Jury begins deliberating in murder trial of Brian Walshe, whose wife disappeared 2 years ago

BOSTON AP Jurors began deliberating Friday in the murder trial of Brian Walshe the Massachusetts man accused of killing and dismembering his wife more than two years ago Ana Walshe s body has never been identified since she disappeared on New Year s Day The same day his wife was last seen alive Walshe went to multiple pharmacies and hardware stores to buy heavy-duty cleaning supplies a Tyvek protective suit and a utility knife according to prosecutors He made the trips after early morning internet searches including How long before a body starts to smell and Dismemberment and best techniques to dispose of a body Over the next several days prosecutors stated he looked for information online about how to cut apart a body into pieces with a hacksaw not reporting his wife missing until one of her colleagues noticed her absence from work and contacted police On the day jury selection had been set to begin last month Walshe pleaded guilty to misleading police and dismembering his wife s body but hopes to convince jurors that he didn t kill her His attorneys have tried to put reasonable doubt in jurors minds acknowledging that Walshe lied to investigators while arguing he panicked after discovering Ana dead at their home following a New Year s Eve gathering His attorneys rested Thursday without calling any observers despite speculation that Walshe might testify No body no cause of death When questioned by officials after Ana was shared missing Walshe narrated police his wife had left Massachusetts on New Year s Day for a work emergency in Washington D C though observers testified there was no record of her booking a ride or boarding a flight He did not contact her employer until Jan He later admitted that he dismembered her body and disposed of it in dumpster saying that he did so only after panicking when he revealed his wife had died in bed At the time Brian Walshe was at home awaiting sentencing in an unrelated art fraud occurrence involving the sale of two fake Andy Warhol paintings and owed about in restitution Investigators testified that Ana Walshe had taken out a million life insurance strategy naming him as beneficiary With no body ever recovered investigators have been unable to determine a cause of death something the defense has tried to use to their advantage There s evidence that he lied to police there s evidence that he searched the internet there s evidence that he disposed of the body but there is no proof in all of the evidence that you ve heard and been presented that he ever once thought about harming the woman he loved defense attorney Larry Tipton recounted jurors during closing arguments Tipton urged jurors not to base their decision about whether Walshe killed his wife on the upsetting and terrifying and at times disgusting acts he admitted to doing to her remains after she was dead Instead he revealed they should focus on the evidence that he was not the one who caused her death Internet searches purchases and blood Prosecutors meanwhile have pointed to Walshe s actions as evidence of premeditation In addition to other internet searches Walshe specifically looked for solutions to dispose of body parts after murder Jurors were shown surveillance footage of him at stores like CVS Walgreens and Lowe s where he purchased items including hydrogen peroxide and ammonia They reviewed photos of tools that investigators testified tested positive for blood including a hacksaw and a hatchet Prosecutors also connected him to items discovered at a trash processing facility near his mother s home including towels a Tyvek suit cleaning agents a Prada purse boots like those his wife was last seen wearing and her COVID- vaccination card Prosecutor Anne Yas argued during her closing statements that it was extremely unlikely that Ana Walshe a -year-old in good strength would have dropped dead out of nowhere She had a home gym at her Washington D C home and regularly attended yoga and exercise classes including on the morning of Dec likely the last full day she was alive Yas announced the only motivation Walshe could have for disposing of his wife s body as prosecutors allege would be to hide evidence of what he did to her The defendant didn t want anyone to find Ana Walshe s body and to know how she died so the defendant cut up Ana s body the woman that he claimed to love and he threw her in dumpsters she disclosed Signs of strain Friends described Ana s final weeks as emotionally strained Gem Mutlu who spent New Year s Eve with the couple explained they appeared very much in love though he later learned Ana and another man had exchanged messages that night Another friend Alissa Kirby communicated jurors Ana seemed exhausted by trip and stressed about her marriage The two had in the past few days grown close walking together and going to karaoke Kirby teared up when shown photos of them She testified that Ana considered moving her family to Washington and disclosed Brian often questioned whether she loved him Kirby also recounted two messages from Brian shortly before Ana was announced missing one on Christmas when he required if she knew where Ana was and another on Jan I know we did this a week ago but have you heard from Ana