Attorneys for Brian Walshe — who is accused of murdering his wife, missing Tishman Speyer executive Ana Walshe — admitted during the first day of his trial that he misled police investigators in the days following Ana’s disappearance.
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Prior to the start of his first-degree murder trial, which began today in Norfolk County Superior Court in Dedham, Massachusetts, Brian Walshe pled guilty to misleading a police investigation/obstruction of justice and improper conveyance of a human body. The plea was part of a deal entered on Nov. 18.
In opening statements Monday, defense attorney Larry Tipton said that Brian found Ana “unresponsive” in their bed in the early morning hours of Jan. 1, 2023. The claim marks the first time anyone has offered an explanation for Ana’s disappearance. Her body has still not been recovered.
Prior to the defense’s statement, Assistant District Attorney Greg Connor delivered the prosecution’s opening remarks, describing the day that Ana’s employer, not her husband, first reported her missing: Jan. 4, 2023, three days after Brian claims he found Ana dead in their bed.
Connor also told jurors about the Google searches Brian made after allegedly finding his wife, including “how long does DNA last” and “is it possible to clean DNA off a knife”.
Connor disclosed in his opener that Ana Walshe was engaged in a romantic relationship with William Fastow, a TTR Sotheby’s International Realty broker, who sold her the $1.3 million townhome she owned in Washington, D.C., where she commuted for work.
Subsequently, during the initial investigation into Ana’s disappearance, detectives recorded Brian Walshe say that “he and Ana were happily married; he had no knowledge of any extramarital affair,” Connor said.
However, a Dec. 25, 2022, cell phone record showed Brian was searching for Fastow’s name, and a Dec. 27, 2022, MacBook connected to Brian’s Apple ID showed searches for “best strategies to divorce for a man” and “Washington, DC, divorce laws.”
In one recorded interview with investigators after his wife’s disappearance, Brian named Fastow as a friend of his wife’s in D.C. and said that he had called Fastow looking for Ana after she disappeared. Fastow is expected to testify in the trial.
Throughout the rest of the day, jurors listened to a series of recorded audio interviews between Brian and law enforcement officers investigating Ana’s disappearance. Topics included Brian’s federal conviction for art fraud, the state of his relationship with his missing wife and his movements on the day of Ana’s disappearance.
Brian Walshe’s trial is expected to last two to three weeks.
