January 17, 2023 Brian Walshe faces murder charge

Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey said Tuesday that Brian Walshe is being held in custody as an arrest warrant for a murder charge was announced for the 47-year-old.

Last week, Walshe was charged with misleading police as they investigated the disappearance of his wife, Ana Walshe. He pleaded not guilty to those charges and is being held at the Norfolk County House of Correction, Morrissey said.

Details of Brian Walshe’s tumultuous legal history have also emerged in recent days, revealing harsh criticisms of him made by a relative and family friends during a 2019 dispute over his father’s will.

In affidavits submitted by his father’s nephew and close friends, Brian is described as a dishonest, “very angry and physically violent person.” The two close friends also described him as a “sociopath,” the affidavits show.

Dr. Thomas Walshe, who headed the neurology division at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston for over a decade, died in 2018 in India, according to court documents. He bequeathed to Brian only his “best wishes” and “nothing else” from his estate, noting that he was no longer in contact with his son, according to photographs of the will included in court documents.

However, Brian Walshe objected in an affidavit in November 2019, arguing that he was “one of only two legal heirs” to his father’s estate. He said his father’s health had been “very poor” when he signed what Brian described as a “suspect” will, and he suggested his father’s signature on the document was a “possible forgery.”

He also claimed that he and his father had been estranged over the years but had “reconnected” in 2015 and began “speaking regularly” in 2016. He also claimed the two properties tied up in the estate had an estimated value of over $1 million.

In their affidavits rejecting those claims, his father’s nephew and friends detailed years of alleged swindling and manipulation by Brian Walshe.

“My Uncle’s Last Will and Testament confirms what he had told many people over the years that he did not want his son, Brian, to inherit anything from his Estate,” wrote Andrew Walshe, the estate’s executor and one of Dr. Walshe’s nephews, in an affidavit.

“He had a severe falling out with his son… Brian had ran off with a significant amount of his money; he had had almost zero contact with Brian R. Walshe over the last ten plus years,” Andrew Walshe added.

Federal fraud charges: Separately, Brian Walshe was indicted on federal fraud charges in 2018 for allegedly selling fake Andy Warhol artwork on eBay, according to court documents.

He allegedly took real paintings from a friend to sell, but never did, according to the documents. He did not compensate the friend for the art either, prosecutors alleged.

In 2021, he pleaded guilty to three federal fraud charges and has been on house arrest and monitoring as he awaits sentencing.

In a letter to the federal judge hearing the case, Walshe said he was “extremely sorry” for his past conduct and promised he had changed since the crime was committed. Ana Walshe also wrote a letter to the court that she was grateful he was able to remain under house arrest during case proceedings.

Pamela Bardhi, a self-described friend and colleague of Ana Walshe, a Massachusetts mother of three who has been missing since around New Year’s, described her as being private person, but "an absolute radiant spirit."

Walshe is the "kind of person that when you walk into a room, you just feel her energy," Bardhi told CNN on Thursday. "She's a brilliant businesswoman and what I like to call a supermom."

Walshe would travel from Cohasset, Massachusetts, to Washington, DC, during the week for her real estate job at Tishman Speyer and then return home on weekends, according to Bardhi.

"She has been a power woman and just a businesswoman, as long as I've known her," Bardhi said. "She never talked about anything personal. She never talked about pain. She never really talked about her husband much. It was all about her kids and business and elevation and how she could help other people."

"Personally, I never saw any indication of any issues at home," she added, but said she thinks something "has gone horribly, horribly wrong with it comes to her."

The couple's three children are in the custody of the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families, according to a spokesperson. Bardhi and another one of Walshe's friends, Natasha Sky, told CNN that several local families have stepped forward and offered to take in the children so that they can remain together.

Nearly a decade before Ana Walshe went missing, the mother of three told police the man who would later become her husband, Brian Walshe, threatened to kill her and a friend, according to a police report.

Ana Walshe – who has not been seen since around New Year’s – reported the death threat in 2014, telling police that someone said over the phone he “was going to kill (her) and her friend,” according to a DC Metropolitan Police Department incident report obtained by CNN.

The police department confirmed Brian Walshe was the person involved in the report, which was filed by Ana Walshe – then Ana Knipp – when she lived in Washington, DC.

The case was later closed because the victim refused to cooperate in the prosecution, police told CNN.

CNN has reached out to Brian Walshe’s attorney.

The arraignment for Brian Walshe may be as soon as 9 a.m. ET on Wednesday, according to the office of Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey.

The office in a short press release said the arraignment is "dependent on defense attorney availability."

"The continued investigation has now 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 for the charge of murder. Additional details in 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," Morrissey said Tuesday in an announcement.

An arrest warrant was issued Tuesday, charging Brian Walshe in the death of his wife, Ana Walshe, a Massachusetts mother of three who has been missing since the new year, according to Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey.

Here's what we know so far:

Evidence: Investigators launched a massive multi-day search earlier this month and gathered evidence including a bloody knife in the family home as well as a hacksaw, torn-up cloth material and apparent blood stains found at a local trash transfer station, according to sources and court records.

Brian Walshe’s internet records showed searches for how to dismember and dispose of a body, according to law enforcement sources.

Prosecutors said in court Brian Walshe bought $450 in cleaning supplies – including mops, a bucket and tarps – the day after her disappearance.

Walshe has been charged for misleading investigators: The 47-year-old man was also charged two weeks ago with misleading investigators about his actions and whereabouts around the time his wife went missing. He pleaded not guilty and has been in custody since then.

The law firm representing Brian Walshe had no comment when CNN reached out.

Norfolk District Attorney Michael W. Morrissey has issued an arrest warrant charging Brian Walshe in the death of his wife, Ana Walshe.

Walshe is expected to be arraigned as soon as Wednesday in Quincy District Court, Morrissey announced.

In just over a week since Ana Walshe was reported missing, state and local investigators have scoured the coastal Massachusetts town of Cohasset, sifted through heaps of trash and sent several pieces of potential evidence for testing as they try to piece together the facts of the case.

A “number of items” that could be evidence were found in searches north of Boston and sent for forensic testing, Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey said in a statement Tuesday.

The husband – who must get trips outside his home approved as he awaits sentencing in a prior federal fraud case – made a number of unapproved trips the week of his wife’s disappearance, the affidavit says.

He told investigators he ran errands for his mother at two stores in Swampscott, about 15 miles north of Boston, on the day he said he last saw his wife, a police affidavit says. Police, however, allege those trips to the shops never happened.

And while investigators say Brian Walshe’s claim that he spent the next day with his children is accurate, they allege he also made an undisclosed trip to Home Depot, where he was seen on surveillance video wearing a surgical mask and surgical gloves and making a cash purchase. Prosecutors said in court Monday that he bought about $450 worth of cleaning supplies, including mops and tarps.

On Monday, investigators placed crime scene tape around dumpsters near the home of Brian Walshe’s mother in Swampscott and dug through trash at a transfer station in nearby Peabody, according to a source with direct knowledge of the investigation.

Here's what they've found:

• At the Peabody site, they found a hacksaw, torn-up cloth material and what appeared to be bloodstains, law enforcement sources told CNN Tuesday.
• Further, a search of the Walshe’s home revealed blood stains and a damaged, bloody knife in the basement, according to Beland. Law enforcement sources told CNN that investigators hope to collect blood samples from the couple’s sons so they have a “direct bloodline” sample to compare against bloodied evidence in the case.
• Brian Walshe's internet records show searches about dismemberment and “how to dispose of a 115-pound woman’s body,” according to two law enforcement sources briefed on the investigation.

The couple’s three children – between ages 2 and 6 – are in the custody of the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families, according to a spokesperson. Several local families have also offered to take them in so that they can remain together, two of Ana Walshe’s friends, Pamela Bardhi and Natasha Sky, told CNN.

Brian Walshe told police he last saw his wife Ana Walshe on Jan. 1 when she left their home in the coastal Massachusetts town of Cohasset for a flight to Washington, DC, for her job.

But authorities have accused him of misleading investigators and said they found a bloody knife in the basement of their home.

Using information from a criminal affidavit, police, prosecutors and defense attorneys, CNN put together a timeline of the couple’s movements and actions:

Jan. 1: As Brian Walshe told police, in the morning, Ana Walshe “got ready and kissed him goodbye and told him to go back to sleep,” the affidavit states. She usually took an Uber, Lyft or taxi to the airport and left between 6 and 7 a.m. ET, the affidavit states.

He further told police a babysitter arrived in the afternoon and he left home to get groceries at about 3 p.m. ET, the affidavit states.

He told police he then went to see his mother at about 4 p.m ET. in Swampscott, about an hour drive from Cohasset, but did not have his cell phone and got lost, making the trip longer than usual, the affidavit states. He said he left his mother’s home within about 15 minutes of arriving to run errands for her at Whole Foods and CVS and eventually returned home to Cohasset at about 8 p.m. ET, according to the affidavit.

Jan. 2: Ana Walshe’s cell phone pinged in the area of their Cohasset home on Jan. 1 and 2, according to prosecutor Lynn Beland.

As Brian Walshe told investigators, he took one of his children for ice cream at a juice bar in Norwell on Jan. 2 while the babysitter watched his two other kids, the affidavit states. Investigators confirmed this trip occurred, according to the affidavit.

According to surveillance video, Brian Walshe traveled to a Home Depot in Rockland wearing a surgical mask and gloves and made a cash purchase, the affidavit states. There, Walshe bought $450 of cleaning supplies, including mops, a bucket, tarps and various types of tape, according to Beland.

Jan. 4: Ana Walshe’s workplace, real estate company Tishman Speyer, called police to report she did not show up for her job, Beland said. According to Brian Walshe’s defense attorney, he called her workplace to ask if they knew of her whereabouts prior to the workplace’s call to police.

Cohasset Police arrived to Ana Walshe’s home for a well-being check, according to an affidavit. Brian Walshe spoke with investigators multiple times and provided the above timeline for his actions and whereabouts on Jan. 1 and 2.

Jan. 5: Cohasset Police announced Ana Walshe is missing and asked the public to come forward with any information. Police said she was last seen “shortly after midnight on New Year’s Day.”

Jan. 6: Police launched a massive search for Ana Walshe that included K-9 officers and search and rescue teams in the wooded areas near her home.

Read the full timeline: