Brian Walshe, who admitted disposing of his wife’s body – which has never been found – is convicted of her murder

Brian Walshe was convicted of the first-degree murder of his wife, Ana Walshe, whose body was never found.

Walshe was emotionless in a Massachusetts courtroom Monday as the jury reached a verdict after only hours of deliberation. He will be sentenced on Wednesday.

Ana Walshe, a 39-year-old Serbian immigrant and property manager, was last seen in the early hours of January 1, 2023, after a small New Year’s Eve gathering at the couple’s home in Cohasset.

Her husband, 50, admitted dismembering his wife and lying to police, but claimed he did not kill her.

He claimed he was traveling to Washington, DC, on an urgent business trip and ordered a car to take him to Logan International Airport in Boston. But the company that first reported her missing said there was no business emergency.

Prosecutors said Ana never participated in the carpool and there was no evidence she ever got on the plane. After his disappearance, his credit and debit cards, as well as his mobile phone, were disabled.

“Ana Walshe died because he killed her and wanted her dead,” prosecutor Anne Yas told the court at the closing hearing on Friday. “He wasn’t going to D.C. because of a work emergency; there was no emergency. This is just a story the defendant tells people.”

Walshe claimed that after his wife left home, he visited his mother in Swampscott, went shopping at CVS and Whole Foods, and spent time with his children.

But prosecutors said he spent New Year’s Day traveling to various pharmacies and hardware stores, purchasing heavy cleaning supplies, a Tyvek protective suit and a utility knife; Before purchasing, “How long does it take for a body to smell?” They say online searches such as. and “The best ways to dismember and dispose of a body.”

Investigators continued to investigate “how to dismember a body with a hacksaw” over the next several days, he said. He did not report his wife missing until January 4, when his employer, unable to contact him, contacted the police.

Surveillance footage later showed a man resembling Walshe throwing heavy bags of garbage into dumpsters. A search of a garbage facility near her mother’s house revealed bags containing an axe, a hacksaw, towels, protective clothing, cleaning agents, a Prada bag, boots similar to the ones Ana last wore, and a Covid vaccination card. Prosecutors said many items tested positive for DNA.

“The defendant did not want anyone to find Ana’s body and know how she died,” Yas told the court. “The defendant then bought cutting tools… and cut up the body of Ana, the woman he claimed to love, and threw her into garbage bins,” he said.

Not only did she want him to die, “she needed him to die,” Yas said. “It was a marriage in crisis.”

Mourning noted that Walshe “had no assets” at the time and was under house arrest for his federal case.

Meanwhile, Ana also started to improve and “the marriage started to break down,” Yas said, adding that he arranged rooms for his children in DC. Yas said Walshe needed the children with him so he could be the primary caregiver to avoid prison. At the time, Ana also had $2.7 million in life insurance that named her husband as the sole beneficiary, prosecutors said.

In a move that surprised courtroom observers, the defense rested without calling any witnesses earlier this week, and Brian Walshe did not testify in his own defense despite speculation that he might take the stand to explain his version of events.

During closings, Defense attorney Larry Tipton repeatedly described Brian Walshe as “a loving husband and loving father who had no reason to kill his wife.” He had previously told the court his client had panicked following a “sudden unexplained death”, claiming Walshe found Ana unresponsive following New Year’s Eve celebrations.

“When she entered the bedroom and started getting into bed, she sensed something was wrong,” Tipton said, recalling Walshe’s claim that Ana “tumbled out of bed.”

“You are faced with a sudden, unexpected event that results in confusion, panic and fear,” Tipton said Friday. Referring to Walshe’s disposal of her body, he said: “All this stuff is very disturbing, terrible” and could be argued to show awareness of guilt. However, he insisted that he did not kill his wife.

Tipton also addressed Walshe’s Internet searches, claiming that if he made them “with murder in his heart” why was the first search referencing murder made “six hours later” on January 1, 2023?

“Context matters,” Tipton said. “The first use of the word murder in these horrific searches was six hours after the searches began.”

Tipton also argued that the calls about dismembering and cleaning did not mean he had killed her, and claimed there was nothing that referred to a plan or intent to kill Ana.

“Even though they don’t talk about the murder, they’re just as sad,” Tipton said. He is “thinking about how to clean the concrete floor” in the basement.

“Ask yourself, if the man intends to kill his wife, why is he calling now?” Tipton asked.

The defense acknowledged that Walshe lied to investigators but argued that his actions reflected fear rather than guilt. Tipton emphasized that since there was no body, “investigators were unable to determine the cause of death.”

“Mr Walshe loved Ana Walshe, the mother of his three children,” Tipton added. “Mr. Walshe is not guilty. He is not guilty.”

During the closely watched hearing, the court heard from William Fastow, whom prosecutors described as Ana Walshe’s boyfriend.

Fastow said he met Ana in March 2022 when he was selling a townhouse in Washington. Their relationship quickly developed into an “intimate relationship”. They shared dinners, nights on his sailboat, nights at his house, and even a Thanksgiving trip to Ireland.

“Ana felt it was really important for Brian to hear from her when he found out about the affair,” she said. “He had expressed great concern and I think he felt that it would be an attack on her integrity if she learned a different way.”

Fastow said they plan to ring in the new year together on January 4 and talk about the future. The last time she heard from him was on New Year’s Eve. The messages and calls he sent afterwards went unanswered.