaving in a ride-share car.

The Tishman Speyer real estate executive was previously scheduled to depart for Washington, D.C. on Jan. 3, but allegedly said there was an emergency that required she fly there earlier than expected. 

Her company reported her missing to police on Jan. 4, after, according to Brian Walshe’s defense attorney, he had contacted the firm asking about Ana’s whereabouts. 

But in the days between Ana’s disappearance and the missing person’s report, Brian Walshe allegedly lied about his own whereabouts. Investigators said Walshe told investigators he traveled to stores, such as CVS and Whole Foods, where he might not have actually been.

But he allegedly neglected to mention that he spent about $450 in cash buying cleaning supplies from a Rockland, Massachusetts, Home Depot store. 

According to court documents and officials, Walshe was spotted on surveillance video “wearing a black surgical mask, blue surgical gloves and making a cash purchase” of items including mops, tape and drop cloths. 

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Investigators also discovered blood and a bloody, damaged knife in the basement of the couple’s home, and traced Ana’s cellphone to the area of the family’s Cohasset home on Jan. 1 and Jan. 2. Meanwhile, Brian’s cellphone pinged in other parts of Massachusetts, such as Brockton and Abington, despite his lack of permission to be in those areas under the terms of his home confinement. 

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A pair of law enforcement sources told CNN Brian Walshe had conducted internet searches for “how to dispose of a 115-pound woman’s body” and how to dismember a body.

On Tuesday, officials revealed investigators had recovered even more evidence related to their search for Walshe. According to WBZ, investigators searching a waste facility near Brian’s mother’s home recovered a hacksaw, a hatchet, a rug and a bloodied trash bag.   

They also appeared to have removed – and then replaced – a dumpster taken from Brian Walshe’s mother’s Swampscott home, located nearly 35 miles away from the couple’s residence.  

Brian Walshe was previously arrested on Jan. 8 and charged with misleading a police investigation. 

Police said the charge stemmed from Walshe’s alleged “intentional, willful, and direct responses to questions about his whereabouts on the days of Sunday, January 1, 2023 and Monday, January 2, 2023.” They further called it, “a clear attempt to mislead and delay investigators.”

Walshe, a previously convicted art fraudster, was ordered held on $500,000 cash bail over $5 million surety bond. Meanwhile, Washington D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department confirmed to Fox News Digital on Thursday that Ana called the authorities in 2014 to report that Brian had threatened to kill her and a friend. 

He has also been accused of stealing nearly $1 million from his father’s estate, despite the elder having no intention of leaving him a cent. 

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The beneficiary of Brian’s father’s will wrote in court papers related to the 2019 incident: “Brian is not only a sociopath, but also a very angry and physically violent person.”

Fox News Digital’s Rebecca Rosenberg, Adam Sabes and Haley Chi-Sing contributed to this report.