An attorney for Brian Walshe, the Massachusetts man charged with murdering his wife Ana on New Year's Day, admitted in court on Thursday that Google searches for 'how to dispose of a body' were 'problematic' for him, but maintained his innocence. Walshe appeared clean-shaven and smartly dressed in Norfolk Superior Court, a stark contrast to his scruffy appearance at previous hearings.
Police allege Walshe beat Ana to death in their Cohasset home before hacking her bones apart with a hatchet and hacksaw. Investigators found searches on their son's iPad for disposing of a body, how long before a corpse smells, and cleaning blood. Defence attorney Tracy Miner conceded these were 'problematic' but suggested Ana had 'disappeared' or been killed by someone else.
Miner claimed Ana was having an affair in Washington DC, where she worked during the week, and that Walshe stood to gain $2.7m in life insurance payouts. She said his mother hired a private investigator to follow Ana, but Walshe only learned of the alleged affair through discovery. Prosecutors say he obsessively viewed the Instagram page of a 'male friend', Abdulla Almutairi, who has not responded to the claims.
A judge denied bail and ordered Walshe to return in August for a pre-trial conference. Prosecutors pointed to surveillance footage of him buying cleaning supplies and weapons after Ana's death, and searches about removing blood from concrete. Miner argued no body, murder weapon, or motive had been found, and noted another person's DNA was on an HVAC suit.
