Brian Walshe was found guilty of first-degree murder by a jury on Monday in connection with the killing and dismemberment of his wife.

Walshe was arrested in January 2023 and charged with murder and disinterring a body without authority. His wife, Ana Walshe, was reported missing by her employer – and then later by Brian – on January 4, three days after she was last seen at a New Year’s Eve dinner. Ana’s body has still not been found. 

Swampscott, however, makes a prominent appearance in the murder case, and the town was brought up throughout the court trial. Here is what happened.

Who Is Ana Walshe

Ana, née Ljubičić, was born in Belgrade, Socialist Republic of Serbia in 1983. She earned a bachelor’s degree in French and literature from the University of Belgrade.

In 2005, Ana emigrated to the United States and later became a dual citizen. She worked in the hospitality industry. Boston 25 News reported that Ana met Walshe during her two years working at the Wheatleigh Hotel in Lenox, Massachusetts. 

Ana later became a regional general manager at the real estate firm Tishman Speyer. She worked in Washington, D.C., where court documents indicate she was having an affair with a man. The two allegedly spent a Thanksgiving together in Ireland.

She was last seen in the early hours of January 1, 2023. Walshe said he spent that day in Swampscott with his mother. He also claimed that he had been to the town’s CVS or Whole Foods. 

Who Is Brian Walshe

Walshe, 50, was previously accused of destroying his father’s will, which a friend of Dr. Thomas Walshe had photographed beforehand. The will read “I hereby bequeath to Brian R. Walshe my best wishes but nothing else from my estate.” He was also accused of withdrawing significant funds from his father’s estate. The case over his father’s state was dismissed.

In 2021, Walshe pleaded guilty in federal court to three counts of fraud related to selling counterfeit Andy Warhol works. Investigators alleged that Walshe – or Ana – used her eBay account to sell the paintings in 2016. At the time of Ana’s disappearance, he was on house arrest. 

Ana had written to the judge asking for leniency, stating that Walshe had been “told he was a loser and that his parents should not have had him, that he had no chances of making anything of himself in life, and that he was a lost cause,” according to WCVB. 

In December of 2022, Walshe allegedly began to suspect his wife of having an affair, according to Norfolk County Assistant District Attorney Greg Connor. Walshe allegedly visited the Instagram of one of Ana’s male friends repeatedly. On December 26, 2022, his mother obtained and hired a private investigator to surveil Ana in D.C.

The Swampscott Tides left a voicemail for Walshe’s mother, Diane, but did not hear back for comment.

Walshe searched on Google “What’s the best state to divorce for a man” on December 27, 2022, according to the trial. 

Walshe claimed in interviews later that he had no knowledge of Ana’s affair.

What Was The Murder Case

Following the disappearance of Ana, 39, Walshe told the police that she had flown to D.C. for a work emergency. He said she left the house early in the morning to catch a flight from Boston’s Logan International Airport. The trip had originally been scheduled for January 3.

Police were unable to confirm whether Ana boarded a flight or traveled to the airport on January 1. Investigators did confirm that she had booked a January 3 flight, which she never boarded.

The police also noted at the time that Ana’s credit and debit cards had not been used since January 1. 

Walshe was initially arrested on January 8, 2023 for misleading the police in the investigation into Ana’s disappearance. Police were not able to find evidence that Walshe had visited Swampscott’s CVS or Whole Foods on January 1, 2023, as he previously claimed. 

Surveillance videos later showed that Walshe and his vehicle went to a dumpster around 5:30 p.m. on January 1 in a parking lot, where he disposed of items before returning to his car, according to the prosecutor. 

On January 1, 2023 location data showed an iPhone moving from 330 Paradise Road in Swampscott to Lowe’s and CVS in Danvers, then back to Stop & Shop in Swampscott. Walshe completed a cash transaction for $11.56 at Stop & Shop, according to the trial testimony.

Phone records show that Walshe’s phone stayed at home on January 1, like he claimed but that his oldest child’s cell phone did not, according to Norfolk County Assistant District Attorney Greg Connor.

The phone was tracked later to a Lowe’s, where Walshe is seen on surveillance footage purchasing five 5-gallon buckets, a hacksaw, 48 terry cloth towels, a full-coverage suit, 200 disposable rags, trash bags and cleaning products, according to Connors.

The next day, Walshe had claimed he took one of his children for ice cream in Norwell. Prosecutors said he went to Home Goods and purchased three rugs. 

Cell phone data showed Walshe returned to Swampscott on January 5, 2023 to the corner of an apartment complex, where there is a dumpster, according to prosecutors. They claim that ten trashbags from the dumpster contained blood stains, cleaning materials, a hacksaw, a hatchet, and Ana’s purse, Covid-19 vaccination card and boots.

Bryce Raymond, a Massachusetts state police crime lab DNA analyst, testified that items recovered from the dumpster and trash compactor in Swampscott underwent initial DNA processing.

Dr. Richard Atkinson, a forensic pathologist, testified that stains in a carpet found in a dumpster in Swampscott showed blood clots. 

Saman Saleem, a DNA analyst from the Massachusetts state police crime lab, testified that a tissue from a Swampscott dumpster showed to be from a single female contributor. Ana was 30 nonillion times more likely to be included, he said. Walshe was excluded.

Police had received a search warrant for the Walshe residence. They found blood in the basement as well as a damaged, bloody knife. Walshe pleaded not guilty at the time.

On January 7, a day before Walshe was originally arrested, investigators received an email saying “we have her here with us,” and that Ana would not be returned until she paid $127,000, according to court documents. 

He was arrested again on January 18, 2023, charged with murder and disinterring a body without authority. Prosecutors cited Walshe’s Google search history on multiple devices, including his son’s iPad, which included terms like “How long before a body starts to smell,” “Dismemberment and the best ways to dispose of a body,” “10 ways to dispose of a dead body if you really need to,” “What is the rate of decomposition of a body found in a plastic bag compared to on a surface in the woods,” “How to clean blood from wooden floor,” and “Can you be charged with murder without a body.”

Walshe again pleaded not guilty.

On March 30, 2025, Walshe was indicted on the charges of first-degree murder, misleading a police investigation and “improper conveyance of a human body.” 

On November 18, Walshe changed his plea to guilty of “willfully conveying” his wife’s body and misleading the police.

The trial began on December 1. Before deliberations began, a jury of six women and six men were chosen. 

Prosecutors rested their case on December 10. The Commonwealth called nearly 50 witnesses, including officers who investigated the case, forensic scientists and Ana’s friends. Prosecutors connected Walshe to the items found in the trash processing facility near his mother’s home. They highlighted Walshe’s actions on January 1, 2023 as well. 

The defense rested their case a day later. Walshe did not testify, although it was suggested that he would. Defense attorney Larry Tipton called Walshe a “loving husband and loving father” in his closing statement. Tipton argued that while there was evidence that Walshe lied to police, searched online and disposed of a body, there was no evidence he committed a muder. He claimed Ana died of sudden death syndrome and that Walshe found her dead bed, at which time Walshe panicked.

After deliberating for nearly four hours on Friday following closing arguments, the jurors resumed deliberations on Monday for about two hours before reaching a decision. 

Walshe is expected to be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, which is the mandatory punishment for first-degree murder in the Commonwealth. He is expected to serve additional time for pleading guilty to misleading police and illegally disposing of his wife’s body.