Judge rules Boston fraudster Brian Walshe competent to stand trial in wife's murder
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Brian Walshe is on the verge of receiving his sentence following his conviction for the murder of his wife, Ana Walshe, who vanished on New Year’s Day in 2023.

Nearly three years after prosecutors alleged that Brian killed, dismembered, and disposed of Ana’s body, he will face sentencing on Thursday morning. This comes after his conviction for first-degree murder earlier in the week. Brian had already admitted guilt to charges of lying to police and improperly disposing of a body after Ana’s disappearance.

During the trial, evidence of Brian’s suspicious internet searches on January 1, 2023, was presented. These searches included phrases like “how long for someone to be missing to inherit,” “best way to dispose of a body,” and “best way to dispose of body parts after a murder.”

In closing arguments, Brian’s lawyer, Larry Tipton, asserted that his client “loved Ana Walshe, the mother of his three children.”

A split image showing Ana Walshe posing for a selfie and her husband and accused killer, Brian Walshe, wearing gray sweats in court

Brian Walshe was seen at Quincy District Court on January 18, 2023, as he faced charges of murdering Ana Walshe in Quincy, Massachusetts. (Ana Walshe, Craig F. Walker/Pool via REUTERS)

Brian Walshe enters the courtroom in a blue suit, with shackled wrists and carrying paperwork.

Brian Walshe entered the courtroom clutching papers and a rosary during his murder trial in Norfolk Superior Court, Dedham, Mass., Dec. 1, 2025. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool)

“There’s no evidence that he deliberately premeditated the murder. There’s no evidence that he ever intended to kill Ana Walshe. None whatsoever. Brian Walshe is not guilty. He’s not guilty,” he said on Friday during closing arguments.

Meanwhile, Assistant Norfolk County DA Anne Yas said Brian killed his wife then tried to hide her body to avoid accountability.

“Ana Walshe is dead because he murdered her and he intended her death. And Walshe was not missing,” Yas said. “Dying a sudden death from natural causes defies common sense. She was in great shape.”

Prosecutors had alleged two potential motives in the slaying. The first was anger over an affair that Ana was having with a Washington, D.C., realtor, whose name Walshe had searched for.

The second was because he allegedly believed he would have a better chance of avoiding prison in an unrelated art fraud case if his wife were out of the picture and he was the only caretaker for their three children.

Brian Walshe on trial for the murder of his wife, Ana Walshe

Brian Walshe arrives at Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Mass., Monday, Dec. 1, 2025. (David McGlynn for Fox News Digital)

Brian chose not to take the stand in his own trial and his defense team rested their case on Thursday, Dec. 11. He will also be sentenced for illegal disposal of a body and misleading police.

Legal analyst Greg Henning told WCVB that Brian will likely receive a life sentence.

“There won’t be too much drama. There’s a mandatory life in prison sentence that Brian Walshe will receive,” Henning said. “The judge has no jurisdiction, no wiggle room.”

Jurors were presented with evidence from a forensic scientist that DNA consistent with Ana’s profile was found on a hatchet and hacksaw recovered from the trash.

Headshot of Ana Walshe

Ana Walshe commuted from Massachusetts to Washington, D.C., each week to work at a real estate job, her friends told WCVB. (Cohasset Police Department)

Saman Saleem, a DNA unit supervisor at the state police crime lab, said that several items found at a trash collection site in Peabody, Massachusetts, that had Ana’s DNA on it, including pieces of a rug, a Tyvek suit, unknown tissue and slippers.

Brian’s wife had a $2.7 million life insurance policy which he was the beneficiary of, court records show. He owed nearly $500,000 in restitution for his federal case.

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