Brian Walshe sentenced to life in prison for murdering and dismembering his wife

Brian Walshe was sentenced Thursday to life in prison without the possibility of parole after a Massachusetts jury found him guilty of killing and dismembering his wife, the mother of his three children, with the judge calling his actions “barbaric and incomprehensible.”

His wife, Ana Walshe, disappeared on January 1, 2023, at the age of 39. His body has not been found.

Brian Walshe, 50, pleaded guilty last month for improperly disposing of her body and lying to police after her disappearance. He had changed his statement on the two charges before jury selection for the trial began, although he maintained that he did not kill her.

A Norfolk County jury found Brian Walshe guilty of first-degree murder Monday after deliberating for about six hours over two days.

He faced a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole after being convicted of first-degree murder.

Judge Diane Freniere He said the sentence, the only one appropriate under the law, is “immensely appropriate and just, given his murderous acts and the life trauma he has inflicted on his own children.”

He said that because of his lies to police, “thousands of hours of investigative resources were wasted, diverted from other deserving cases,” and that his “acts in dismembering his wife’s body and disposing of her remains in trash bins in multiple areas can only be described as barbaric and incomprehensible.”

“He failed to take into account the lifelong mental damage that his criminal acts inflicted on his children who were then ages 2, 4 and 6,” he said, noting that “they will never be able to adequately mourn that loss to say goodbye to their mother.”

She handed down consecutive sentences on all three charges, with up to 20 years for lying to police and up to three years for illegally disposing of his wife’s body.

Ana Walshe’s sister addressed the court before the sentencing and said the “incomprehensible act” had left her and her mother with an “unbearable emptiness.”

His sister, Aleksandra Dimitrijevic, asked the court to take into account the “lasting” impact his murder will have on his children when passing sentence.

“The most painful part of this loss is knowing that her children must now grow up without their mother’s hand to hold them,” she said. “They now face a life full of milestones, large and small, in which their absence will be deeply and painfully felt.”

The Commonwealth argued that each of the three counts “requires a severe penalty” and called for Brian Walshe to be sentenced consecutively, while the defense responded that consecutive sentences would be “inappropriate and inhumane.”

Prosecutor Greg Connor suggested that the word inhumane “describes the defendant’s actions and the depravity of his actions: murdering his wife, dismembering her, and disposing of her remains by throwing her away like trash.”

Connor said those actions deprived Ana Walshe’s family of a grave and memorial.

The judge said she had received and reviewed sentencing memoranda from prosecutors and the defense, as well as multiple written victim impact statements. One filed on behalf of Ana Walshe’s children by the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families conveyed the “devastating impact on her children,” the judge said.

“It is clear to me that Ana was a bright light in many people’s lives. She lifted people up,” the judge said.

Freniere said he also considered a letter submitted by Brian Walshe’s mother on his behalf, but said he “simply cannot reconcile the person Diana Walshe describes in her letter with the person who stands before me for sentencing.”

“Mr. Walshe, you will live with the guilt and weight of Ana Walshe’s death for the rest of your life,” Freniere said before sentencing him to life in prison.

Brian Walshe did not testify during the two-week trial in Dedham and the defense did not call any witnesses.

Defense lawyers said during the trial that Brian Walshe did not kill his wife, but rather found her dead in bed on New Year’s Day 2023 (calling her death sudden and unexplained) and then panicked and lied to police as they investigated her disappearance.

Prosecutors said Brian Walshe premeditatedly murdered and dismembered his wife and then disposed of her remains in trash bins. His devices’ Internet history on Jan. 1, 2023 included searches such as “best way to dispose of a body,” “how long should someone be missing an inheritance” and “best way to dispose of body parts after a murder,” prosecutors said.

Evidence presented during the trial included surveillance footage of a man believed to be Brian Walshe purchasing tools and other supplies at Lowe’s on Jan. 1, 2023. A receipt showed the items, including a hacksaw, knife, hammer, scissors, a Tyvek suit, shoe protectors, rags and cleaning supplies, totaling $462, were purchased with cash.

Additional surveillance footage presented in court showed someone throwing trash bags into trash containers over several days in early January 2023.

Several bloodstained items recovered from dumpsters by investigators, including a hacksaw, a piece of carpet, a towel and hair, and an unknown fabric, were linked to Ana Walshe through DNA testing, a Massachusetts State Police Crime Laboratory forensic scientist testified during the trial.

Ana Walshe was reported missing by her employer on Jan. 4, 2023. Brian Walshe told police at the time that he had a “work emergency” at his job in D.C. and left his Cohasset home on New Year’s Day, according to audio of his interview played in court.

Jurors heard testimony, including from a D.C. man Ana Walshe was with having an affair, that the mother of three was upset about being so far from her young children, who were 2, They were 4 and 6 years old at the time and there was stress in the marriage.

At the time, Brian Walshe and his three children were living in Massachusetts while he awaited sentencing in a federal fraud case after pleading guilty to a scheme to sell counterfeit Andy Warhol paintings. He was finally sentenced in that case to 37 months in federal prison.

Freniere said Thursday that it is her understanding that the federal sentence will be concurrent with the one she imposed.

Brian Walshe’s lawyers did not address reporters gathered outside the court after the sentencing. Prosecutors also declined to comment.