Case Background Report
Justice Is A Process - Opening Statement
Welcome to our coverage of Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Brian Walshe, a murder case that has gripped the nation since January 2023. This is a case where a 39-year-old mother of three, Ana Walshe, vanished on New Year's Day, and her husband now stands accused of killing and dismembering her. He faces charges of first-degree murder, misleading a police investigation, and improper conveyance of a human body.
Let me be clear from the start: Brian Walshe is presumed innocent. That presumption is not just a nice sentiment - it's the bedrock of our system. The Commonwealth bears the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that Brian Walshe killed his wife. Not probably. Not likely. Beyond a reasonable doubt.
This case has drawn intense media attention for good reason. The allegations are disturbing. Prosecutors claim Brian Walshe murdered Ana in their Cohasset home in the early hours of January 1, 2023, while their three young boys (ages 2, 4, and 6 at the time) were asleep upstairs. They allege he then dismembered her body and disposed of the remains in dumpsters across Massachusetts. Ana's body has never been found.
The prosecution's case relies heavily on circumstantial evidence: Google searches allegedly made on the family's devices about dismemberment and body disposal, purchases of cleaning supplies and tools, blood evidence found in the home, and Ana's personal items discovered in trash facilities. The state also alleges motive - claiming Brian wanted to avoid prison time for a separate federal art fraud conviction and that Ana may have been having an affair.
The defense has pushed back hard. They argue the searches on the son's iPad could have been made by Ana herself. They point out there is no body, no murder weapon, and no direct evidence placing Brian at any alleged crime scene. Defense attorney Larry Tipton has noted that "there is no indication of if she died, how she died" and questioned whether the state can prove murder without a body.
This case raises critical questions we'll be watching closely:
Due Process and Investigation Integrity: The lead investigator on this case was Massachusetts State Trooper Michael Proctor, who was later fired for misconduct in the Karen Read murder case. His vulgar text messages and investigative bias in that case have now put every case he touched under scrutiny. Walshe's defense has secured access to Proctor's communications to examine whether similar bias infected their client's investigation.
Burden of Proof Without a Body: Can the state prove murder beyond a reasonable doubt without recovering Ana Walshe's remains? It's been done before, but it requires the prosecution to eliminate reasonable doubt about whether Ana is actually dead and whether someone else could be responsible.
Digital Evidence and Consent: The defense fought to suppress the Google search evidence, arguing investigators exceeded the scope of consent when they examined Brian's devices during the missing person investigation. Judge Diane Freniere ruled the evidence admissible, but this battle over digital evidence speaks to broader Fourth Amendment concerns about what police can search when you voluntarily hand over your devices.
Presumption of Innocence: As the media has saturated coverage of this case with details about the disturbing Google searches and the allegations of dismemberment, can Brian Walshe get a fair trial? The defense requested a change of venue, arguing the publicity made it impossible to seat an impartial jury in Norfolk County. Judge Freniere denied that motion, ruling that while there was extensive coverage, it didn't rise to the level of "emotionally charged, inflammatory, sensationalistic coverage needed to support a presumption of prejudice."
This is not about whether Ana Walshe deserves justice. Of course she does. A mother of three is missing and presumed dead. That's a tragedy regardless of what happened. But justice isn't served by cutting corners or assuming guilt. Justice is served when the system operates fairly, when investigators follow the rules, when the burden of proof is met, and when constitutional protections are honored.
As of November 2025, jury selection is set to begin on November 18, with trial starting December 1. Brian Walshe was recently found competent to stand trial after a 40-day evaluation at Bridgewater State Hospital following a September stabbing attack in jail that left him unable to participate in his defense preparation.
This report will serve as your comprehensive introduction to the case. We'll walk through the timeline chronologically, examine the evidence the state plans to present, understand the defense's challenges, and identify the legal flashpoints that will determine whether the prosecution can meet its burden. This is Justice Is A Process, and we're here to watch every step.
The last time anyone definitively saw Ana Walshe alive was the evening of December 31, 2022. Brian and Ana Walshe hosted a friend of Brian's for dinner at their home on Chief Justice Cushing Highway in Cohasset, Massachusetts - a seaside town about 20 miles southeast of Boston. The dinner gathering broke up around 1 or 1:30 a.m. on January 1, 2023, after the group rang in the new year together.
According to Ana's longtime friend Abdulla Almutairi, Ana had called him "right before midnight" on New Year's Eve and they "rung in the new year" together by phone. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, Almutairi told reporters. Ana was warm, engaged, present - the same devoted mother and friend he'd known for more than a decade.
After dinner ended in the early hours of January 1, prosecutors allege that Ana made calls to her mother, sister, and maid of honor, but all were unavailable. She was last seen around 4 a.m. that morning in the Cohasset home, according to the timeline presented by authorities.
What happened next is where the Commonwealth and the defense tell radically different stories.
Brian told investigators that Ana woke up early on January 1, got ready, kissed him goodbye, and told him to go back to sleep. He said she told him she had to catch a flight from Boston's Logan International Airport to Washington, D.C., to deal with a work emergency. Ana split her time between Cohasset and D.C., where she worked as a regional general manager for the real estate company Tishman Speyer. She would typically spend weekdays in Washington and fly home to Cohasset for weekends with Brian and their three sons.
Brian claimed Ana usually took an Uber, Lyft, or taxi to the airport and left between 6 and 7 a.m. He said he spent the day at his mother's house in Swampscott, about 45 minutes north of Cohasset, running errands for her including stops at CVS and Whole Foods.
Police could not verify that Brian went to CVS or Whole Foods in Swampscott on January 1 as he claimed. What they did find was surveillance video placing him at a Home Depot in Rockland, Massachusetts on January 2, where he allegedly purchased $450 worth of cleaning supplies in cash, including mops, a bucket, goggles, tarps, a hatchet, and baking soda.
More critically, investigators determined Ana never boarded any flight from Logan Airport on January 1, January 3 (when she had a ticket), or any day thereafter. There is no record of her taking a rideshare to the airport that morning. Her cell phone remained pinging in the area of the Cohasset house until around 3 a.m. on January 2, according to prosecutors.
The most damning piece of evidence against Brian Walshe emerged from digital devices in the home. Prosecutors allege that starting at 4:55 a.m. on January 1 - just hours after Ana was last seen alive - someone using the family's devices made a series of searches that read like a roadmap for disposing of a body.
According to Assistant District Attorney Lynn Beland's presentation at Brian's arraignment, here is the timeline of searches allegedly made on Brian's phone and on an iPad belonging to one of the couple's sons:
January 1, 2023:
January 2, 2023:
January 3, 2023:
When state police confronted Brian about these searches during a January 8 interview at his lawyer's office, the exchange was stark. According to a police affidavit:
"Brian offered no explanation other than the iPad belonged to his son. Trooper D. DiCicco asked if his 6 year old was of average intelligence and Brian stated, 'I'd like to think so'. When told that the searches had no misspelled words he offered no explanation. Attorney Miner offered the possibility that Ana had performed some of the searches on the iPad. I asked Brian to explain how the searches continued into the days that followed, well after he said Ana had left the home. Brian had no explanation and the interview was terminated by Attorney Miner."
On January 4, 2023, Ana Walshe was reported missing by two sources: her employer, Tishman Speyer, and separately by Brian himself. The company became concerned when Ana failed to show up for work and couldn't be reached. Cohasset Police Chief William Quigley confirmed they received the reports and began investigating Ana's disappearance as a missing person case.
Ana's absence was deeply concerning to those who knew her. "Ana is the kind of person to respond," her friend Abdulla Almutairi told FOX 5. "Again, given the extent of what she's doing in the day, she might not respond right away, but she does respond. When her phone has been shut off for a few days, it's concerning."
The concern was amplified by Ana's role as a devoted mother. Almutairi described her work-life balance to The Boston Globe: "You're talking about somebody that worked 50 to 60 hours a week, got an Uber to [the] airport, and took a two-hour flight and then took a cab to Cohasset to spend a day and a half with her kids. She's amazing."
Police began searching the Walshe property and surrounding areas. They found no signs of Ana at the Cohasset home. Searches of wooded areas near the home, a small stream, and pool turned up nothing. In Washington, D.C., where Ana maintained a townhouse in the Friendship Heights neighborhood, Metropolitan Police conducted a welfare check at her residence on the 5300 block of 43rd Street NW, but found nothing out of the ordinary.
"Right now, it's a missing persons investigation," Chief Quigley told reporters. "Whether she needed a little break or some time out, we're just looking for her."
But as the days passed with no sign of Ana, investigators began to focus their attention on discrepancies in Brian's story.
On January 8, 2023, Brian Walshe was arrested on charges of misleading police in their investigation into Ana's disappearance. The evidence against him was mounting:
Brian pleaded not guilty to the misleading investigation charge. But the investigation was only beginning.
Over the next week and a half, investigators conducted extensive searches throughout the North Shore region of Massachusetts. The focus turned to trash facilities and dumpsters, particularly in areas where Brian had traveled in the days after Ana's disappearance.
Police received a search warrant for the Walshe residence. In the basement, investigators found blood and a damaged, bloody knife. Blood was also found in Brian's car. Police noted a plastic liner in the back of his car when Ana was reported missing, but Brian later told investigators he had thrown the liner away.
The breakthrough came at a waste transfer station in Peabody, Massachusetts. In ten trash bags, investigators discovered:
State crime lab testing found DNA from both Ana and Brian on a pair of slippers and a Tyvek protective suit found in the bags. Ana's DNA was also found on tissues.
Prosecutors would later allege that blood was discovered in a dumpster outside Brian's mother's apartment in Swampscott, along with clothing Brian said Ana was wearing when she left the house on January 1.
On January 18, 2023, Brian Walshe was arrested again and charged with murder and disinterring a body without authority. He was arraigned at Quincy District Court, where he appeared stoic as prosecutors laid out their case in disturbing detail.
Assistant District Attorney Lynn Beland told the court: "Rather than divorce, it is believed that Brian Walshe dismembered Ana Walshe and discarded her body." The criminal complaint alleged that Brian assaulted and beat Ana to death.
Beland presented the timeline of Google searches, the evidence found in trash facilities, the blood discovered in the home and car, and Brian's movements in the days after Ana vanished. She noted that prosecutors allege Brian wanted to end the marriage but chose murder over divorce.
Brian Walshe pleaded not guilty. His defense attorney, Tracy Miner, suggested the prosecution's case was weak. "In my experience, where, as here, the prosecution leaks so-called evidence to the press before they provide it to me, their case isn't that strong," Miner said in a statement. "When they have a strong case, they give me everything as soon as possible. We shall see what they have and what evidence is admissible in court, where the case will ultimately be decided."
The judge ordered Brian held without bail.
On March 30, 2023, a Norfolk County grand jury indicted Brian Walshe on charges of first-degree murder, misleading a police investigation/obstruction of justice, and improper conveyance of a human body. The indictment moved the case from Quincy District Court to Norfolk County Superior Court.
District Attorney Michael W. Morrissey emphasized the presumption of innocence in his statement: "This is only a step in a long process, during which Brian Walshe enjoys the constitutional presumption of innocence and all of the protections afforded him under the Constitution."
On April 27, 2023, Brian Walshe was arraigned in Norfolk County Superior Court and pleaded not guilty to all charges. At this hearing, prosecutors revealed additional details:
Defense attorney Tracy Miner countered the prosecution's notion that Brian was trying to cash in on Ana's life insurance policies, arguing this was speculative without evidence Brian knew about the affair.
Understanding Ana Walshe is essential to understanding what was lost when she disappeared. This wasn't just a "missing person." This was a 39-year-old woman who had built an American dream through determination, intelligence, and relentless work ethic. She was a mother who structured her entire professional life around maximizing time with her three young sons. She was a Serbian immigrant who came to this country seeking opportunity and found it through excellence in the hospitality and real estate industries.
Ana Ljubičić was born in Belgrade, SR Serbia, in 1983. She was raised in Belgrade, where she attended the Fifth Belgrade Gymnasium and obtained a bachelor's degree in French language and literature from the University of Belgrade.
She emigrated to the United States in 2005, eventually becoming a dual citizen. According to longtime friend Carrie Westbrook, Ana came to the U.S. on summer work visas, going back and forth between Serbia and Washington, D.C.
She found her first work in the American hospitality industry at The Inn at Little Washington, a renowned luxury inn in Virginia. From there, her career trajectory was one of steady, impressive climb.
Ana's professional path showed remarkable dedication and upward mobility:
Her ascent in the competitive hospitality and commercial real estate industries was remarkable. Tishman Speyer manages some of the most prestigious properties in the world, including Rockefeller Center. Ana's role required splitting her time between Washington, D.C., and Massachusetts - a demanding schedule she maintained while raising three young children.
Ana met Brian Walshe while working at The Wheatleigh Hotel in Lenox. Friend Alissa Kirby of Washington, D.C., told Boston 25 that Ana always described Brian "as her best friend, you know, that they were very close, love at first sight."
They married in 2016. Wedding photos show a radiant Ana in a white strapless dress and veil, Brian kissing her cheek as she smiles, clutching a bouquet of flowers. Another photo captures them crossing a street hand in hand, Brian holding the bouquet.
The couple had three sons together - ages 6, 4, and 2 when Ana disappeared. By all accounts from friends and colleagues, Ana was deeply devoted to her children. She structured her professional life around them, working long weeks in D.C. and then flying home to maximize every possible hour with her boys in Cohasset.
"You're talking about somebody that worked 50 to 60 hours a week, got an Uber to [the] airport, and took a two-hour flight and then took a cab to Cohasset to spend a day and a half with her kids. She's amazing."
— Abdulla Almutairi, Ana's friend
Those who knew Ana describe a woman of exceptional character. Friend Pamela Bardhi, who watched the January 18 arraignment hearing, told The Daily Beast the proceedings were "brutal."
"Knowing her, and knowing her spirit and her energy, and hearing what they came out with today, was absolutely horrific. Like, my mind cant even process that a human would do such a thing, to be honest with you... And taking the son's iPad, on top of it? I think of it, and I'm like, 'How? How? How? How?'"
— Pamela Bardhi
Ana's employer, Tishman Speyer, released a statement emphasizing their regard for her: "We are actively assisting the local authorities in their ongoing search for our beloved colleague, Ana, and are praying for her safe return."
Ana maintained an active presence on social media, sharing her love for her family, her work, and her personal style. Her LinkedIn and Facebook profiles documented her professional achievements and personal milestones - a woman proud of how far she'd come and eager to share her journey.
Ana and Brian owned multiple properties together throughout Massachusetts. According to neighbors and former tenants, the couple bought and sold several properties, including the house on Jerusalem Road in Cohasset where they once lived. That property caught fire in January 2023, but state and local investigators determined the fire was accidental.
Former tenant Mike Silva, who rented from the Walshes, told NewsCenter 5 the couple seemed to move frequently. "They never stayed at a property for more than a year, so I figured maybe they're running from something or hiding for something," Silva said.
In late 2022, just weeks before Ana vanished, the Walshes were in a rush to sell properties. Mike and Mandi Silva, who rented a Revere condo from the Walshes, said they had the unit sold out from under them days before Ana was reported missing.
Prosecutors revealed that Ana had life insurance totaling over $2.7 million, with Brian named as sole beneficiary. This detail would later factor into the state's theory of motive.
Ana's disappearance garnered significant attention in her home country of Serbia. Serbia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs communicated through the Serbian consulate-general in New York with the Norfolk District Attorney's office to provide Ana's mother with non-publicly available information about the investigation's progress.
Ana's mother, Milanka Ljubicic, lived to see her daughter's success but would never see her again after New Year's Day 2023. In a cruel irony, Ana had written to a federal judge in 2021 that Brian had saved her mother's life after Milanka suffered a "major neurological event." "Brian was the one who heard my mother's sighs for help within seconds and immediately called me and emergency," Ana wrote. "Now, months later, she has made about 95% recovery and she keeps repeating that she wouldn't be here if it weren't for her son-in-law, Brian."
To understand this case, we need to understand the man charged with murder. Brian Walshe's life before Ana's disappearance was marked by affluence, art dealing, federal fraud, and a pattern that some who dealt with him describe as calculated deception.
Before Brian Walshe ever faced murder charges, he was a convicted felon. In April 2021, Brian pleaded guilty in federal court to one count each of wire fraud, interstate transportation for a scheme to defraud, possession of converted goods, and unlawful monetary transaction.
The scheme was elaborate and spanned years. Here's how it unfolded:
While visiting a friend in South Korea, Brian told the victim he could sell some of the art for a good price. The victim, trusting Brian, let him take two Andy Warhol "Shadow" paintings and other fine art pieces. According to diary entries prosecutors later used as evidence, Brian's intentions were clear from the start.
One entry from March 29, 2011 reads: "Went to Uslan, saw (Victim 2). Had nice BBQ. Then we took all the art from Uslan and drove to Seoul. Got zero sleep, The(y) want to sell all the art. Let's see what happens. I will make this deal work. They have stuff that is good. (Victim 2) and his family are all about themselves. Makes it easy for me to do them up. Whatever. Th(y) can eat it!"
The passage reveals Brian's mindset: he viewed his friend's trust as an opportunity to defraud.
In May 2011, Brian sold the authentic Warhol paintings to a gallery in New York City for a substantial sum. Those paintings passed through multiple hands and were eventually sold to buyers outside the country. To date, the government has not recovered the original Shadow paintings.
Sometime in 2011, Brian obtained replica Shadow paintings from an artist who did not know Brian's purpose. In 2015, he sold that set to another victim in France.
In early November 2016, Brian listed two Andy Warhol "Shadow" paintings on eBay for $100,000. The listing was professional and convincing. It included a picture of an invoice showing Warhol Foundation numbers and a purchase price of $240,000. "We are selling 2 Andy Warhol paintings from our private collection. We are parting with these pieces only because we need the money for renovations to our house. Our loss is your gain," the listing read.
The buyer was Ron Rivlin, owner of Revolver Gallery in West Hollywood, California, known as the largest Andy Warhol gallery in the world. Rivlin wanted the pieces and negotiated to buy them off eBay for $80,000 to avoid transaction fees.
On November 7, 2016, the deal was done at the Bristol Lounge in Boston's Four Seasons hotel between Brian and Rivlin's assistant. Brian received a cashier's check for $80,000, which he deposited that same day. He immediately paid off nearly $25,000 in credit card bills and withdrew $33,400 over the following 14 days.
The next day, November 8, Rivlin's team removed the paintings from their frames. They found no Warhol Foundation authentication stamps. The canvases and staples looked new. When compared to the eBay listing photos, the paintings didn't look identical. Rivlin concluded they were fakes.
Rivlin repeatedly tried to contact Brian, who initially didn't respond, then made excuses for delays in refunding the money. Only after Rivlin contacted Brian's mother and then Ana at her workplace did Brian finally respond via email on November 16, more than a week after the fraud was discovered.
Ron Rivlin's description of Brian is chilling in its assessment of calculated manipulation. "He's very tactful in how he plays the legal system," Rivlin told Boston 25. "It's been over 6 years and he's avoided sentencing this long."
Rivlin described Brian's demeanor as "charismatic, articulate, and professional" at first, but said Brian became "unreachable" after delivering the fake paintings until Rivlin involved Ana and the FBI. "He would only cooperate when he was forced to," Rivlin said.
"I've bought over a thousand Warhols and this is the one and only acquisition that got by me. He was that good. What happened to me is telling of [Walshe's] masterful ability to coerce people."
— Ron Rivlin
When Rivlin spoke with Ana by phone while trying to get his money back, he said she was kind and seemed unaware of her husband's illegal dealings. After Ana disappeared, Rivlin told WBZ: "It's incredibly sad to learn that Ana is missing. As a parent of young children, I'm having a hard time processing this and hope that she is found and reunited with her family."
Brian was arrested on May 9, 2018, for the art fraud scheme. He pleaded guilty in April 2021 as part of a plea deal. Originally, sentencing was scheduled for August 2, 2021, before Judge Douglas P. Woodlock.
That initial sentencing hearing was remarkable. According to official transcripts, Judge Woodlock appeared touched by the work Brian had done to better himself. While acknowledging there were "aspects of the defendant's past life that would tell me that the defendant ought to spend time in jail," Woodlock noted Brian had undergone something of a "transformation" that could be dated "more or less with the defendant's marriage."
Woodlock was prepared to sentence Brian to time served - essentially no additional jail time beyond what he'd already spent in custody. But then something happened: a restitution check from Brian bounced. The government began a new investigation to determine if Brian had hidden assets to avoid paying his victims back, including funds allegedly taken from his late father's estate.
The sentencing was delayed. And delayed again. And again. The delays stretched on for more than two years, with probate matters over his father's estate and other issues continually pushing back the reckoning.
By the time Brian Walshe was finally sentenced on February 20, 2024, he had already been charged with murdering his wife. U.S. District Court Judge William G. Young sentenced him to 37 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and ordered him to pay $475,000 in restitution to his three victims.
The sentencing was at the low end of federal guidelines, but a far cry from the time-served sentence he nearly received in 2021. Prosecutors argued that Brian's crime "was not based on a one-off lapse in judgment, but based on a pattern of lies, deceit, and fraud." They said he had misrepresented his finances to the court while his case was pending.
At the hearing, Brian spoke briefly: "I appreciate being offered the opportunity. At this time I don't have anything to add, but thank you very much."
Federal prosecutors revealed that Brian had failed to disclose assets in three categories: assets in Ana's name, money from his mother that went to pay for his attorneys and directly to Brian, and money and property he allegedly stole from his father's estate.
Defense attorney Tracy Miner asked for time served, arguing Brian had turned himself around. "He was doing things for charity. He was taking care of his mother. And once he accepted responsibility, he did it wholeheartedly," Miner said.
But Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy E. Moran countered: "The bottom line is, there are money and assets that are gone. The money did not go to the victims."
The judge's sentence will run concurrently with any state prison sentence Brian receives if convicted in the murder case.
Brian's lifestyle before Ana's death was, according to sources, affluent beyond what his legitimate means could support. Sources told Boston 25 that Brian used to host dinners for groups in Boston costing $20,000 and more. He claimed to have made his money creating a software program in college.
At the time of Ana's disappearance, Brian was on home confinement with an ankle monitor, awaiting sentencing in the federal art fraud case. He was supposed to report his planned movements to authorities. Prosecutors later alleged he made the unplanned trip to Home Depot to buy cleaning supplies without authorization.
Perhaps the most tragic element of Brian's history is how Ana defended him. In June 2021, Ana wrote a letter to the federal judge handling Brian's art fraud case, describing Brian as a wonderful stay-at-home father. "We are all looking forward to the new chapter of his life," she wrote.
Ana recounted how Brian had saved her mother's life in 2021 after Milanka suffered a major neurological event. "Brian was the one who heard my mother's sighs for help within seconds and immediately called me and emergency. Now, months later, she has made about 95% recovery and she keeps repeating that she wouldn't be here if it weren't for her son-in-law, Brian."
Her mother also wrote a letter to the court, crediting Brian with saving her life.
Less than two years later, Brian would be charged with Ana's murder.
Report Prepared: November 16, 2025