Jury sees surveillance video of Brian Walshe buying tools in several hardware stores as murder trial continues

Testimony resumed Monday in the Brian Walshe murder trial after a weekend off.

Walshe, of Cohasset, is charged with murdering his wife Ana Walshe in early 2023.

The first week of testimony ended with jurors seeing a photo of a blue and white carpet, folded in pieces and stained. The rug appeared to be the same one Ana was seeing lounging on in another picture.

On Monday, the jury saw security video from a hardware store showing Brian Walshe buying buckets, a mop, rags, Clorox, and a hacksaw. It was one of multiple clips from several surveillance cameras prosecutors used to create a timeline of where Walshe was on January 1, 2023 when he told everyone his wife had left for Washington D.C.

Another video captured Walshe at Lowe’s in Weymouth a few days later, with one of his young sons helping him scan several items at the register.

Patricia Patterson, an employee at Walgreens in Cohasset, also shared that store’s surveillance video showing Walshe there.

“What is this receipt for?” Prosecutor Anne Yas asked Patterson.

“It is for anti-itch bandaids and Walgreens triple max antibiotic cream,” she replied.

The jury next saw video of Walshe taking a trash bag from his SUV and bringing it to a dumpster behind a liquor store he frequented in Swampscott.

“Did you recognize anyone in those videos?” Prosecutor Greg Connor asked Joseph Cesarz, an employee at Vinnin Liquors in Swampscott.

“Yes, Brian,” Cesarz answered.

Other surveillance video shown to the jury captured Walshe shopping at Lowe’s in Danvers, bagging items at Stop and Shop in Swampscott, and the CVS Pharmacy in Danvers.

“What was purchased in the transaction according to the receipt?” Prosecutor Greg Connor asked Jami Flint, who works at the CVS in Danvers.

“Five bottles of hydrogen peroxide spray,” said Flint.

The hacksaw the jury saw Walshe buying earlier in the day then came up again when forensic scientist Matthew Sheehan took the stand and explained he tested the saw, a knife, and other tools connected to the case.

“The test for blood was positive,” said Sheehan.

Ana’s former boss also took the stand Monday, and told the court about phone calls with Walshe in the aftermath of Ana’s disappearance.

“I believe in our first conversation, he said he hasn’t seen Ana since the first, or New Year’s Day,” Theresa Marchese said. “She was looking for her and wanted to see if any of us had heard from her. And he specifically said, ‘we have only gone more than 24 hours without seeing each other once, and last time she was,’ I’m paraphrasing, but, ‘annoyed with me for looking for her too soon.”

Marchese had several follow-up calls and texts with Walshe and said Ana had been a good employee.

The jury doesn’t know that Walshe pleaded guilty to misleading police and moving her body, but says he did not kill her.

The defense said Walshe found Ana unresponsive in bed and called it a sudden and unexplained death.

The judge expects at least two more weeks of evidence before the case goes to the jury.

Want more insights? Join Working Title - our career elevating newsletter and get the future of work delivered weekly.