Opening statements began Monday in the murder trial of Brian Walshe, the Cohasset man accused of killing his wife Ana Walshe, who was last seen in January 2023.
A massive search for Ana Walshe was launched just after New Years Day of that year when her colleagues in Washington, D.C. reported her missing.
Prosecutors believe Brian killed Ana because he suspected she was having an affair with a man named William Fastow; they claim he dismembered and disposed of her body.
In the prosecution’s opening statement, prosecutor Greg O’Connor outlined some of the evidence the state will lay out, including the trash bags they say Walshe threw out containing both members of the couple’s DNA and Walshe’s alleged Google searches from around the time of Ana’s disappearance.
O’Connor continued that Brian Walshe’s online searches show he plotted and planned his wife’s death.
“On January 1 at 11:28 a.m., it searched, “best way to dispose of body parts after a murder,” said O’Connor.
–WATCH: Prosecution opening statement in Brian Walshe trial–
Defense attorney Larry Tipton painted a different picture of what happened the night Ana presumably died, saying she experienced “sudden unexplained death” after the couple went to bed on New Years Eve. Tipton said Walshe went down to their kitchen to clean dishes and returned to find Ana unresponsive.
Tipton said Walshe made the Google searches in question in a panic after Ana’s death, not thinking anyone would believe his story.
“You will hear evidence that it made no sense to him, but he nudged Ana. She didn’t respond and panicked,” said Tipton. “He nudged her again, he didn’t respond. He nudged her now in a frantic and panicked reaction to where she actually rolled off the bed.”
–WATCH: Defense opening statement in Brian Walshe trial–
The lead investigator in the case, Cohasset Police Sergeant Harrison Schmidt was the first person to take the stand Monday. His audio interviews with Walshe were played, and Walshe is heard being cooperative and talkative.
“I love my wife, this family doesn’t work without her,” Walshe said in the audio recording.
Schmidt also explained that he searched the couple’s home; noting a hole in their bedroom ceiling, a full trash bag in the basement, and said he found a Lowe’s store receipt in the family car.
7NEWS Legal expert Tom Hoopes analyzed the defense’s strategy Monday.
— Legal analyst Tom Hoopes speaks on the defense team’s strategy —
Before the trial started, Walshe pleaded guilty to misleading police and moving Ana’s body, while maintaining his innocence on the third, most serious charge: murder.
The trial is expected to last three weeks.
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