(NewsNation) — After 11 days, Brian Walshe was found guilty of the 2023 murder of his wife Ana Walshe.
Brian Walshe, a Massachusetts man, was accused of killing and dismembering Ana Walshe.
Walshe had pleaded guilty to lesser charges — improper conveyance of a human body and misleading a police investigation — but maintains he is not guilty of murder.
Brian Walshe case: What happened to wife Ana Walshe?
Ana Walshe was last seen Jan. 1, 2023, while hosting a New Year’s Eve dinner at the couple’s home in Cohasset, Massachusetts. She purportedly left for a work trip the following day, but investigators said she never boarded her plane.
Prosecutors have pinned their case on evidence found in the Walshes’ home and at a disposal facility in nearby Peabody — including a broken knife, hacksaw and blood — as well as searches they say indicate Walshe was learning how to dispose of a body.
“We will prove the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the premeditated murder of his wife, Ana Walshe,” Assistant District Attorney Gregory Connor said in his opening statement.
Ana Walshe. (Cohasset Police Department handout) 
Brian Walshe enters the courtroom for his arraignment, April 27, 2023, in Dedham, Mass. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool, File) 
Murder suspect Brian Walshe of Cohasset is arraigned April 27, 2023, in Dedham Superior Court in Dedham, Mass. for the death of his wife, who disappeared on New Years Day 2023. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool)
Walshe’s team argues he did not kill his wife, instead painting a picture of Ana Walshe’s “sudden unexplained death” and her husband’s failure to properly handle it.
“When he entered the bedroom and began to get into bed, he sensed something was wrong. You will hear evidence that it made no sense to him,” Walshe’s attorney, Larry Tipton, said. “He nudged Ana, his wife. She didn’t respond. He nudged her again, a little harder. She didn’t respond. He nudged her now in a panicked and frantic reaction to where she actually rolled off the bed.”
Walshe previously pleaded not guilty to all charges but admitted two weeks before the trial began to having removed his wife’s body from their home.
Day 1: Brian Walshe’s attorney spotlights couple’s stressed marriage
On the first day of the trial, Tipton acknowledged that before Ana Walshe’s death, the couple experienced difficulty in their marriage after she got a job in Washington, D.C., to support her husband, which included a yearly salary of $300,000, twice what she was originally making.
The couple had discussed the strain the situation was having on Christmas, according to Tipton. He also alleged Ana was having an affair with William Pascal, whom she met the night of Dec. 29, 2022.
“She hid the affair. William Pascal was unaware — they behaved differently in public to make sure there was no appearance. Ana said she would be devastated if Brian ever learned of the affair.”
Day 2: Brian Walshe had other disturbing searches on day of wife’s disappearance
Day 2’s proceedings included prosecutors revealing that investigators found multiple searches on Walshe’s computer, including how to clean a knife that had been contaminated with HIV blood.
Prosecutors noted the search results were dated Jan. 1, 2023 — the day Ana went missing. They said Walshe also sought information about famed killer Robert Kearney, who was dubbed the “trash bag killer” because he disposed of his victims’ body parts in trash bags.
Search results about divorce were also provided as evidence by prosecutors.
Day 3: Blood was found in the Walshes’ car by investigators
Day 3 of the trial focused on a Massachusetts state police investigator saying he found blood inside the Walshes’ vehicle nine days after Ana disappeared.
“There were five that tested positive for blood screening,” said Massachusetts State Police forensic scientist Davis Gould. “One was the front driver’s side seat controls for the front seat.”
Gould added the test on the Walshes’ car was halted after a bag was found in a dumpster outside the home of Walshe’s mother. Inside the bag was a pair of green boots, a bracelet and a jacket with reddish-brown stains on it, he said.
Gould testified the 10 trash bags recovered from the same dumpster contained clothing that matched the description Walshe provided to investigators when he reported his wife was missing.
Tipton argued it’s unclear which items were stained before they were put in the trash bags.
“It could very well be that those hairs that are seen attached to the slipper, they could have transferred to that slipper because they were already in the bag, or they came in contact with something else,” he said.
Day 4: Trial details Ana Walshe’s alleged affair before disappearance
Testimony on the fourth day of the trial centered on an alleged affair Ana was having in the months before her disappearance.
William Fastow, a D.C. real estate professional, told jurors he began a close friendship with Ana in 2022 that evolved into an intimate relationship. He said the two traveled together, spent holidays with friends and discussed building a future once Ana determined the status of her marriage.
Fastow said his final communication with Ana was a New Year’s Eve text, and he became increasingly worried when she stopped responding. He testified he ignored a Jan. 4 voicemail from Walshe because he feared he may have learned about the relationship.
In the message played for the jury, Walshe sounded upbeat and said he was reaching out to “anybody he could” because Ana had not been in touch.
Defense attorneys worked to cast doubt on Fastow’s account, noting there was no clear plan for Ana to tell her husband about the affair.
Day 5: Brian Walshe defense attorney explains ‘Ana Walshe found dead’ search
Digital forensic specialist Connor Keefe returned to the stand Friday as prosecutors continued laying out cell phone data. Keefe testified about messages and searches pulled from the couple’s phones, including a text Walshe sent the day after prosecutors allege he killed her: “I still love you! Hahaha.”
During cross-examination, Tipton accused prosecutors of selectively presenting Walshe’s internet searches, noting that a search for “Ana Walshe found dead” occurred around the same time as a search for “Christmas day plane crash,” both made before Ana texted that she was driving home.
Tipton also said Walshe had made a New Year’s Day dinner reservation for the couple.
Jurors also saw tools recovered from a dumpster outside the home of Walshe’s mother, including pliers and a measuring cup coated in fingerprinting powder. The state’s deputy chief medical examiner, Richard Atkinson, testified about testing a rug from the same dumpster for human tissue, noting his office typically examines bodies, not household items.
Day 6: Brian Walshe’s shopping trip after Ana Walshe’s disappearance
Prosecutors on Monday showed video from several stores where Walshe shopped over three days after his wife was reported missing.
In one clip, Walshe is seen using cash to pay for a $463.26 bill at Lowe’s.
Massachusetts State Police forensic scientist Matthew Sheehan also addressed the jury after he tested areas of the Walshes’ home for blood. Sheehan said some areas such as the basement came up positive, but not the bedroom. He said he also discovered a knife in a kitchen cabinet next to bottles of hydrogen peroxide.
“The screening test for blood was positive on this blade,” Sheehan said.
Sheehan testified that he also tested items that were found in the dumpster outside of the home of Walshe’s mother. A hacksaw tested positive for blood, he said, though Ana’s jacket did not.
The proceedings also included testimony from Richard Atkinson, who said he found pieces of a rug in the dumpster. Richards noted the pieces of the rug had “the correct color, shape, consistency of a blood clot.”
Day 7: Walshe couple’s DNA evidence linked to dumpster
Prosecutors for Day 7 focused on tying items showing DNA evidence found in a dumpster linked to both Brian and Ana Walshe.
Massachusetts State Police Crime Lab’s DNA unit chief, Saman Saleem, testified that DNA positive from both was detected on a hatchet blade, a pair of gray slippers and the cuff of a white coverall suit pulled from the dumpster outside the home of Walshe’s mother.
“The DNA profile from this item is at least 270 million times more likely if it originated from Ana Walshe,” Saleem said. “The DNA profile from this item is at least 12 quintillion times more likely if it originated from Brian Walshe.”
Tipton argued the samples could have been contaminated.
“I’m not sure if the chances would increase or decrease, if they’re pressed together, but if two items were to come in contact with each other, there would be a likely transfer of DNA,” Saleem added.
The jury was also shown footage of Walshe buying a rug from HomeGoods on Jan. 2, 2023, and two days later, returning to the same store to buy white towels.
Prosecutors have worked to establish that a rug from the Walshe home — later found in the dumpster with blood on it — appeared to have been replaced when investigators visited the house.
Day 8: Ana Walshe broke down about stress before disappearance, friend says
Prosecutors rested their case on the trial’s eighth day, but not before the jury heard emotional testimony from Ana’s friends.
Gem Mutlu, a close friend of Brian and Ana’s, became tearful while recalling spending New Year’s Eve with the couple.
“I saw them as my own,” said Multu, who had known the couple after meeting Walshe at a leadership program in 2020.
Ana’s close friend, Alissa Kirby, told the jury she was acting tired and “breaking down” from stress in her life before she went missing. Kirby also said she exchanged text messages and phone calls with Walshe after Ana disappeared. At least one of the conversations also involved Brian’s mother, she added.
Walshe’s lawyer submitted a motion arguing that prosecutors failed to prove their case, but it was denied by a judge.
Day 9: Defense rests in Brian Walshe murder trial
The defense rested its case on without calling any witnesses. Brian Walshe did not take the stand in his own defense and the judge sent the jury home for the day.
Both the prosecution and the defense then discussed the wording of the instructions that would be given to the jury.
After the prosecution rested on Wednesday, the defense asked the judge to throw out the whole case, saying the Commonwealth didn’t prove its case. The judge denied that motion.
Day 10: Jury to continue deliberations in Brian Walshe murder trial
The day began with closing arguments. The prosecution reiterated to jurors that there was evidence that Walshe searched for disposing of a corpse and bought hundreds of dollars’ worth of cleaning supplies. But Walshe’s defense insisted this didn’t prove that Walshe killed or intended to kill his wife.
The jury received the case and began deliberations but elected to continue deliberating on Monday.
Day 11: Jury finds Brian Walshe guilty of murder
The jury ultimately reached a verdict Monday, deciding Brian Walshe was guilty of first-degree murder in the death of his wife.
The defense called no witnesses and did not dispute allegations that Brian Walshe chopped up his wife, Ana Walshe’s body, but said he did so because he panicked after finding her dead.
Brian Walshe is tentatively scheduled to be sentenced on Wednesday, following the presentation of victim impact statements.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.