'Damning evidence': Expert explains how investigators can prove Brian Walshe made chilling searches on son's iPad
COHASSET, MASSACHUSETTS: Shocking Google searches made by deceased Ana Walshe's husband, Brian Walshe, were revealed during his arraignment on Wednesday, January 18. Brian allegedly made these searches on his son's iPad. Ana and Brian share three children together.
CNN reported that disturbing searches made on the Internet by Brian on January 1 and 2 include "can you be charged with murder without a body?", "dismemberment and the best ways to dispose of a body", “how long does DNA last?”, “can you be charged with murder without a body?” and “hacksaw best tool to dismember". He also searched "best state for divorce" for men. In total, he made around 20 Google searches, which also include "10 ways to dispose of a dead body if you really need to", "how to clean blood from wooden floor", and "what is the rate of decomposition of a body in a plastic bag compared to on a surface in the wood", according to Business Insider. In the past, it was reported that Brian allegedly searched online for “how to dispose of a 115-pound woman’s body" in the days surrounding Ana's mysterious disappearance.
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'Circumstantial evidence but very damning'
A legal analyst has now weighed in on how investigators can prove it was Brian who made these searches and not his son. Criminal defense lawyer Rachel Fiset, co-founder and managing partner of Los Angeles-based Zweiback, Fiset & Zalduendo LLP, told MEAWW in an email, “Brian may have used his son’s iPad to make the gruesome Google searches because he thought it wouldn’t be searched, but if prosecutors can prove he had access to it, and his fingerprints were on it, then it is most likely he made the searches, and not one of his 2, 4, or 6 year-old sons. While this is circumstantial evidence, it is very damning. The reason investigators take computers is to find evidence that looks exactly like this. To get around the hearsay of the searches, forensic experts will need to authenticate the searches, and prosecutors will use the searches as party admissions from Brian that he committed the crime. They’ll have to prove that this is reliable evidence and show that he couldn’t have meant something else, or that it was a misspelling."
Fiset added, "Assuming all evidence was properly handled by the police, the bloody knife found in the basement, and her belongings found in a dumpster will undoubtedly come into evidence."
Could Brian be freed on bail?
Brian has been charged by prosecutors in connection with his wife's death. "The continued investigation has now allowed police to obtain an arrest warrant charging Brian Walshe with the murder of his wife," Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey reportedly said. Brian has not yet been arraigned on the murder charge. Ana's body has not yet been found although cops have searched the family home, backyard, and other areas of Cohasset. Police gathered various pieces of evidence together for weeks, which eventually led to Brian being charged with his wife's murder.
“I don’t think a judge is going to set bail for Brian Walshe. He’s a clear danger to the community and he’s already a felon on supervised release. The authorities have everything they need to obtain a conviction except a body. They have the bloody knife in the basement, they have the incriminating Internet search history, they have Walshe lying about his wife’s whereabouts and his own whereabouts. If his wife just took off in a ‘Gone Girl’-type situation, it’s the most elaborate frame job ever," Trial lawyer and former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani, president of West Coast Trial Lawyers, told MEAWW. “It’s probably just a matter of days before authorities find Ana Walshe's body, and then they’ll have everything sewn up in this case.”
Cops had found a broken knife and blood in the basement of the couple’s home, a prosecutor said. Materials including a hacksaw, torn-up cloth material, and what appear to be bloodstains were also recovered as evidence. Fox News reported that Brian's DNA was found on a Tyvek suit along with several other items.
Fiset said she believes Brian, who has now pleaded not guilty to murder, will plead guilty at some point. "Brian’s defense attorneys will try to argue that everything is circumstantial. That investigators don’t have the body, can’t show the body, and don’t have videos of Brian committing the crime. But, the cameras are starting to place him at the scene, and when you combine that surveillance footage with the evidence they do have, I don’t see a lot going in Brian's favor in this case right now. They found this guy, he did it. At some point, I think he will plead guilty, because his case will be too weak to fight this.”
Brian claimed his wife took a ride to Boston's Logan International Airport and disappeared. Police launched an investigation on January 4, 2023, after they found disturbing circumstances around her disappearance. The 39-year-old mother-of-three immigrated from Serbia and worked in the hospitality industry. Soon after Ana's disappearance, Brian was arrested for misleading investigators and held on $500,000 bail. He pleaded not guilty, but remained in custody. He was eventually charged with Ana's murder.