The Cohasset, Massachusetts, man accused of killing his wife made a court appearance Thursday morning.
Few new details in the Ana Walshe murder case were revealed during the hearing for Brian Walshe, the woman's husband. But Brian Walshe's lawyer did say that she's been having trouble getting information needed to prepare her defense from prosecutors.
Thursday's status conference was held in Quincy District Court. While the attorneys and judge were in the courtroom, Brian Walshe appeared via Zoom from the Dedham House of Corrections. He was wearing an orange prison jumpsuit, with messy hair and appeared to have grown a beard since his last appearance in court. He didn't speak during the hearing, only nodding several times.
Prosecutors pushed for a continuance of Thursday's status hearing, saying the case is currently before a grand jury and they should be finished with it by the end of March.
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But Tracy Miner, Walshe's defense attorney, expressed hesitation at pushing off the status conference for that long because she said prosecutors have shared very little information about their case with her.
"We've received like basically nothing," she said. "We haven't even received a search warrant, the inventory for the search warrant -- the basic stuff we should have had immediately, we don't have. So I'm a little skeptical that discovery will contain everything I need."
With that in mind, the attorneys agreed to hold another status conference in about three weeks on March 1, again via Zoom. Brian Walshe will continue to be held without bail in the meantime.
What happened to Ana Walshe?
Ana Walshe, a mother of three, was reportedly last seen leaving the family’s home in Cohasset, south of Boston, in the early morning hours of Jan. 1. She was her way to the airport for a flight to Washington, where she worked for a real estate company, authorities said. She was reported missing by her employer Jan. 4.
Brian Walshe pleaded not guilty when he was arraigned last month for the murder of his wife. During his arraignment Jan. 18, prosecutors alleged Brian killed Ana in the couple’s Cohasset home and then dismembered her body and discarded it.
While Ana’s body has not been found, prosecutors said investigators found a bloody knife in the basement of their home, a large purchase of cleaning supplies, as well as disturbing Google searches on their son’s iPad – like “how long before a body starts to smell,” “hacksaw best tool to dismember,” and “10 ways to dispose of a dead body if you really need to."
Then, in dumpsters and trash from throughout the area, investigators allegedly found a blood covered hacksaw, hatchet, cutting shears and Tyvek suit, along with Ana’s personal items.
