RECAP: Openings In The Brian Walshe Trial (The Murder Of Ana Walshe)

Recap of opening statements. 

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.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
What you know Alibier's Welcome to another episode of Pretty
Lies and Alibis. I'm Gigi. Good to have you here.
It's Monday, December first. We just finished up opening statements
in the Brian Walts trial, who was accused of killing
his wife Anna Walsh, back on New Year's Day in
twenty twenty three. I'm doing this in two episodes today,
just to make sure I'm not up super late. It's

(00:21):
a little difficult sometimes when I'm covering a case live
to get these updates out, and I have some plans later.
So let's jump into what both sides put forth or
the Commonwealth. Teresa Markuisi hired Anna in twenty twenty two.
She knew Anna community from Cohasset to work in DC
and Brian and her kids stayed in Massachusetts. She knew
where Anna lived, and when she heard Brian was looking

(00:43):
for Anna, she got concerned and spoke to her boss.
They called Brian, who was calm, and he said on
January first, Anna left home for a work emergency and
had to fly back to d C. He said he
hadn't spoken to her since. The two co workers grab
a third co worker and they drive to Anna's townhouse.
They talked to Brian on the way and he gave

(01:03):
them the code to get in the garage. They look
inside the townhouse and everything looked fine, but they couldn't
get inside the townhouse because they had no key. They
called Brian again and told him they would loop in
the company's head of security, mister Dunleavy, into the conversation.
Brian had not called the police, so mister Dunleavy called
to get access to the house. On January fourth, Brian

(01:26):
also reports on a missing to the Cohasset Police. That's
the first time she was reported missing. You'll hear from
Honest's friends and colleagues. She was from Serbia and came
to work in hotels in Washington and Massachusetts and transitioned
over into real estate. She ran the first company she
worked for, but she got her dream job making a

(01:46):
lot more money. She bought the townhouse in Washington, d c.
And expected her family to join her there. Brian stayed
in Massachusetts with the kids because he had plugged guilty
to fraud in Boston but had not been sentenced. He
had four hundred thousand dollars in restitution, but Anna was
the breadwinner. When they bought the townhouse, Anna was introduced

(02:07):
to mister Fostow, who she became romantic with. In November
twenty twenty two, Anna flew to Serbia to visit her
sick mom, and mister Fostow joined her in Ireland. She
then went to Serbia and missed Thanksgiving with Brian and
the children. Christmas Eve, Anna went to dinner with mister
Fostow and another couple and she spent the night. She

(02:27):
was supposed to get a flight out Christmas Day, but couldn't,
so she had to drive from DC to Massachusetts and
missed most of Christmas Day with Brian and the kids.
She flew back to d C on December twenty ninth.
Anna had dinner with a friend who said she was
unusually tired and emotional. Anna went back to Massachusetts on
December thirtieth and was supposed to return to d C

(02:48):
January third. They had a friend over on New Year's
Eve and he arrived around eight thirty. They shared champagne
and they were looking forward to the new year. Brian
told their friend he lost their phone but felt free
because of it. The friend left their home at one
thirty in the morning, and there was no mention of
a work emergency by Anna. January fourth, after mister Dunleavy

(03:08):
called the police department, they dispatched an officer to talk
to Brian at the home. He met them outside and
told the officer Anna left January first. She took an
uber or a Lyft to the airport to fly to
Washington for a work emergency. Police started looking into Uber
and Lyft and also started pinging her phone. The last
time her phone interacted with the network was shortly after

(03:30):
three am on January second, and the phone was in
the area of the Walsh home. Detective Schmidt was investigating
the case. He and another officer went to interview Brian,
which was recorded. Brian talks about Anna commuting you, mentioned
there were issues with this federal case, and also said
their friend came over New Year's Eve. He told police

(03:50):
Anna had to leave January first. He described Anna's clothing
as blue gray hunter boots, a black jacket, and a watch.
Additional resources were called in and on January fifth, investigators
searched the woods near the family home. On January sixth,
additional resources were called in, including the state police, to
help search. Brian was interviewed on January sixth, seventh and

(04:13):
the eighth, and those interviews were recorded. Brian said they
were happily married. There were no suspicions of affairs. Anna
had her dream job, and he said he took no
salary that year from his consulting company, and he mentioned
the restitution he was required to pay in the Art
fraug case was causing stress on his marriage and he
may have to go to jail. The biggest problem was

(04:35):
that they were apart and her job caused her to
miss Christmas Eve and most of Christmas Day with the family.
Her sick mother caused her to miss Thanksgiving. Brian said
he didn't want to argue with her about missing New
Year's Day. You'll see financial records showing she'd approximately two
hundred thousand dollars in investments and she had large life
insurance policies and Brian was the beneficiary. You'll hear from

(04:58):
two digital forensic experts in this case. They examined a MacBook, iPads,
and cell phones from the Walsh house. They'll explain on
Christmas Day, when Anna missed the holidays, Brian's cell phone
looked up her lover on the internet. December twenty seventh,
a MacBook with Brian's Apple ID logged in between eight

(05:19):
thirty and nine researched best strategies and state to divorce
for a man, as well as DC divorce laws. December
twenty ninth, his cell phone was researching buildings that Anna managed.
The Internet history of the MacBook shows beginning on January first.
At four point fifty am, there was a search best
way to dispose of a body? Six twenty four am.

(05:42):
How long for someone missing to inherit? Can you throw
away body parts? How long does DNA last? Is it
possible to clean DNA off a knife? Thirty minutes later?
Disposal of a cell phone? Ten twenty eight am. I
am the user of my wife's credit card. She is missing.

(06:02):
Eleven twenty eight am. The best way to dispose of
body parts after a murder? Trooper Golrino will explain the
searches and the websites were about cleaning blood with peroxide
and ammonia, and a website visited was want to get
away with murder uses special detergent. This search activity went
into January second. How long does Low's keep security footage

(06:26):
at a dispose of a body can you be charged
with murder with no body? Brian says his phone was
missing and not found until January second. It had been
connected to a power source and have been unlocked four
times using biometrics or passcodes. Location data shows the phone
remained in the home until January second, but there was

(06:48):
another phone which belonged to one of the children. Location
data shows that phone traveled to Walgreens, a liquor store,
is mom's house, CVS, a Low's, and a stop and shop.
You'll see the surveillance video where at Walgreens he buys
band aids and antibiotic ointment. At CVS he buys hydrogen peroxide.

(07:10):
At the stopping shop he buys ammonia. At Low's, he
buys more than four hundred dollars worth of cleaning supplies,
paying cash. Those purchases include a Taivex suit, a hacksaw,
and shears. He went to a home goods store, and
Brian's own phone went to a home depot, later buying
scented candles and an area of rugs. At home depot,

(07:32):
he buys twenty pounds of baking soda and mops. January third,
his phone is at an apartment complex and surveillance shows
a man going to a dumpster. January fifth, Brian is
at dumpsters near his mom's and later that night he
was interviewed by police. On January ninth, police went to
where the dumpsters were located and brought those to a

(07:53):
facility to be searched. They found boots, Anna's COVID vaccine card, rugs,
a tieveex suit, a hammer, shears, snips, a hatchet, and
a hacksaw. These items were sent to a lab and
some of those items had Anna and Brian's DNA on them.
Anna's DNA was on a pair of gloves, a hatchet,

(08:15):
and a hacksaw. When their friend left at one thirty
am on New Year's Day, Anna was alive and with Brian,
but no one saw her since Brian said she left
on January first. The Commonwealth asked the jurors to pay
attention to the time of certain events and to bring
their common sense, and they say at the very end
of the trial we will come back and ask you

(08:35):
find him guilty, and the defense was up. Brian went
to Loew's and Home depot and bought tools, and beginning
at four fifty four am, begins a frantic and tragic search.
You'll hear evidence those searches went from how to dispose
of a body to even darker searches. As he struggled
with the fact Anna was dead. January first, twenty twenty three,

(08:56):
their friend Jim Mutlow left between one and one thirty am.
Anna and Brian continued to celebrate. They went to the bedroom.
An hour later. You'll hear Brian got up and went
downstairs to clean the kitchen. You'll see evidence he looked
at his email and he returned to the bedroom intending
to crawl in bed with Anna. But when he got

(09:16):
in bed, he sensed something was wrong, so he nudged her.
She didn't respond. Nudged again, no response. He nudged her
so hard in a panic response that she rolled off
the bed. He panicked and doesn't understand what's happening. You'll
hear Sudden death happens to men, women, day and night.
It can be mechanical and electrical problems in the body.

(09:40):
It happens to people who never show a symptom. Sometimes
the first clue something is wrong is a sudden, unexplained death.
This is not well understood by the medical community, so
Brian cleans the kitchen and comes back up to find
her dead. There was stress in the marriage that took
its toll, depending federal case and over time. Time. Anna

(10:00):
got the job in DC. It was huge for her career,
paying twice her normal salary. Brian couldn't leave Massachusetts because
of the federal case, so Brian would take care of
the kids while Anna worked. There was stress in the
commuting between DC and Massachusetts, and Brian and Anna talk
about that stress on Christmas Day twenty twenty two. And

(10:22):
there was an affair. It doesn't make her a bad
person or a bad mother. She did everything she could
to hide the affair, not telling loosest friends like Alyssa Kirby.
Anna and mister Fasteau behaved different in public to make
sure the affair wasn't obvious. Anna told him she would
be devastated if Brian ever found out. Brian didn't know

(10:43):
about the affair. He knew she had a crush on
him because she told Brian that. Anna even told a
friend she wished Brian would be jealous. There were no
financial issues. She got the job in the early part
of twenty twenty two. They had the townhouse, they had
life insurance, on the kids. They could borrow against if
they needed cash, and Brian's mom gifted them cash. In fact,

(11:04):
his mother was paying the rent for the house the
family lived in. They also had investment properties in Massachusetts.
Brian loved Anna. She spoke of him in glowing terms.
To her lover. She said, I want people to see
the Brian I know. She described Brian as her best
friend to one of her friends. You'll see text messages
you can use to determine the love between these two.

(11:26):
They're dated beginning December twenty fifth, twenty twenty two, seven
days before New Year's Day. Christmas Day twenty twenty two,
Anna and Brian are texting. She sends him seven listings
of properties in the DC area because they're searching for
future investments. She comes to Massachusetts for Christmas December twenty seventh.
Then she's back in d C and they're texting about

(11:47):
their properties because one had sold and they needed to
figure out what to do with the proceeds. December twenty eight.
Text messages will show Anna's not feeling well but decided
to work from home, and they joke about it. Brian
tells Anna, I guess I'll have to get you a plunger.
Anna says, how about I get the plunger and you
get me the Porsche. Brian sent screenshots of Porsches he

(12:10):
had been shopping for her because he loved her. December
twenty ninth, they text and talk about a three story
brownstone she found they could buy for an investment. They're
talking about the future. December thirtieth, there are texts about
hergre getting her flight home for New Year's She sent
Brian photos of her playing with their boys, and he
sent her photos of her playing with the boys. They

(12:33):
sign off and Brian says love you, and Anna says,
I love you too. New Year's Eve, Jim, the family friend,
is invited by Anna to celebrate. He was happy because
he hadn't seen them in a while and he knew
their three boys. When he pulled up to the driveway,
Anna ran to him in her heels and no coat.
In the house, Brian was cooking. They talked about the future.

(12:53):
They talked about investments, and Anna talked about how Brian
found a ring for her in very glowing terms. Over
the four to five hours the friend was there, he
saw no problems. The two were happy, and the atmosphere
was described as jovial, festive, and loving. They all wrote
on a box of champagne that night on a rote,
Let's make twenty twenty three the best one yet. Courage, love, perseverance, compassion, joy,

(13:21):
and they all signed it. Their boys were the most
important thing. The federal case was stressful and the Commonwealth
talked about a divorce search. This happened between conversations about
the sale of their property. This was around eight thirty
on December twenty seventh, and the evidence will show the
only time she talked about divorce to her lover was

(13:42):
to preserve the family assets. Since the four hundred thousand
dollars restitution would come due and Brian may have to
go to prison after paying the money, the boys would
have to move to DC, which is an added expense.
They also talked about their nanny making that move to DC.
Brian was making sure Anna and the boys would be
secure if he had to go to prison. Her boyfriend

(14:04):
was resigned that Anna would never leave Brian. Where would
the boys go if something happened to Anna. Brian told
lies to hang on to those boys, and he goes
on for a minute and ends it with Brian did
not kill Anna, so not surprised at that defense because
he did plead guilty to the two lesser charges where
he admits to moving her body. So now it's going

(14:26):
to be a battle of showing premeditation versus the defense strategy,
which is a sudden, unexplained death. What are your thoughts?
Is this gonna fly? We're very early on. I'll have
an update later tonight about the first witnesses take the
stand and what their testimony is. Hope you guys have
a good rest of your afternoon and we will see

(14:46):
as soon