December 18, 2025 • 20 mins
As the judge imposed the maximum sentence for Brian Walshe, she took the opportunity to let her feelings be known, saying her sentence was appropriate given his murderous acts and the life trauma he’s caused his children. Walshe was convicted last week of the first degree murder of his wife Ana after admitting to dismembering her body and misleading police. Just before sentencing, the court heard directly from Ana’s sister who eloquently spoke about her family’s loss and the deep pain and grief they feel every single day.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hey folks, it is Thursday, December the eighteenth. There wasn't
supposed to be a lot of drama at the sentencing
for Brian Walsh. We knew he was going to get
in life without the possibility of parole, but that didn't
mean it was not full of high trauma, high tension,
and yes, high emotion. And with that, welcome to this
(00:22):
episode of amy and TJ roach. You said before we
came on here, we were talking about because we said
this might be the last time we hear from him.
As we saw him walk out of the courtroom with
that life without parole sentence, you said that the last
time we hear from him.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
And I bet anyone who loved Anna and who was
seeking justice hopes not only do we never see Brian
Walsh's face again, we never have to hear his name
uttered again. We never have to hear anything about that
man again. Given the sentence, he was just handed.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
He was just handed, and the judge was She kept
the same tone, but she was very harsh in her
words that she had for him. Today we will get
into that also. Victim impact statements, there were a number
of them, but they were all submitted by via letter
someone submitted on behalf of the children, some family members,
(01:14):
some friends submitted letters. Only one person today. I didn't
know this ahead of time, but only one person spoke
in court today and it was some tear jerking and
very difficult stuff to hear.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
It was incredibly powerful.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
We heard from Anna's sister and she spoke from the heart,
and you know, I hadn't really considered how incredibly painful
it is for the family of Anna Walsh. Take put
the murder and the dismemberment and the headlines and all
put that all aside. They have never been able and
(01:49):
will never be able to bury on a Walsh. They
will never be able to go through the customs and
the closure that having a more orial service or a
funeral gives the family. No what doesn't bring your loved
one back, But you're able to say you're goodbyes. You're
able to visit, whether it's a grave site or a
(02:10):
place of internment, where you can go and be with
or feel close to the person you lost. Brian Walsh
took that away from her family in addition to taking
her away from them, and that really hit me when
I heard her. Sister's name is Alexandra when I heard
her talk about that.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Well, we said, and some of the attorneys we were
talking through throughout this, we're talking about you can't put
him on the stand because the first thing they're going
to say is ask him, is the prosecution where's the body?
Does he even know? Right? He chopped her up and
put her in different places? Is it now an impossibility?
No matter what he said, is it impossible to find
a trace of this woman at this point?
Speaker 2 (02:50):
I would imagine if he put them in dumpsters that
went into incinerators, or went into some place where they
literally burn the trash, that know, there is no chance
of them finding.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
On a wallace, but even a landfill after all these years, Like,
even if he decided to speak, which he did not,
we should mention he did not and he was not
asked or given the opportunity necessarily today by the judge.
Maybe they knew ahead of time. But even if he
spoke and said, this is what happened, this is where
I put this in, how can they even recover our body?
Speaker 2 (03:17):
It was interesting that there was no mention of him
getting an opportunity to speak. I actually forgot about that
until that very moment you just mentioned it. Because we thought,
I think, leading into this sentencing hearing, that he would
or could have the opportunity to say something if he
so choose, But there was never a moment where the
judge offered him that opportunity.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
You know, I'm gonna ask you. We were in two
different rooms when this started. We weren't watching it together.
I haven't had a chance to discuss with you until now.
What did you make of him in court today? We've
watched him every single day. What did you make of
his everything? His appearance and everything.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
First of all, it was the first time we actually
got a good shot of his face. We've been looking
at kind of this side of his face, so that
I actually got we got to see his full face
with the cameras the way they were positioned this time around.
And I just thought even his choice of clothing was disrespectful.
It was casual. It was like a Sunday morning going
out for a stroll to get coffee. He wasn't dressed formally,
(04:12):
he wasn't dressed. It was almost like, yeah, I know
what's happening, and I'm cool with it.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
It was almost it was a cool golf eyed outing outfit,
like the quarter zip.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
I was saying it like a quarter or a half zip,
like black like marino wool, with a little white shirt
underneath it. He was kind of leaned back and just
showed zero emotion.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Per usual.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Not as clean shaven today, as you notice that, I
thought I didn't notice that. Oh he wasn't as clean shaven.
And I swear to god, I saw smirks at times
on his face as he sat there.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
I saw a smirk. Okay, I saw a smirk when
the judge was talking to him. Really yes, I saw,
and I actually thought it was a little small, subtle
movement of his mouth. But he was irritated by her chastising.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
Hid wow, and she absolutely did. But before we got
to the judge chastising him, the sister got up. What
a sweet little lady. She walked up there, polite, fairly,
thick accent, but you know, she didn't want to be there,
but a little lady. She spoke, and you know what,
I appreciate it, Robes. She didn't direct anything to him.
(05:13):
She spoke about what all of this did to her,
but she didn't mention him by name, and she just
spoke about the impact. And she was from start to
finish you had tears in your eyes listening to this.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
Woman, listening to her talk about losing her sister, the
person she grew up with, the person who understood her
more than anyone else, the person who knows things about
her that no one else does. I mean, that's such
a connection that she talked about. But I really got
choked up when she talked about the impact honest children.
That really got me. I actually have part of the
(05:45):
quota where she said.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
The milestones right, yes.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Yes, she said, I struggle with the grief that comes
without warning, hoping every morning that this is just a
terrible dream. The most painful part of this loss is
knowing that her her children must now grow up without
a mother's hand to hold. They now face a lifetime
of milestones big and small where her absence will be
(06:10):
deeply and painfully felt her. Even just putting that imagery
in my head of little boys not having a mother's
hand to hold.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
That got me.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
It gets every parent. And I don't know, I assume
she spoke from the heart and these were all her words,
but that was incredibly impactful. When she said Milestone's big
and small kids were two, four, and six. They're at
four six and eight. Now, when you talk about sometimes
a milestone is the first day of kindergarten, all.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
Right, losing your first tooth.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
All of those little things that your mama helped you through.
When you think about that, I think about all those
things and the first thing a man or woman to
this day, you think about the times you needed to
be comfort or nurtured. Has your heart broken? For everybody
is mama, It's mama and she I thought that was
a brilliant Yes. We think about graduate we think about weddings,
(07:01):
we think about they have a lifetime of this stuff.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Those little boys, the two youngest, will never even remember
being with their mother.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
Oh yeah, and that is horrific.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Ah.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
So yes, she was poised, she was in control, and
I actually felt her strength because it had to have
taken so much courage for her to get up. She
not only spoke for herself, but she spoke on behalf
of her mother too, who is ill and unable to travel,
but talked about her mother's grief and her mother's severe
depression because she lost a daughter. So she stood up
(07:34):
there in front of Brian Walsh, on behalf of her
entire family, on behalf of Anna Walsh's three little boys
and spoke to the impact that Brian Walsh's disgusting actions
led to all of this pain. And I just I
felt her strength because that had to take I cannot
imagine getting up and staring down and facing the person
(07:57):
who took my sister away.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
Had sweet little voice. I don't think she cracked that much,
but she did. She I was so impressed by her
and forever reason roads at the end for her to
think to thank the prosecution. Yes, she thanked and said
they actually have surrounded them and given them some type
of support support during this grief. I appreciated what. I
didn't even consider this, and I don't think it came up.
(08:19):
You remind me if it happened during the trial. But
she never got the proper cultural, religious burial because there's
no body, and they said the death certificate because there
is no official death certificate that the medical examiner will give.
That that has complicated them giving the proper burial they want,
or proper remembrance religious and cultural. They that their religion
(08:42):
and culture allows for right.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
So yes, they need a death certificate for a lot
of things, and they don't have one yet because her
body has never been found. Yes, I did not consider
any of that, and just even I imagine even the
life insurance money, those types of things that those boys
should obviously be privy to.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
I'm sure that would be of great help.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
We don't know who was raising them, I'm I mean,
I can just say I'm hoping it's on a Walsh's family,
but has that has not been disclosed.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
But the thing that stood out to me, and oh
my god, it made my shoulders breaking tense up. There
was an impact statement on behalf of the boys from
the Department of Child Services. They submitted one on the
kid's behalf. So I don't know what's going on with
the kids, but it didn't sound.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
Like they're with family.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
It could be that they're overseeing them and they're you know,
there are the voices of the boys, so we don't know.
But and I'm sure that's by design. This has been
a highly publicized case. They don't want people to know
where these children are. But my heart goes out to
them and to the family and just just the lives,
so many lives shattered, and.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
It does it seems like we were talking about I
remember them saying that about the letters submitted but the family.
The sister got up there and spoke about the kids
in such a way that it sounded like family was together.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
It did, And that's why I had like a glimmer
of hope in that moment, because we hadn't heard that
maybe they are there and a bright part of those
boys lives I just you know, her memory lives on
through them, period.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
And credit too. This is what I was getting to
there that they the prosecution said, they are actually working
with the medical examiner. They're trying to get this corrected
and get this done for the family so they can
move forward. Look everybody we saw in there, and did
you hear the prosecutor gave great compliments to the defense attorneys. Yes,
at one point, these are decent folks doing their job
in the most horrific of circumstances in this case. But
(10:37):
to see them today, I appreciate it. Frankly, there's been
a tension, Like there was a tone in the courtroom
today that was decent, if you will, As crazy as
that sounds, because it's been so tense the whole.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
Time I think this, it felt like you were watching
closure and maybe even a little bit of healing happened.
Because you for a lot of I don't know what
it's like to be a of or have lost someone
to violence.
Speaker 3 (11:03):
But you'll never be fully healed.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
But getting some sort of justice and having that moment
in court, being able to speak for Anna when she
couldn't speak, being able to speak for those boys, being
able to actually say out loud in a public forum,
the impact of all of this that has to be cathartic,
and hopefully heals a little part of that massive wound
that he inflicted.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
Heels.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
She used that word unfinished grief said by doing what
he did, this is unfinished grief because we can't we
can't bury her. Oh, it was tough to listen to today.
All that stuff we listened to today might have been
the most difficult part. Something I didn't think of when
you heard the prose prosecutor say this, we know the
case at this point inside and out. But he was
making a point of why the the sentenceen need to
(11:50):
be so harsh, And he brought up this point roapes
January one, when she died. But then he said, remember
the video and the shopping he did January second and third,
he said, this means her body stayed in that basement
while his kids.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
Were in the house babysitter.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
All this was going on, and it added an extra
element of the to me that I hadn't considered before.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
That he was able to have the upstairs being operating
business as usual and downstairs literally have just a horror
show going on.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
All right, Well, folks, the defense did get up and
they did have an argument to make and plead it
with the judge to not impose a particular type of sentence.
She did not listen to them. Stay here, we will
explain just how harsh the words were that the judge
had for Brian Walsh today.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
Welcome back on sentencing day for Brian Walsh, and it
was almost I think it's fair to say it was
the most emotional day in court that we have seen
throughout this entire trial, because we got to feel and
really really understand the impact of Brian Walsh's horrific I
(13:14):
don't even know the words to describe. I guess maybe
the judge's words are best barbaric acts by Brian Walsh.
And to hear from Anna's sister and to hear her
pain and her suffering talking about those boys, talking about
her own mother's grief and then hearing the judge finally
getting to have her say she's been sitting through this
(13:37):
entire trial and obviously she has taken in all the evidence,
she has read all of the victim impact statements. We
only got to hear and watch Anna's sister take the
stand today to address the court. But there were many
many letters that actually the judge reference that she read through,
and one of them even on behalf of Brian Walsh himself,
(13:57):
his own mother.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
Oh yeah, I did. I don't know what impact that
could have had. And before she imposed her sentence and
gave her words, Look, both sides had a chance to
make arguments. Yeah, it seems weird to make an argument
when we know, I mean, it's mandatory. The judge didn't
have a choice, mandatory life in prison without the possibility
of parole. But she had discretion on the lesser charges,
the two charges of lying to investigators. In the other
(14:20):
charge of dismembering, was.
Speaker 3 (14:22):
They conveying a body?
Speaker 1 (14:25):
Why, like you actually do wonder this is a good question.
Who gives it? Damn he's going to life in prison
without parole. But there's a very good reason why they
were fighting over this today. In court.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
Yes, So it is possible through appeals that Brian Walsh
could potentially have this conviction for murder in the first
degree vacated or commuted whatever there is.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
That's always possible some sort of technicality.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
So these other two charges that he pleaded guilty to,
they needed, or at least the prosecution wanted the maximum
sentence to be imposed on Brian Walls, so he can't
get out of Yilch. So just say that first degree
murder sentence got vacated. If he didn't have these other
two charges, he potentially could be let out while his
(15:10):
case was being reviewed. So this ensures that Brian Walsh
stays behind bars for as long as possible. In case
his first degree murder charge something happened to.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
And he did. Okay, this is one we talked about
how the defense overstepped maybe in the closing talking about
how loving the relationship was. I thought it was a
weird way to go in an overstep and calling it
inhumane to sentence him consecutively instead of concurrently. So they're
attacking the defense was arguing, do not do this consecutively,
(15:41):
meaning once one sentence ends, the other one starts, that
one ends then the next one starts, meaning they're back
to back to back instead of you serving them all
at one time. They thought that was inhumane. They kept
using that word he is a human being.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
I was like, guys, when the defense attorneys that he
is a human being to the judge, really, I actually
felt myself physically be angry, like I felt it was
not the right call. That is that. Honestly, I'm going
to say, that's a preposterous statement given what he is
convicted of and what he's even admitted to mean nothing.
It's disgusting, and the judge definitely took issue with that.
(16:18):
It had zero impact on her decision and probably pissed
her off a little bit because its certainly I think
pissed off just about anybody who heard it.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
So he watched this trial.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
She kept her tone throughout, but her words were very harsh.
Called it a murderous act of the pain you inflicted
on your own children. Yes, and she hit that point
a bunch about what you did to your kids. She also,
I thought it was interesting she said this sentence I'm
about to impose, I need to make sure it's a
determent for others.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
She did say that, right, yeah. And she when she
talked about the which he inflicted on her on his
own children, she called it the life trauma you inflicted
on your children. I thought that was such an effective
way to put it. This is a life long tr
you have now imposed on your children.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
She was very complimentary today to Donna. Walsh said just
from what she knows, she was a bright light to
so many people. She talked about her in a very
complimentary way today that I thought was I thought it
was nice. And she didn't do this throughout, but this
we've seen this plenty of times. This is the moment
judges get they've been quiet and they let loose what
they actually think. And she did today, but she did
(17:22):
it in a tone that I didn't sound vindictive, mean vengeful, nothing, No,
she just.
Speaker 3 (17:29):
Very even keeled.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
She said it, as you point, not emotionally, but directly,
and she said, yeah. She called what he did barbaric
and incomprehensible.
Speaker 3 (17:40):
So to talk about.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
Is a human being or having it be inhumane? What
he did was in humane. What he did was barbaric.
What he did was incomprehensible.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
So yes, we knew he was going to get life
in prison without the possibility of parole. But then on
count two. In count three, I was, to be honest
with you, I was kind of surprised at just how
harsh the punishment can be for the charge of lying
to police.
Speaker 3 (18:04):
That actually threw me to wait.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
What the dismemberment charge also is shockingly low small. It's
only a mandatory three year sentence for dismembering a body.
For basically disposing of a body in the way he did,
that's a three year sentence.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
That's the cap. That's the moment. Twenty years for the lying,
three years for the dismembering and disposing of a body.
Speaker 3 (18:27):
That's mind bothering to me.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
But then get this, so you hear that, folks, the
other two you could get twenty years max. For lying,
You could get three years for dismembering. I like how
she went with him on this.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
Right, Yes, So on the lying to police, she said
no less than nineteen years up to twenty years max.
Speaker 3 (18:44):
But this was kind of my favorite one.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
On the dismemberment charges on conveying a body, she said,
so the year it's three years max. She gave him
no less than two years and three hundred and sixty
four days or three years.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
Okay, we liked the judge throughout. That was a that
was a that was a nod. She's saying, I am
giving you everything I possibly can.
Speaker 3 (19:06):
Yes, and the day yes.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
And right before she delivered the sentence, I do like
what she said, reading through his mother's I guess letter
to try and probably ask for some sort of leniency
from the judge. She said, while I appreciate basically what
your mother said, I cannot reconcile what she said about
you with the man who is standing before me.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
That was powerful and for whatever reason, the final words
he heard in court today or from the clerk who
after the judge and post sentence, you have to some
formalities and said to the clerk you can now do
your thing and announce these sentences. And as clerk, this
woman we've been hearing she announced her to the court room,
this very official thing, and she closed with your all set,
(19:49):
mister Walsh, and that was it.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
And maybe that's end it, and maybe that's why my
thought was and maybe we'll never see his face or
hear his name again after today.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
Her you were at the tone, her tone meaning.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
Like goodbye, see you never again. Right then, that was
just it was effective.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
For whatever reason, that was an effective moment. They put
the cuffs on him and he walked out through probably
one of the larger crowds we've seen in that courtroom.
No one said a word, they were all standing. He
was escorted out, and that's the end of it.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
MS, it's closure, it's not it's not ever going to
bring on a wash back, but at least justice was served,
and we were here for it all. And we appreciate
you listening to us, taking you along with us in
that courtroom.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
And so for now I'm Amy Roboch alongside TJ. Holmes.
We'll talk to you soon.
Hey folks, it is Thursday, December the eighteenth. There wasn't
supposed to be a lot of drama at the sentencing
for Brian Walsh. We knew he was going to get
in life without the possibility of parole, but that didn't
mean it was not full of high trauma, high tension,
and yes, high emotion. And with that, welcome to this
(00:22):
episode of amy and TJ roach. You said before we
came on here, we were talking about because we said
this might be the last time we hear from him.
As we saw him walk out of the courtroom with
that life without parole sentence, you said that the last
time we hear from him.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
And I bet anyone who loved Anna and who was
seeking justice hopes not only do we never see Brian
Walsh's face again, we never have to hear his name
uttered again. We never have to hear anything about that
man again. Given the sentence, he was just handed.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
He was just handed, and the judge was She kept
the same tone, but she was very harsh in her
words that she had for him. Today we will get
into that also. Victim impact statements, there were a number
of them, but they were all submitted by via letter
someone submitted on behalf of the children, some family members,
(01:14):
some friends submitted letters. Only one person today. I didn't
know this ahead of time, but only one person spoke
in court today and it was some tear jerking and
very difficult stuff to hear.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
It was incredibly powerful.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
We heard from Anna's sister and she spoke from the heart,
and you know, I hadn't really considered how incredibly painful
it is for the family of Anna Walsh. Take put
the murder and the dismemberment and the headlines and all
put that all aside. They have never been able and
(01:49):
will never be able to bury on a Walsh. They
will never be able to go through the customs and
the closure that having a more orial service or a
funeral gives the family. No what doesn't bring your loved
one back, But you're able to say you're goodbyes. You're
able to visit, whether it's a grave site or a
(02:10):
place of internment, where you can go and be with
or feel close to the person you lost. Brian Walsh
took that away from her family in addition to taking
her away from them, and that really hit me when
I heard her. Sister's name is Alexandra when I heard
her talk about that.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Well, we said, and some of the attorneys we were
talking through throughout this, we're talking about you can't put
him on the stand because the first thing they're going
to say is ask him, is the prosecution where's the body?
Does he even know? Right? He chopped her up and
put her in different places? Is it now an impossibility?
No matter what he said, is it impossible to find
a trace of this woman at this point?
Speaker 2 (02:50):
I would imagine if he put them in dumpsters that
went into incinerators, or went into some place where they
literally burn the trash, that know, there is no chance
of them finding.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
On a wallace, but even a landfill after all these years, Like,
even if he decided to speak, which he did not,
we should mention he did not and he was not
asked or given the opportunity necessarily today by the judge.
Maybe they knew ahead of time. But even if he
spoke and said, this is what happened, this is where
I put this in, how can they even recover our body?
Speaker 2 (03:17):
It was interesting that there was no mention of him
getting an opportunity to speak. I actually forgot about that
until that very moment you just mentioned it. Because we thought,
I think, leading into this sentencing hearing, that he would
or could have the opportunity to say something if he
so choose, But there was never a moment where the
judge offered him that opportunity.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
You know, I'm gonna ask you. We were in two
different rooms when this started. We weren't watching it together.
I haven't had a chance to discuss with you until now.
What did you make of him in court today? We've
watched him every single day. What did you make of
his everything? His appearance and everything.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
First of all, it was the first time we actually
got a good shot of his face. We've been looking
at kind of this side of his face, so that
I actually got we got to see his full face
with the cameras the way they were positioned this time around.
And I just thought even his choice of clothing was disrespectful.
It was casual. It was like a Sunday morning going
out for a stroll to get coffee. He wasn't dressed formally,
(04:12):
he wasn't dressed. It was almost like, yeah, I know
what's happening, and I'm cool with it.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
It was almost it was a cool golf eyed outing outfit,
like the quarter zip.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
I was saying it like a quarter or a half zip,
like black like marino wool, with a little white shirt
underneath it. He was kind of leaned back and just
showed zero emotion.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Per usual.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Not as clean shaven today, as you notice that, I
thought I didn't notice that. Oh he wasn't as clean shaven.
And I swear to god, I saw smirks at times
on his face as he sat there.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
I saw a smirk. Okay, I saw a smirk when
the judge was talking to him. Really yes, I saw,
and I actually thought it was a little small, subtle
movement of his mouth. But he was irritated by her chastising.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
Hid wow, and she absolutely did. But before we got
to the judge chastising him, the sister got up. What
a sweet little lady. She walked up there, polite, fairly,
thick accent, but you know, she didn't want to be there,
but a little lady. She spoke, and you know what,
I appreciate it, Robes. She didn't direct anything to him.
(05:13):
She spoke about what all of this did to her,
but she didn't mention him by name, and she just
spoke about the impact. And she was from start to
finish you had tears in your eyes listening to this.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
Woman, listening to her talk about losing her sister, the
person she grew up with, the person who understood her
more than anyone else, the person who knows things about
her that no one else does. I mean, that's such
a connection that she talked about. But I really got
choked up when she talked about the impact honest children.
That really got me. I actually have part of the
(05:45):
quota where she said.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
The milestones right, yes.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Yes, she said, I struggle with the grief that comes
without warning, hoping every morning that this is just a
terrible dream. The most painful part of this loss is
knowing that her her children must now grow up without
a mother's hand to hold. They now face a lifetime
of milestones big and small where her absence will be
(06:10):
deeply and painfully felt her. Even just putting that imagery
in my head of little boys not having a mother's
hand to hold.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
That got me.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
It gets every parent. And I don't know, I assume
she spoke from the heart and these were all her words,
but that was incredibly impactful. When she said Milestone's big
and small kids were two, four, and six. They're at
four six and eight. Now, when you talk about sometimes
a milestone is the first day of kindergarten, all.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
Right, losing your first tooth.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
All of those little things that your mama helped you through.
When you think about that, I think about all those
things and the first thing a man or woman to
this day, you think about the times you needed to
be comfort or nurtured. Has your heart broken? For everybody
is mama, It's mama and she I thought that was
a brilliant Yes. We think about graduate we think about weddings,
(07:01):
we think about they have a lifetime of this stuff.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Those little boys, the two youngest, will never even remember
being with their mother.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
Oh yeah, and that is horrific.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Ah.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
So yes, she was poised, she was in control, and
I actually felt her strength because it had to have
taken so much courage for her to get up. She
not only spoke for herself, but she spoke on behalf
of her mother too, who is ill and unable to travel,
but talked about her mother's grief and her mother's severe
depression because she lost a daughter. So she stood up
(07:34):
there in front of Brian Walsh, on behalf of her
entire family, on behalf of Anna Walsh's three little boys
and spoke to the impact that Brian Walsh's disgusting actions
led to all of this pain. And I just I
felt her strength because that had to take I cannot
imagine getting up and staring down and facing the person
(07:57):
who took my sister away.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
Had sweet little voice. I don't think she cracked that much,
but she did. She I was so impressed by her
and forever reason roads at the end for her to
think to thank the prosecution. Yes, she thanked and said
they actually have surrounded them and given them some type
of support support during this grief. I appreciated what. I
didn't even consider this, and I don't think it came up.
(08:19):
You remind me if it happened during the trial. But
she never got the proper cultural, religious burial because there's
no body, and they said the death certificate because there
is no official death certificate that the medical examiner will give.
That that has complicated them giving the proper burial they want,
or proper remembrance religious and cultural. They that their religion
(08:42):
and culture allows for right.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
So yes, they need a death certificate for a lot
of things, and they don't have one yet because her
body has never been found. Yes, I did not consider
any of that, and just even I imagine even the
life insurance money, those types of things that those boys
should obviously be privy to.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
I'm sure that would be of great help.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
We don't know who was raising them, I'm I mean,
I can just say I'm hoping it's on a Walsh's family,
but has that has not been disclosed.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
But the thing that stood out to me, and oh
my god, it made my shoulders breaking tense up. There
was an impact statement on behalf of the boys from
the Department of Child Services. They submitted one on the
kid's behalf. So I don't know what's going on with
the kids, but it didn't sound.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
Like they're with family.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
It could be that they're overseeing them and they're you know,
there are the voices of the boys, so we don't know.
But and I'm sure that's by design. This has been
a highly publicized case. They don't want people to know
where these children are. But my heart goes out to
them and to the family and just just the lives,
so many lives shattered, and.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
It does it seems like we were talking about I
remember them saying that about the letters submitted but the family.
The sister got up there and spoke about the kids
in such a way that it sounded like family was together.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
It did, And that's why I had like a glimmer
of hope in that moment, because we hadn't heard that
maybe they are there and a bright part of those
boys lives I just you know, her memory lives on
through them, period.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
And credit too. This is what I was getting to
there that they the prosecution said, they are actually working
with the medical examiner. They're trying to get this corrected
and get this done for the family so they can
move forward. Look everybody we saw in there, and did
you hear the prosecutor gave great compliments to the defense attorneys. Yes,
at one point, these are decent folks doing their job
in the most horrific of circumstances in this case. But
(10:37):
to see them today, I appreciate it. Frankly, there's been
a tension, Like there was a tone in the courtroom
today that was decent, if you will, As crazy as
that sounds, because it's been so tense the whole.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
Time I think this, it felt like you were watching
closure and maybe even a little bit of healing happened.
Because you for a lot of I don't know what
it's like to be a of or have lost someone
to violence.
Speaker 3 (11:03):
But you'll never be fully healed.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
But getting some sort of justice and having that moment
in court, being able to speak for Anna when she
couldn't speak, being able to speak for those boys, being
able to actually say out loud in a public forum,
the impact of all of this that has to be cathartic,
and hopefully heals a little part of that massive wound
that he inflicted.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
Heels.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
She used that word unfinished grief said by doing what
he did, this is unfinished grief because we can't we
can't bury her. Oh, it was tough to listen to today.
All that stuff we listened to today might have been
the most difficult part. Something I didn't think of when
you heard the prose prosecutor say this, we know the
case at this point inside and out. But he was
making a point of why the the sentenceen need to
(11:50):
be so harsh, And he brought up this point roapes
January one, when she died. But then he said, remember
the video and the shopping he did January second and third,
he said, this means her body stayed in that basement
while his kids.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
Were in the house babysitter.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
All this was going on, and it added an extra
element of the to me that I hadn't considered before.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
That he was able to have the upstairs being operating
business as usual and downstairs literally have just a horror
show going on.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
All right, Well, folks, the defense did get up and
they did have an argument to make and plead it
with the judge to not impose a particular type of sentence.
She did not listen to them. Stay here, we will
explain just how harsh the words were that the judge
had for Brian Walsh today.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
Welcome back on sentencing day for Brian Walsh, and it
was almost I think it's fair to say it was
the most emotional day in court that we have seen
throughout this entire trial, because we got to feel and
really really understand the impact of Brian Walsh's horrific I
(13:14):
don't even know the words to describe. I guess maybe
the judge's words are best barbaric acts by Brian Walsh.
And to hear from Anna's sister and to hear her
pain and her suffering talking about those boys, talking about
her own mother's grief and then hearing the judge finally
getting to have her say she's been sitting through this
(13:37):
entire trial and obviously she has taken in all the evidence,
she has read all of the victim impact statements. We
only got to hear and watch Anna's sister take the
stand today to address the court. But there were many
many letters that actually the judge reference that she read through,
and one of them even on behalf of Brian Walsh himself,
(13:57):
his own mother.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
Oh yeah, I did. I don't know what impact that
could have had. And before she imposed her sentence and
gave her words, Look, both sides had a chance to
make arguments. Yeah, it seems weird to make an argument
when we know, I mean, it's mandatory. The judge didn't
have a choice, mandatory life in prison without the possibility
of parole. But she had discretion on the lesser charges,
the two charges of lying to investigators. In the other
(14:20):
charge of dismembering, was.
Speaker 3 (14:22):
They conveying a body?
Speaker 1 (14:25):
Why, like you actually do wonder this is a good question.
Who gives it? Damn he's going to life in prison
without parole. But there's a very good reason why they
were fighting over this today. In court.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
Yes, So it is possible through appeals that Brian Walsh
could potentially have this conviction for murder in the first
degree vacated or commuted whatever there is.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
That's always possible some sort of technicality.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
So these other two charges that he pleaded guilty to,
they needed, or at least the prosecution wanted the maximum
sentence to be imposed on Brian Walls, so he can't
get out of Yilch. So just say that first degree
murder sentence got vacated. If he didn't have these other
two charges, he potentially could be let out while his
(15:10):
case was being reviewed. So this ensures that Brian Walsh
stays behind bars for as long as possible. In case
his first degree murder charge something happened to.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
And he did. Okay, this is one we talked about
how the defense overstepped maybe in the closing talking about
how loving the relationship was. I thought it was a
weird way to go in an overstep and calling it
inhumane to sentence him consecutively instead of concurrently. So they're
attacking the defense was arguing, do not do this consecutively,
(15:41):
meaning once one sentence ends, the other one starts, that
one ends then the next one starts, meaning they're back
to back to back instead of you serving them all
at one time. They thought that was inhumane. They kept
using that word he is a human being.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
I was like, guys, when the defense attorneys that he
is a human being to the judge, really, I actually
felt myself physically be angry, like I felt it was
not the right call. That is that. Honestly, I'm going
to say, that's a preposterous statement given what he is
convicted of and what he's even admitted to mean nothing.
It's disgusting, and the judge definitely took issue with that.
(16:18):
It had zero impact on her decision and probably pissed
her off a little bit because its certainly I think
pissed off just about anybody who heard it.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
So he watched this trial.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
She kept her tone throughout, but her words were very harsh.
Called it a murderous act of the pain you inflicted
on your own children. Yes, and she hit that point
a bunch about what you did to your kids. She also,
I thought it was interesting she said this sentence I'm
about to impose, I need to make sure it's a
determent for others.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
She did say that, right, yeah. And she when she
talked about the which he inflicted on her on his
own children, she called it the life trauma you inflicted
on your children. I thought that was such an effective
way to put it. This is a life long tr
you have now imposed on your children.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
She was very complimentary today to Donna. Walsh said just
from what she knows, she was a bright light to
so many people. She talked about her in a very
complimentary way today that I thought was I thought it
was nice. And she didn't do this throughout, but this
we've seen this plenty of times. This is the moment
judges get they've been quiet and they let loose what
they actually think. And she did today, but she did
(17:22):
it in a tone that I didn't sound vindictive, mean vengeful, nothing, No,
she just.
Speaker 3 (17:29):
Very even keeled.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
She said it, as you point, not emotionally, but directly,
and she said, yeah. She called what he did barbaric
and incomprehensible.
Speaker 3 (17:40):
So to talk about.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
Is a human being or having it be inhumane? What
he did was in humane. What he did was barbaric.
What he did was incomprehensible.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
So yes, we knew he was going to get life
in prison without the possibility of parole. But then on
count two. In count three, I was, to be honest
with you, I was kind of surprised at just how
harsh the punishment can be for the charge of lying
to police.
Speaker 3 (18:04):
That actually threw me to wait.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
What the dismemberment charge also is shockingly low small. It's
only a mandatory three year sentence for dismembering a body.
For basically disposing of a body in the way he did,
that's a three year sentence.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
That's the cap. That's the moment. Twenty years for the lying,
three years for the dismembering and disposing of a body.
Speaker 3 (18:27):
That's mind bothering to me.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
But then get this, so you hear that, folks, the
other two you could get twenty years max. For lying,
You could get three years for dismembering. I like how
she went with him on this.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
Right, Yes, So on the lying to police, she said
no less than nineteen years up to twenty years max.
Speaker 3 (18:44):
But this was kind of my favorite one.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
On the dismemberment charges on conveying a body, she said,
so the year it's three years max. She gave him
no less than two years and three hundred and sixty
four days or three years.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
Okay, we liked the judge throughout. That was a that
was a that was a nod. She's saying, I am
giving you everything I possibly can.
Speaker 3 (19:06):
Yes, and the day yes.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
And right before she delivered the sentence, I do like
what she said, reading through his mother's I guess letter
to try and probably ask for some sort of leniency
from the judge. She said, while I appreciate basically what
your mother said, I cannot reconcile what she said about
you with the man who is standing before me.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
That was powerful and for whatever reason, the final words
he heard in court today or from the clerk who
after the judge and post sentence, you have to some
formalities and said to the clerk you can now do
your thing and announce these sentences. And as clerk, this
woman we've been hearing she announced her to the court room,
this very official thing, and she closed with your all set,
(19:49):
mister Walsh, and that was it.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
And maybe that's end it, and maybe that's why my
thought was and maybe we'll never see his face or
hear his name again after today.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
Her you were at the tone, her tone meaning.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
Like goodbye, see you never again. Right then, that was
just it was effective.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
For whatever reason, that was an effective moment. They put
the cuffs on him and he walked out through probably
one of the larger crowds we've seen in that courtroom.
No one said a word, they were all standing. He
was escorted out, and that's the end of it.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
MS, it's closure, it's not it's not ever going to
bring on a wash back, but at least justice was served,
and we were here for it all. And we appreciate
you listening to us, taking you along with us in
that courtroom.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
And so for now I'm Amy Roboch alongside TJ. Holmes.
We'll talk to you soon.
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