The prosecution announced Wednesday they have finished presenting their case that Brian Walshe murdered his wife Ana Walshe in January 2023.
Over the last week and a half, prosecutors showed the jury several clips of security video of Walshe buying tools including a hacksaw and cleaning supplies from several hardware and home improvement stories across the South Shore. They also presented pictures of items found by investigators in a trash collection facility that they argue were Walshe used to kill Ana and dismember her body. They called 48 witnesses to the stand, including a good friend of Brian and Ana.
Gem Mutlu, the man who spent New Year’s Eve with the Walshe’s, who is believed to be the last person to have seen Ana alive besides Brian, testified Wednesday after a short voir dire.
Mutlu said he originally became friends with Brian Walshe, then he hired Ana at his real estate brokerage company and got close to her and their kids. He told the jury he loved the whole family.
— Close friend of the Walshe’s takes the stand —
“I saw them as my own,” Mutlu said.
Mutlu said he spoke with Ana on the phone for roughly 45 minutes a few days prior to her death on December 29, and that she seemed concerned about her marital issues. He said he couldn’t recall her exact words, but remembers thinking he would need to have a long follow up conversation with her about her life.
On direct examination, Mutlu testified he and Ana had spoken in person on the phone a few days prior to New Year’s Eve, saying she told him she was having a hard time with her commute from Cohasset to D.C., and that she missed her children. She also struggled with Brian’s ability to leave Massachusetts due to an ongoing federal issue.
Mutlu said he joined the couple for a celebration in their kitchen on New Year’s Eve, and jurors were shown pictures of a champagne box the three of them signed.
One message from Ana read, “let’s make 2023 the best one yet.”
Mutlu testified that he left around 1:30 a.m., the last time he saw Ana. He said he received a call several days later from Brian, who said Ana had left for a work emergency in D.C. on New Year’s Day and asked if he’d heard from her.
“I was incredulous,” Mutlu said. “I said what work emergency could there be on New Year’s Eve? What could it be? I said listen, did you guys have an argument or something? Did you have a fight?”
“What was his response?” Mutlu was asked.
“His response was, I do remember this vividly as well… his response was ‘No, did it look like we had an argument? You were there.’” Mutlu said.
The prosecution’s final witness was Alissa Kirby, who spent time with Ana in D.C. before her death. She told jurors Ana revealed to her that her marriage was strained and she was frustrated that her husband would not take responsibility in the federal art fraud case which was causing their family to live apart.
“She was primarily upset about her and Brian’s relationship, being so far from the kids,” Kirby said. “She wanted him to be responsible, be accountable and do whatever he had to do keep their family together. She was falling out love.”
Once the commonwealth rested, the defense argued to have the entire case thrown out.
“They have failed to present the quantity and quality of evidence that would then result in an inference of reasonable doubt that Mr. Walshe ever premeditated a murder,” Larry Tipton said, defense attorney.
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