November 30, 2025 • 22 mins
Brian Walshe is on trial in Massachusetts for the first-degree murder of his wife, Ana Walshe, who disappeared in January 2023 after a New Year's Eve party at their Cohasset home. Walshe initially pleaded not guilty to all charges, including murder, misleading police, and improper disposal of a body. However, in a dramatic turn during jury selection in November 2025, he pleaded guilty to the two lesser charges—misleading a police investigation and improper disposal of a human body—while maintaining his not guilty plea to the murder charge, which will now proceed to trial
Prosecutors allege that Brian Walshe beat Ana to death, dismembered her body, and disposed of it, citing evidence such as a damaged, bloody knife found in their basement and incriminating Google searches on his devices related to dismemberment and body disposal.
The trial is expected to last anywhere from 2-4 weeks. I will be livestreaming daily and doing a nightly testimony recap in an hour or less.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/pretty-lies-and-alibis--4447192/support.
Prosecutors allege that Brian Walshe beat Ana to death, dismembered her body, and disposed of it, citing evidence such as a damaged, bloody knife found in their basement and incriminating Google searches on his devices related to dismemberment and body disposal.
The trial is expected to last anywhere from 2-4 weeks. I will be livestreaming daily and doing a nightly testimony recap in an hour or less.
- ALL MERCH 10% off with code Sherlock10 at checkout - NEW STYLES
- Donate: (Thank you for your support! Couldn't do what I love without all y'all)
- PayPal - paypal.com/paypalme/prettyliesandalibis
- Venmo - @prettyliesalibis
- Buy Me A Coffee - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/prettyliesr
- Cash App- Prettyliesandalibis
- All links: https://linktr.ee/prettyliesandalibis
- Merch: prettyliesandalibis.myshopify.com
- Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/PrettyLiesAndAlibis
- (Weekly lives and private message board)
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/pretty-lies-and-alibis--4447192/support.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
What's you know?
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Alibier's Welcome to another episode of Pretty Lies and Alibis.
I'm Gigi It Sunday, November thirtieth. Hope you guys have
been doing well. I am back after taking some time
off to just try and process the enormous loss of
my Grammy, who y'all know was my person, my best friend.
She was everything to me, and it's been very difficult
(00:22):
the last three weeks since she left us. It feels
like three years, but trying to find a new normal
after having her here with me for a year has
not been easy. My house is way too quiet, and
I realized how much she brought.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
To this house.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
I mean, I knew it at the time, but she
made me feel so much better by just being here.
But I also think it's time that I start to
forge a new path, and one that is me without Grammy.
And that's what she would want me to do, That's
what my family needs me to do. And I could
very easily get caught spinning my wheels and making no
(00:58):
forward progress, but it doesn't do anybody any good. So
I want to thank everybody who has sent messages inboxes, emails,
cards in the mail. I haven't even made a dent
in responding, but I have read everything. And also a
big thank you to everybody who donated. I put every
penny of that into her funeral to thank you guys
(01:18):
so much for your kindness and your generosity. It really
has meant the world to me. I love our community.
Grammy loved this community so much, and it is time
to hit the pavement running. And tomorrow we have a
new trial. Will be covering Brian Walsh. He's going on
trial for murdering and dismembering his wife. On them, I'll
(01:39):
be live streaming every day. Looks like the start time
for tomorrow is nine am, although with it being the
first day, I wouldn't be surprised if it takes a
little longer to get things going. But check out the
YouTube channel and I'll also post links on my social
Come watch with the Alibiers.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
We have a great group.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
Every time there's a trial, the mods rocket, so it's
a nice drama free zone where we keep the focus
on the case and the victim, and if we get
some knuckleheads in there that we want to kind of
stir the pot, we just give them the boot. Hate
doing it, but it's important to show respect to the victim.
What are we going to do today, Well, just like
before any big trial, we start to cover. I'm going
to do a bit of a crash course on the case,
(02:18):
just to hit the important parts so that tomorrow morning
we are ready for opening statements.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
So let's jump in.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Brian is accused of murdering and dismembering his wife Anna
in the timeframe of New Year's Day twenty twenty three,
and also disposing of her body in dumpsters. At his
arraignment back in twenty twenty three, prosecutors say they believe
he beat Anna to death on it and Brian have
three boys together, who were all under the age of
seven when their mother was killed. Now, the couple lived
(02:45):
in Massachusetts, but on am commuted to Washington.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
D c.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
For work at a real estate company. She also had
her own residence there. She was last seen alive after
midnight on New Year's Day twenty twenty three by a
friend they had over for New year dinner, and that
person stayed until after midnight. Now, the trial was originally
slated to begin in October of this year, but there
has been no lack of drama leading up to trial
(03:11):
because Brian was stabbed in prison in September. His attorneys
said the attack rendered him incompetent to stand trial. However,
he was found competent after spending forty days in a
state hospital. Right before jury selection began, he pleaded guilty
to two charges associated with this case, improper handling of
human remains and also misleading police. Now, the one thing
(03:34):
that was really sparked by the defense was having him
plead guilty to these charges, because this puts the prosecution's
feet to the fire, not to prove that he killed her,
but that he premeditated her murder to support the first
degree murder charge. So how is that all going to
go down? Well, starting tomorrow at nine we will see.
(03:56):
As of now, the maximum he would be facing is
thirteen years in prison for both charges. However, if he's
found guilty of honest murder, the misleading police charge, which
as of now holds a maximum of ten years in prison,
could be enhanced to twenty years in prison, making that
total twenty three years that he faces repleading guilty to
(04:16):
those two.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
The judge will not send.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Us Brian for these guilty please until after the murder
trial has concluded and A jury of sixteen was seated
on November twentieth, and there are four alternates on this panel.
This trial is expected to go anywhere from two to
four weeks, so that could very well carry us right
into the new year, and then in February we will
be gearing up for Corey Rich and so starting tomorrow,
(04:41):
very busy times for the podcast and I'm ready, so
bring it. We're going to go through some of the
bigger things that we know already, but just a disclaimer,
this isn't going to be everything we know because we're
going to have openings tomorrow and pretty much everything we
talk about right now will likely be covered in openings
and then more.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
But I always like to do these.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Crash courses because we cover a lot of trials and
sometimes you forget big and little things associated with each case. Now,
Brian is no stranger to legal troubles. He was indicted
in twenty eighteen and pleaded guilty in twenty twenty one
in federal court for an art fraud case where he
was selling fake Andy Warhol paintings. The victims lost hundreds
(05:22):
of thousands of dollars and he was ordered to pay
I believe five hundred thousand dollars in restitution. Now. At
the time Anna went missing, Brian was on pre sentencing probation.
He was on home confinement and he had to wear
an ankle monitor. He would need to ask permission to
leave his home each week, telling what time he would
be leaving, where he was going, and when he would
(05:43):
be back. Now the week of January first, he has
to drop his kids off at school daily between the
hours of eight and ten thirty am, and then pick
them up between three point fifteen and six forty five pm.
Brian was sentenced to thirty seven months in that case
in February of last year, and one of the motives
the prosecutors have put forth is that Anna had a
(06:05):
life insurance policy on herself with Brian as the sole beneficiary,
worth two point two million dollars. She also had a
second policy through her employer, which brought the total amount
to around two point seven million dollars. His attorneys say
there's no evidence he needed money because his mom is wealthy.
Another thing that's interesting is when Brian's father passed away
(06:26):
in twenty eighteen, he left Brian nothing, only his best wishes.
The family member said. The father and son were a
strange for over a decade after Brian ran off with
a significant amount of his dad's money. After his father passed,
Brian went into his home and sold his father's art,
expensive rugs, jewelry, and a car. He was also trying
(06:50):
to sell the home, but friends of his dad prevented
him from doing that. Brian also tried to contest the will,
saying that the signature was probably a forgery, but no
luck that. Another motive the prosecution has put forth is
that Anna was having an affair with a man in Washington,
d C. Where she worked and had a residence. The
man told investigators they had been together for several months
(07:12):
and they had spent Thanksgiving together in Ireland, as well
as Christmas Eve together. They had plans to reunite on
January fourth in d C. He was also Anna's most
frequent phone contact. Testimony from a pre trial hearing revealed
that Brian likely found out about the affair in December
of twenty twenty two, and they note he had been
(07:33):
visiting the man's Instagram page as well as looking him
up online, and Anna was planning to leave Brian. A
friend told law enforcement about a fight Anna and Brian
had over the Christmas holidays about their children and living arrangements.
Anna knew it was likely Brian would be sentenced in
federal court for the art fraud and she wanted the
(07:54):
children to live with her in d C. However, that
art fraud case was getting in the way because he
he was presenting himself as the boy's primary caregiver to
hopefully avoid prison. The friend also said Anna was upset
when she found out Brian was putting off resolving the case.
A search of her DC residence revealed the place was
ready for her boys to move in, with clothes and
(08:16):
other items already in place, but other friends told law
enforcement that Anna hoped their family would remain intact and
she planned to wait for Brian while he was in
prison and did not want a divorce. December twenty sixth
of twenty twenty two, Brian's mother, Diana Walsh, hired a
private investigator to track Anna. The defense said she did
(08:36):
that without Brian's knowledge, and in a pre trial hearing,
the judge pointed out that it was testified to in
front of the grand jury that Diana hired the private
investigator after she went to a psychic and that she
told Brian of her intentions. He reportedly told his mom
not to hire the PI, but then gave her the
name of a company that she ended up hiring. His
(08:58):
attorneys say Brian and even told Anna about his mom's plans.
His attorneys maintained he did not know about the affair
until he learned about it through discovery. In this case,
December twenty seventh, Brian was looking up cheating wife pornography
and later searched what's the best state to divorce? New
Year's Eve, they have the friend over, and Brian says
(09:19):
he and Anna went to bed around one or one
thirty in the morning on New Year's Day. He said
Anna said she had a work emergency and needed to
go to DC that next morning. Here's where it starts
to get very interesting and very incriminating. Google searches show
on January first, which is the day Anna disappeared, Starting
at four fifty five am and lasting up until the afternoon,
(09:42):
he starts googling how to stop a body from decomposing,
how to embalm a body, ten ways to dispose of
a dead body if you really need to. Between six
and seven am, Brian told investigators that Anna got ready
to leave and kissed him goodbye, told him to go
back to sleep. He said she would usually take an uber,
(10:02):
a lift or a taxi to the airport six twenty
five am. How long for someone to be missing to
inherit and you throw away body parts? Around seven am,
Brian tells investigators he made his son's breakfast nine to
twenty nine am. What does formaldehyde do? How long does
DNA last? Can identification be made on partial remains? Dismemberment?
(10:26):
And the best ways to dispose of a body at
a clean blood from wooden floor? Luminol to detect blood?
What happens when you put body parts in ammonia? The
last search on January first was at one twenty one pm.
Is it better to throw a crime scene close away
or wash them? At some point during the day, a
(10:48):
babysitter showed up. Brian went to the store to get
milk and orange juice. He returned home and left again
around four pm. Now Brian had asked permission to leave
his house to drop off his man in Swampscott between
the hours of three and nine pm. He said she
had cataract surgery recently and she was staying with him
so he could help her. He told investigators he had
(11:11):
the time scheduled so he could take her home after
her recovery, but said his mom recovered much quicker than
expected and drove herself home. He said he still used
that allotted time to go visit her and also to
run some errands for her, including to whole foods, for groceries,
and CVS to get cleaning wipes. Brian said the drive
normally takes about an hour to an hour and ten minutes,
(11:33):
but as fate would have it, he got lost and
the trip took an hour and a half. He said
he left to run errands within fifteen minutes of arriving
at his mom's house. Brian told the babysitter on January
first that he had lost his phone between New Year's
even New Year's Day, but data from the phone showed
it was plugged in on the morning of January first,
and it stayed at their residence. However, his oldest child's
(11:56):
cell phone was peened traveling to two stores that day,
and surveillance verified Brian walked into those two stores at
five point thirty pm on January first. The child cell
phone pings at a dumpster in the parking lot of
a liquor store, where he disposed of something and then
went back to his car. Next, the phone travels to
a dumpster at the apartment complex where his mother lived.
(12:18):
Let's look at his purchases from January. First, he went
to Low's. He bought five five gallon buckets, a high
tension handsaw, forty eight tarry clothed towels, a framing hammer,
a tievek full coverage suit, shoe guards, a mop, snips
which are cutting tools, two hundred disposable rags, trash bags,
(12:44):
Murphy oil soap, as well as other cleaning products. From there,
the phone ping dot a CVS where he bought thirteen
different types of hydrogen peroxide. He was also at a
stopping shop in Swampscott, which is where his mother lived.
There he bought three sixty four ounce jugs of ammonia.
Brian told investigators he finally returned home around eight pm
(13:06):
on January first, after running errands for his mother. The
next day, January second, there were more Google searches axaw
best tool to dismember? Can you be charged with murder
without a body? Can you identify a body with broken teeth,
how long must someone go missing in order to collect
and at some point he also searched for luxury watches.
(13:28):
January second, at three fourteen am on his phone was
pined in their house and then it was turned off.
Brian says he found his phone under one of his
son's pillows. Investigator says whereabouts were consistent on the second,
with Brian telling them that he took his oldest son
for ice cream or a smoothie, and then another child
to get chocolate milk while the babysitter watched the other children.
(13:51):
School was out due to the holidays, but he did
go within that eight to ten thirty am timeframe he
had requested to take and pick up his boys from school.
Later that day, he went to a home good store.
There he bought three area rugs and scented candles. He
was also at a home depot in Rockland. There he
bought three five gallon buckets with leakproof lids, a hatchet,
(14:15):
plastic sheeting, twenty four pounds of baking soda in a
tiek suit. January third, Brian is seen at three dumpsters
in Abington carrying a big garbage bag and the bag
appears to be heavy. On surveillance, he is seen hefting
it into the dumpster. He went to other locations in
Abington and Brockton throwing away items and dumpsters. On the third,
(14:39):
there were more Internet searches what happens to hair on
a dead body? What is the rate of decomposition on
a body found in a plastic bag compared to on
a surface in the woods? Can baking soda make a
body smell good? Also on January third, on a hab
booked a flight to go back to DC. January fourth,
(15:00):
was given permission to leave for shopping between eleven am
and one thirty pm. He went to TJ Max, where
he bought towels, bath mats, and men's clothing. He was
also later seen at a low store buying squeegees in
a trash can. Also on the fourth, Brian calls on
his employer to see if they've seen her. The same day,
her employer calls police in Massachusetts. The caller says Anna
(15:24):
hadn't been seen since December thirtieth, twenty twenty two, and
also her car was at her residence in Washington, d C.
When police went to their house in Massachusetts, Brian's told
officers he wanted to make a missing person's report. He
said he last saw her in the early morning hours
on January first, Andie had tried to reach out to
(15:44):
her with no response. In a search warrant, they note
he never reached out to police on his own, only
to Honor's employer. While they were there for the welfare check,
police noticed Brian had a plastic liner in the back
of his car, and later on police saw on the
floorboard and on the carpet with what looked to be
fresh vacuum streaks. Later on, when the liner was missing
(16:07):
and he was asked about it, he told investigators he
threw it away by the way later on down the road.
Testing in the car revealed the presence of blood. Police
in DC also do a welfare check at Anna's house. There,
they looked at the access control to the building she
lived in, corporate credit card transactions, her phone and email activity,
(16:28):
as well as surveillance from the parking garage. Obviously, no
new activity by Anna was seen. January fifth, police began
canvassing their neighborhood in Massachusetts looking for surveillance video, and
the next day, January sixth, there was a massive search
for auna that took place with canine officers and several
other agencies. On January seventh, investigators looked at surveillance video
(16:51):
and they also drove the North Shore area of Massachusetts
to verify Brian's rout of travel and also to verify
he visited that did Whole Foods in CVS. However, he
was not seen at either store on the times he
said he was. On January seventh, a Cohaset Police Department
investigator got an email that said, we have this so
(17:13):
called name on a wash with us here. We had
a deal worth one hundred and twenty seven thousand dollars.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
She messed up.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
We have her here with us and if she doesn't
pay the money then she'll never be back. And we
know that the police and the FBI are involved. Good
luck finding us. Police were very suspicious of that email
since there was no timeline for response to the demands
and also there was no contact information included. Curious to
see if they're able to trace that email back to
(17:41):
Brian Walsh, and they may already have him. That may
be public knowledge. If it is, let me know. On
January eighth, Brian was arrested for misleading investigators. During a
search warrant of the home, they found blood in the basement,
a bloody damaged knife, a heavy duty large tarp, and
elastic winers like the ones he bought at home depot.
(18:03):
On January tenth, twenty twenty three, while searching a dumpster
near his mother's apartment complex, investigators found ten bags full
of evidence. Among the evidence, towels, rags, slippers with both
Anna and Bryan's DNA on there, tape, a tiex suit
which tested positive for Anna's DNA, gloves, cleaning agents, carpets, rugs,
(18:30):
a pair of hunter boots like Anna was last seen
wearing her COVID nineteen vaccine card, a hacksaw with a
bone fragment, a hatchet, and some cutting shears. A part
of the rug was heavily stained with red brown stains.
That substance was consistent with also having baking soda on it.
(18:50):
They also found a portion of a necklace consistent with
one that Anna had been seen wearing in photos. Investigators
believe other items were shredded and incinerated at waste management
facilities before they could intercept. January seventeenth, twenty twenty three,
the district attorney Michael Morrissey announced that Brian would be
charged with Anna's murder as well as the improper transport
(19:12):
or handling of human remains. March thirty first, twenty twenty three,
it was announced a grand jury had indicted Brian for
Anna's murder, for misleading a police investigation and improper handling
of human remains, and those lesser charges were the ones
he recently pleaded guilty to. September twelfth, twenty twenty five,
Brian was stabbed in jail by a fellow inmate. September fifteenth,
(19:37):
a judge ruled that Brian's search history would be allowed
to come in after Brian's attorney asked the evidence be suppressed.
October sixth, the trial was delayed after Brian's competency was
called into question, and forty days later he was deemed competent.
November eighteenth is when he pleaded guilty to those two
lesser charges. November twentieth, the jury was seated for the trial.
(20:01):
The state has over one hundred witnesses listed, from civilians
to law enforcement to the medical examiner.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
The man Anna was having an.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
Affair with the CEO of the private investigator firm.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
Brian's mother hired.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
The friend who was there on New Year's Eve, a
close friend of Anna's who is expected to recount conversations
with Anna about marital problems between her and Brian, and
many more. The defense has eight witnesses listed, including his
attorney in the art fraud case, who represented him in
some of his initial contact with law enforcement in the
(20:36):
early days of the investigation into Anna's disappearance. They also
have a forensic pathologist, digital forensics experts, a DNA expert,
and Trooper Proctor. And Trooper Proctor is one of several
people who were associated with the Karen retrial who could
be called in this case, including Detective Brian Tully. Michael
(20:56):
Proctor was the lead investigator in the Karen Reid case.
He was relieved from his job and suspended without pay
after the first trial ended in a mistrial. He was
officially fired in March of this year from the Massachusetts
State Police or tax messages where he was talking in
a very lewd way about Karen Reid. He had shared
sensitive information about the case to friends and family, and
(21:19):
they also listed alcohol consumption while on duty or performing
work duties as one of the several reasons he was
let go. The state will not call Proctor, and legal
analysts think he could be called by the defense just
to have the integrity of his investigation called into question.
Prosecutors also say they have a report that is one
(21:39):
thousand pages long from a MacBook that was found inside
the residents that has additional searches Brian made on it.
So we could go on for another hour with little
ins and outs of the case, but that's the rundown
you need to get ready for tomorrow morning. I think
this is going to be a very interesting trial, not
really a who done it and everybody is innocent until
(22:02):
proven guilty. I think this is a pretty slam dunk case.
But we are going to cover it all day every day, recappen.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
At night tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (22:10):
My plan is to do a mid day recap of
opening statements only, and then later tomorrow night do a
second episode where we break down the first witnesses testimony.
Speaker 2 (22:21):
So that is it.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
I hope you guys have a good rest of your
Sunday and we will see it tomorrow.
What's you know?
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Alibier's Welcome to another episode of Pretty Lies and Alibis.
I'm Gigi It Sunday, November thirtieth. Hope you guys have
been doing well. I am back after taking some time
off to just try and process the enormous loss of
my Grammy, who y'all know was my person, my best friend.
She was everything to me, and it's been very difficult
(00:22):
the last three weeks since she left us. It feels
like three years, but trying to find a new normal
after having her here with me for a year has
not been easy. My house is way too quiet, and
I realized how much she brought.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
To this house.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
I mean, I knew it at the time, but she
made me feel so much better by just being here.
But I also think it's time that I start to
forge a new path, and one that is me without Grammy.
And that's what she would want me to do, That's
what my family needs me to do. And I could
very easily get caught spinning my wheels and making no
(00:58):
forward progress, but it doesn't do anybody any good. So
I want to thank everybody who has sent messages inboxes, emails,
cards in the mail. I haven't even made a dent
in responding, but I have read everything. And also a
big thank you to everybody who donated. I put every
penny of that into her funeral to thank you guys
(01:18):
so much for your kindness and your generosity. It really
has meant the world to me. I love our community.
Grammy loved this community so much, and it is time
to hit the pavement running. And tomorrow we have a
new trial. Will be covering Brian Walsh. He's going on
trial for murdering and dismembering his wife. On them, I'll
(01:39):
be live streaming every day. Looks like the start time
for tomorrow is nine am, although with it being the
first day, I wouldn't be surprised if it takes a
little longer to get things going. But check out the
YouTube channel and I'll also post links on my social
Come watch with the Alibiers.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
We have a great group.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
Every time there's a trial, the mods rocket, so it's
a nice drama free zone where we keep the focus
on the case and the victim, and if we get
some knuckleheads in there that we want to kind of
stir the pot, we just give them the boot. Hate
doing it, but it's important to show respect to the victim.
What are we going to do today, Well, just like
before any big trial, we start to cover. I'm going
to do a bit of a crash course on the case,
(02:18):
just to hit the important parts so that tomorrow morning
we are ready for opening statements.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
So let's jump in.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Brian is accused of murdering and dismembering his wife Anna
in the timeframe of New Year's Day twenty twenty three,
and also disposing of her body in dumpsters. At his
arraignment back in twenty twenty three, prosecutors say they believe
he beat Anna to death on it and Brian have
three boys together, who were all under the age of
seven when their mother was killed. Now, the couple lived
(02:45):
in Massachusetts, but on am commuted to Washington.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
D c.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
For work at a real estate company. She also had
her own residence there. She was last seen alive after
midnight on New Year's Day twenty twenty three by a
friend they had over for New year dinner, and that
person stayed until after midnight. Now, the trial was originally
slated to begin in October of this year, but there
has been no lack of drama leading up to trial
(03:11):
because Brian was stabbed in prison in September. His attorneys
said the attack rendered him incompetent to stand trial. However,
he was found competent after spending forty days in a
state hospital. Right before jury selection began, he pleaded guilty
to two charges associated with this case, improper handling of
human remains and also misleading police. Now, the one thing
(03:34):
that was really sparked by the defense was having him
plead guilty to these charges, because this puts the prosecution's
feet to the fire, not to prove that he killed her,
but that he premeditated her murder to support the first
degree murder charge. So how is that all going to
go down? Well, starting tomorrow at nine we will see.
(03:56):
As of now, the maximum he would be facing is
thirteen years in prison for both charges. However, if he's
found guilty of honest murder, the misleading police charge, which
as of now holds a maximum of ten years in prison,
could be enhanced to twenty years in prison, making that
total twenty three years that he faces repleading guilty to
(04:16):
those two.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
The judge will not send.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Us Brian for these guilty please until after the murder
trial has concluded and A jury of sixteen was seated
on November twentieth, and there are four alternates on this panel.
This trial is expected to go anywhere from two to
four weeks, so that could very well carry us right
into the new year, and then in February we will
be gearing up for Corey Rich and so starting tomorrow,
(04:41):
very busy times for the podcast and I'm ready, so
bring it. We're going to go through some of the
bigger things that we know already, but just a disclaimer,
this isn't going to be everything we know because we're
going to have openings tomorrow and pretty much everything we
talk about right now will likely be covered in openings
and then more.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
But I always like to do these.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Crash courses because we cover a lot of trials and
sometimes you forget big and little things associated with each case. Now,
Brian is no stranger to legal troubles. He was indicted
in twenty eighteen and pleaded guilty in twenty twenty one
in federal court for an art fraud case where he
was selling fake Andy Warhol paintings. The victims lost hundreds
(05:22):
of thousands of dollars and he was ordered to pay
I believe five hundred thousand dollars in restitution. Now. At
the time Anna went missing, Brian was on pre sentencing probation.
He was on home confinement and he had to wear
an ankle monitor. He would need to ask permission to
leave his home each week, telling what time he would
be leaving, where he was going, and when he would
(05:43):
be back. Now the week of January first, he has
to drop his kids off at school daily between the
hours of eight and ten thirty am, and then pick
them up between three point fifteen and six forty five pm.
Brian was sentenced to thirty seven months in that case
in February of last year, and one of the motives
the prosecutors have put forth is that Anna had a
(06:05):
life insurance policy on herself with Brian as the sole beneficiary,
worth two point two million dollars. She also had a
second policy through her employer, which brought the total amount
to around two point seven million dollars. His attorneys say
there's no evidence he needed money because his mom is wealthy.
Another thing that's interesting is when Brian's father passed away
(06:26):
in twenty eighteen, he left Brian nothing, only his best wishes.
The family member said. The father and son were a
strange for over a decade after Brian ran off with
a significant amount of his dad's money. After his father passed,
Brian went into his home and sold his father's art,
expensive rugs, jewelry, and a car. He was also trying
(06:50):
to sell the home, but friends of his dad prevented
him from doing that. Brian also tried to contest the will,
saying that the signature was probably a forgery, but no
luck that. Another motive the prosecution has put forth is
that Anna was having an affair with a man in Washington,
d C. Where she worked and had a residence. The
man told investigators they had been together for several months
(07:12):
and they had spent Thanksgiving together in Ireland, as well
as Christmas Eve together. They had plans to reunite on
January fourth in d C. He was also Anna's most
frequent phone contact. Testimony from a pre trial hearing revealed
that Brian likely found out about the affair in December
of twenty twenty two, and they note he had been
(07:33):
visiting the man's Instagram page as well as looking him
up online, and Anna was planning to leave Brian. A
friend told law enforcement about a fight Anna and Brian
had over the Christmas holidays about their children and living arrangements.
Anna knew it was likely Brian would be sentenced in
federal court for the art fraud and she wanted the
(07:54):
children to live with her in d C. However, that
art fraud case was getting in the way because he
he was presenting himself as the boy's primary caregiver to
hopefully avoid prison. The friend also said Anna was upset
when she found out Brian was putting off resolving the case.
A search of her DC residence revealed the place was
ready for her boys to move in, with clothes and
(08:16):
other items already in place, but other friends told law
enforcement that Anna hoped their family would remain intact and
she planned to wait for Brian while he was in
prison and did not want a divorce. December twenty sixth
of twenty twenty two, Brian's mother, Diana Walsh, hired a
private investigator to track Anna. The defense said she did
(08:36):
that without Brian's knowledge, and in a pre trial hearing,
the judge pointed out that it was testified to in
front of the grand jury that Diana hired the private
investigator after she went to a psychic and that she
told Brian of her intentions. He reportedly told his mom
not to hire the PI, but then gave her the
name of a company that she ended up hiring. His
(08:58):
attorneys say Brian and even told Anna about his mom's plans.
His attorneys maintained he did not know about the affair
until he learned about it through discovery. In this case,
December twenty seventh, Brian was looking up cheating wife pornography
and later searched what's the best state to divorce? New
Year's Eve, they have the friend over, and Brian says
(09:19):
he and Anna went to bed around one or one
thirty in the morning on New Year's Day. He said
Anna said she had a work emergency and needed to
go to DC that next morning. Here's where it starts
to get very interesting and very incriminating. Google searches show
on January first, which is the day Anna disappeared, Starting
at four fifty five am and lasting up until the afternoon,
(09:42):
he starts googling how to stop a body from decomposing,
how to embalm a body, ten ways to dispose of
a dead body if you really need to. Between six
and seven am, Brian told investigators that Anna got ready
to leave and kissed him goodbye, told him to go
back to sleep. He said she would usually take an uber,
(10:02):
a lift or a taxi to the airport six twenty
five am. How long for someone to be missing to
inherit and you throw away body parts? Around seven am,
Brian tells investigators he made his son's breakfast nine to
twenty nine am. What does formaldehyde do? How long does
DNA last? Can identification be made on partial remains? Dismemberment?
(10:26):
And the best ways to dispose of a body at
a clean blood from wooden floor? Luminol to detect blood?
What happens when you put body parts in ammonia? The
last search on January first was at one twenty one pm.
Is it better to throw a crime scene close away
or wash them? At some point during the day, a
(10:48):
babysitter showed up. Brian went to the store to get
milk and orange juice. He returned home and left again
around four pm. Now Brian had asked permission to leave
his house to drop off his man in Swampscott between
the hours of three and nine pm. He said she
had cataract surgery recently and she was staying with him
so he could help her. He told investigators he had
(11:11):
the time scheduled so he could take her home after
her recovery, but said his mom recovered much quicker than
expected and drove herself home. He said he still used
that allotted time to go visit her and also to
run some errands for her, including to whole foods, for groceries,
and CVS to get cleaning wipes. Brian said the drive
normally takes about an hour to an hour and ten minutes,
(11:33):
but as fate would have it, he got lost and
the trip took an hour and a half. He said
he left to run errands within fifteen minutes of arriving
at his mom's house. Brian told the babysitter on January
first that he had lost his phone between New Year's
even New Year's Day, but data from the phone showed
it was plugged in on the morning of January first,
and it stayed at their residence. However, his oldest child's
(11:56):
cell phone was peened traveling to two stores that day,
and surveillance verified Brian walked into those two stores at
five point thirty pm on January first. The child cell
phone pings at a dumpster in the parking lot of
a liquor store, where he disposed of something and then
went back to his car. Next, the phone travels to
a dumpster at the apartment complex where his mother lived.
(12:18):
Let's look at his purchases from January. First, he went
to Low's. He bought five five gallon buckets, a high
tension handsaw, forty eight tarry clothed towels, a framing hammer,
a tievek full coverage suit, shoe guards, a mop, snips
which are cutting tools, two hundred disposable rags, trash bags,
(12:44):
Murphy oil soap, as well as other cleaning products. From there,
the phone ping dot a CVS where he bought thirteen
different types of hydrogen peroxide. He was also at a
stopping shop in Swampscott, which is where his mother lived.
There he bought three sixty four ounce jugs of ammonia.
Brian told investigators he finally returned home around eight pm
(13:06):
on January first, after running errands for his mother. The
next day, January second, there were more Google searches axaw
best tool to dismember? Can you be charged with murder
without a body? Can you identify a body with broken teeth,
how long must someone go missing in order to collect
and at some point he also searched for luxury watches.
(13:28):
January second, at three fourteen am on his phone was
pined in their house and then it was turned off.
Brian says he found his phone under one of his
son's pillows. Investigator says whereabouts were consistent on the second,
with Brian telling them that he took his oldest son
for ice cream or a smoothie, and then another child
to get chocolate milk while the babysitter watched the other children.
(13:51):
School was out due to the holidays, but he did
go within that eight to ten thirty am timeframe he
had requested to take and pick up his boys from school.
Later that day, he went to a home good store.
There he bought three area rugs and scented candles. He
was also at a home depot in Rockland. There he
bought three five gallon buckets with leakproof lids, a hatchet,
(14:15):
plastic sheeting, twenty four pounds of baking soda in a
tiek suit. January third, Brian is seen at three dumpsters
in Abington carrying a big garbage bag and the bag
appears to be heavy. On surveillance, he is seen hefting
it into the dumpster. He went to other locations in
Abington and Brockton throwing away items and dumpsters. On the third,
(14:39):
there were more Internet searches what happens to hair on
a dead body? What is the rate of decomposition on
a body found in a plastic bag compared to on
a surface in the woods? Can baking soda make a
body smell good? Also on January third, on a hab
booked a flight to go back to DC. January fourth,
(15:00):
was given permission to leave for shopping between eleven am
and one thirty pm. He went to TJ Max, where
he bought towels, bath mats, and men's clothing. He was
also later seen at a low store buying squeegees in
a trash can. Also on the fourth, Brian calls on
his employer to see if they've seen her. The same day,
her employer calls police in Massachusetts. The caller says Anna
(15:24):
hadn't been seen since December thirtieth, twenty twenty two, and
also her car was at her residence in Washington, d C.
When police went to their house in Massachusetts, Brian's told
officers he wanted to make a missing person's report. He
said he last saw her in the early morning hours
on January first, Andie had tried to reach out to
(15:44):
her with no response. In a search warrant, they note
he never reached out to police on his own, only
to Honor's employer. While they were there for the welfare check,
police noticed Brian had a plastic liner in the back
of his car, and later on police saw on the
floorboard and on the carpet with what looked to be
fresh vacuum streaks. Later on, when the liner was missing
(16:07):
and he was asked about it, he told investigators he
threw it away by the way later on down the road.
Testing in the car revealed the presence of blood. Police
in DC also do a welfare check at Anna's house. There,
they looked at the access control to the building she
lived in, corporate credit card transactions, her phone and email activity,
(16:28):
as well as surveillance from the parking garage. Obviously, no
new activity by Anna was seen. January fifth, police began
canvassing their neighborhood in Massachusetts looking for surveillance video, and
the next day, January sixth, there was a massive search
for auna that took place with canine officers and several
other agencies. On January seventh, investigators looked at surveillance video
(16:51):
and they also drove the North Shore area of Massachusetts
to verify Brian's rout of travel and also to verify
he visited that did Whole Foods in CVS. However, he
was not seen at either store on the times he
said he was. On January seventh, a Cohaset Police Department
investigator got an email that said, we have this so
(17:13):
called name on a wash with us here. We had
a deal worth one hundred and twenty seven thousand dollars.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
She messed up.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
We have her here with us and if she doesn't
pay the money then she'll never be back. And we
know that the police and the FBI are involved. Good
luck finding us. Police were very suspicious of that email
since there was no timeline for response to the demands
and also there was no contact information included. Curious to
see if they're able to trace that email back to
(17:41):
Brian Walsh, and they may already have him. That may
be public knowledge. If it is, let me know. On
January eighth, Brian was arrested for misleading investigators. During a
search warrant of the home, they found blood in the basement,
a bloody damaged knife, a heavy duty large tarp, and
elastic winers like the ones he bought at home depot.
(18:03):
On January tenth, twenty twenty three, while searching a dumpster
near his mother's apartment complex, investigators found ten bags full
of evidence. Among the evidence, towels, rags, slippers with both
Anna and Bryan's DNA on there, tape, a tiex suit
which tested positive for Anna's DNA, gloves, cleaning agents, carpets, rugs,
(18:30):
a pair of hunter boots like Anna was last seen
wearing her COVID nineteen vaccine card, a hacksaw with a
bone fragment, a hatchet, and some cutting shears. A part
of the rug was heavily stained with red brown stains.
That substance was consistent with also having baking soda on it.
(18:50):
They also found a portion of a necklace consistent with
one that Anna had been seen wearing in photos. Investigators
believe other items were shredded and incinerated at waste management
facilities before they could intercept. January seventeenth, twenty twenty three,
the district attorney Michael Morrissey announced that Brian would be
charged with Anna's murder as well as the improper transport
(19:12):
or handling of human remains. March thirty first, twenty twenty three,
it was announced a grand jury had indicted Brian for
Anna's murder, for misleading a police investigation and improper handling
of human remains, and those lesser charges were the ones
he recently pleaded guilty to. September twelfth, twenty twenty five,
Brian was stabbed in jail by a fellow inmate. September fifteenth,
(19:37):
a judge ruled that Brian's search history would be allowed
to come in after Brian's attorney asked the evidence be suppressed.
October sixth, the trial was delayed after Brian's competency was
called into question, and forty days later he was deemed competent.
November eighteenth is when he pleaded guilty to those two
lesser charges. November twentieth, the jury was seated for the trial.
(20:01):
The state has over one hundred witnesses listed, from civilians
to law enforcement to the medical examiner.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
The man Anna was having an.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
Affair with the CEO of the private investigator firm.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
Brian's mother hired.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
The friend who was there on New Year's Eve, a
close friend of Anna's who is expected to recount conversations
with Anna about marital problems between her and Brian, and
many more. The defense has eight witnesses listed, including his
attorney in the art fraud case, who represented him in
some of his initial contact with law enforcement in the
(20:36):
early days of the investigation into Anna's disappearance. They also
have a forensic pathologist, digital forensics experts, a DNA expert,
and Trooper Proctor. And Trooper Proctor is one of several
people who were associated with the Karen retrial who could
be called in this case, including Detective Brian Tully. Michael
(20:56):
Proctor was the lead investigator in the Karen Reid case.
He was relieved from his job and suspended without pay
after the first trial ended in a mistrial. He was
officially fired in March of this year from the Massachusetts
State Police or tax messages where he was talking in
a very lewd way about Karen Reid. He had shared
sensitive information about the case to friends and family, and
(21:19):
they also listed alcohol consumption while on duty or performing
work duties as one of the several reasons he was
let go. The state will not call Proctor, and legal
analysts think he could be called by the defense just
to have the integrity of his investigation called into question.
Prosecutors also say they have a report that is one
(21:39):
thousand pages long from a MacBook that was found inside
the residents that has additional searches Brian made on it.
So we could go on for another hour with little
ins and outs of the case, but that's the rundown
you need to get ready for tomorrow morning. I think
this is going to be a very interesting trial, not
really a who done it and everybody is innocent until
(22:02):
proven guilty. I think this is a pretty slam dunk case.
But we are going to cover it all day every day, recappen.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
At night tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (22:10):
My plan is to do a mid day recap of
opening statements only, and then later tomorrow night do a
second episode where we break down the first witnesses testimony.
Speaker 2 (22:21):
So that is it.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
I hope you guys have a good rest of your
Sunday and we will see it tomorrow.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Are You A Charlotte?
In 1997, actress Kristin Davis’ life was forever changed when she took on the role of Charlotte York in Sex and the City. As we watched Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte navigate relationships in NYC, the show helped push once unacceptable conversation topics out of the shadows and altered the narrative around women and sex. We all saw ourselves in them as they searched for fulfillment in life, sex and friendships. Now, Kristin Davis wants to connect with you, the fans, and share untold stories and all the behind the scenes. Together, with Kristin and special guests, what will begin with Sex and the City will evolve into talks about themes that are still so relevant today. "Are you a Charlotte?" is much more than just rewatching this beloved show, it brings the past and the present together as we talk with heart, humor and of course some optimism.