Ana Walshe planned to leave husband Brian Walshe days before death as she feared he would be imprisoned
COHASSET, MASSACHUSETTS: Massachusetts woman Ana Walshe, who was reported missing on January 1 and later presumed dead, allegedly believed that her husband Brian Walshe would be imprisoned, new court documents revealed. She even planned to leave him and move to Washington, DC, just days before her disappearance, according to the papers.
The 39-year-old reportedly told a friend on December 28, 2022, that she was concerned Brian would be incarcerated on charges of art fraud, prosecutors said in court documents as per the New York Post. Ana mysteriously disappeared on January 1 after reportedly having a New Year’s Eve dinner with her husband and his friend. The mother-of-three was eventually presumed dead by officials even though her body is yet to be recovered. Her husband, Brian, stands accused of her alleged murder.
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‘Ana believed he was going to be incarcerated’
As per reports filed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ Statement of Case, “Ana believed [he] was going to be incarcerated on his pending criminal case. Ana told her friend that she intended to relocate her three children to Washington, DC, and was prepared to leave [him].” The court documents also suggested that Ana grew “uncharacteristically emotional and extremely upset” as she confessed to her friend about her concerns involving her husband as well as her plan to move to DC with her children. Ana's confession came just a few days before she was reported missing and possibly killed.
Brian pled guilty to charges related to art fraud in April 2021. He was accused of taking pictures of authentic Andy Warhol paintings with the aim of illegally selling the replicas on eBay, as per the New York Post. He was also charged for selling two fake Warhol paintings in 2016, which he allegedly stole from a friend in South Korea, court documents obtained by Newsweek revealed.
He told his friend that he would sell the painting for him but allegedly stopped answering his calls when he returned to the US. He reportedly sold a painting on eBay for $80,000 to Ron Rivlin, the owner of the Revolver Gallery in California, the largest Andy Warhol gallery in the world. However, Rivlin claimed that the art Brian sold to him did not contain any authentication stamps from the Warhol Foundation. His sentencing related to the art scam case is currently pending.
Brian is facing murder charges in Ana Walshe disappearance case
Nearly a week after his wife’s disappearance, Brian was arrested on January 8 over charges of misleading the police in the investigation into Ana’s disappearance. Officials failed to find any evidence that Brian had been to CVS or Whole Foods in Swampscott on January 1 as he claimed during the investigation. He pleaded not guilty to the charges at the time. Prosecutors alleged that Brian went to Home Depot on January 2 and spent $450 on cleaning supplies. Meanwhile, police obtained a search warrant for the Walshe residence and found blood and a damaged, bloody knife in the basement.
Brian was arrested again on January 18 and charged with murder and disinterring a body without authority. Prosecutors alleged that he beat his wife to death and dismembered her body before disposing of her remains. Authorities revealed Brian's chilling Google search history on multiple devices, which included queries like, “Can you be charged with murder without a body,” “How long before a body starts to smell” and “Dismemberment and the best ways to dispose of a body.” Brian pleaded not guilty to charges once again.
On March 30, Brian was indicted on the charges of first-degree murder, misleading a police investigation, and “improper conveyance of a human body.” During a recent arraignment hearing at the Norfolk Superior Court, prosecutors claimed Brian allegedly killed his wife after suspecting that she was having an affair.