Brian Walshe to be charged with wife Ana Walshe's murder
BOSTON – Brian Walshe will be charged with the murder of his wife, missing Cohasset woman Ana Walshe, authorities announced on Tuesday. He will also be charged with improper transport of a body.
Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey announced that an arrest warrant has been issued in the murder of Ana Walshe. Brian Walshe was previously only charged with misleading investigators during the search for his wife.
Prosecutors said more details will be announced during Brian Walshe's arraignment, which is expected to take place Wednesday in Quincy District Court.
It remains unclear if Ana's body has been recovered. "Ideally, they would like to recover the body but that certainly has not prevented successful prosecutions in murder cases where they've convicted the suspect when there is no body," former FBI agent John Mulvaney told WBZ.
RELATED: Timeline of events in Ana Walshe's disappearance
Ana Walshe was reportedly last seen leaving the couple's home around 4 a.m. on January 1 to take a ride share to Logan Airport in Boston for a flight to Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. Police said she never got into an Uber or Lyft, adding that her phone pinged at the couple's home that day and January 2.
Brian Walshe is being held on $500,000 bond since he was arraigned January 9 on initial charges of misleading investigators.
RELATED: Who is Brian Walshe?
Prosecutors say Brian Walshe, who was under house arrest while he awaits sentencing for selling fake art, lied about going to Home Depot where he allegedly spent $450 on cleaning supplies and other items.
Sources told WBZ-TV's I-Team that investigators searching for evidence in the case found trash bags with blood, a hatchet, a hacksaw, a rug and used cleaning supplies at a transfer station in Peabody.
Retired FBI investigators who spoke with WBZ say DNA results likely led to the arrest warrant for Brian Walshe.
"Think of the friction used to utilize the tool, a hatchet, or a hacksaw, it would likely leave behind touch DNA and then obviously DNA from the victim," said former FBI agent Jennifer Coffindaffer
"In this particular case, my guess is that a lot of this evidence came back, a lot of the DNA came back to Ana Walshe and possibly his as well," Mulvaney said. "We don't know if he was injured in some type of scuffle or what not."
Experts say even without Ana Walshe's body, the circumstantial evidence is likely enough to warrant a murder charge for her husband.
"This was long coming," Coffindaffer said. "I believe that they developed DNA probably that just solidified this case and led to these charges."
The motive is still unclear, but Mulvaney says Brian Walshe was under a lot of financial pressure, including from the fraud case where he pleaded guilty to selling fake Andy Warhol paintings.
