Ana Walshe: Timeline of missing Massachusetts mother’s disappearance

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Prosecutors have revealed chilling details of what they allege Brian Walshe was doing in the 72 hours between when his wife Ana was last seen and when she was reported missing.

Ms Walshe, 39, vanished from her home in Cohasset, Massachusetts, in the early hours of New Year’s Day.

Her husband Brian Walshe told investigators she left to catch a flight to Washington DC to deal with a work emergency.

Concerned colleagues reported her missing on 4 January, and Mr Walshe was arrested days later for misleading the police investigation.

He appeared in court on 18 January charged with murder, where prosecutors revealed they had DNA linking Mr Walshe to his wife’s bloodied clothing, and incriminating internet searches he had made on his son’s iPad.

The following timeline dating back to Mr Walshe’s earlier conviction on art fraud is based on information from police statements, a criminal complaint affidavit, prosecutors and defence attorneys.

Brian Walshe’s father Thomas Walshe dies while travelling in India in September.

The elder Walshe, a renowned neurologist, writes Brian out of his will after he had duped his father out of nearly $1m in a real estate deal, according to affidavits provided to the Plymouth Probate Court.

Brian Walshe tries unsuccessfully to have his father’s will declared void, and seizes his father’s expensive art collection, and sell his property, according to court documents.

Dr Fred Pescatore, a longtime family friend, writes in a sworn affidavit that Brian is deceitful and dangerous, adding he had “witnessed firsthand what Brian was capable of”.

“Brian is not only a sociopath, but also a very angry and physically violent person,” Dr Pescatore wrote.

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On 31 October, Brian Walshe is indicted on federal charges of stealing two Andy Warhol paintings, offering them for sale on eBay and delivering counterfeits.

He initially pleaded not guilty to charges including wire fraud and possession of converted goods. In April 2021, he changes his plea to guilty and is placed under house arrest, and must receive permission from authorities in advance.

In evidence that came out after he was charged with murder, Brian Walshe’s internet search history showed he allegedly looked up: “Best state for divorce for a man.”

Ana and Brian Walshe tell the tenants of a rental property in Revere, Boston that they are selling off all of their property portfolio, which included houses in Lynn, Marblehead and Cohasset.

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Mike Silva, who lived at the address with fiancee Mandi, considered himself a close friend of the Walshes, said he was stunned by the news. A cash sale for their apartment had already gone through, he was told.

Friends of Ana Walshe say that she had promised a “big surprise” in the new year.

Friends gather at the Walshe’s Cohasset home to celebrate the new year.

Friend Gem Mutlu told CBS Boston that Mr Walshe had cooked an elaborate meal for guests and described the mood as “festive”.

“There was a lot of looking forward to the new year,” he told CBS Boston. “There was no indication of anything other than celebrating the new year, problems on hold.”

Mr Mutlu said they hugged goodbye and he left at around 1.30am.

According to a police affidavit, Mr Walshe told investigators that his wife had to fly to Washington DC early the next morning for a work emergency. The couple went to bed at around 1.30am.

Mr Walshe’s mother Milanka Ljubicic tells Fox News that her daughter made calls to several family members and friends at around midnight, and again at 1am.

None of the calls were picked up.

Mr Walshe told investigators that he said goodbye to his wife at between 6am and 7am, and she hailed a taxi or ride share service to Logan Boston International Airport.

A babysitter arrived at the home in the afternoon, and he went out to get groceries at around 3pm, he told police.

Mr Walshe further stated that he went to visit his mother in Swampscott, Massachusetts, at 4pm. The trip took longer than he had expected as he said he had lost his cell phone, and claimed one of his sons had taken it.

He said he did some shopping at CVS and Whole Foods and returned at around 8pm. Authorities searched surveillance footage and could not find any evidence that he had been at either store.

During a later court appearance, prosecutors said Mr Walshe used his son’s iPad to google various ways to dismember and dispose of a body that day.

These included “can an ID be made on partial remains?”, “how long before a body starts to smell?”, and  “Can you throw away body parts?”

According to prosecutor Lynn Beland, Mr Walshe was seen on surveillance camera purchasing $450 worth of cleaning products from a Home Depot store in Rockland. The items included mops, buckets, tarps and tape. Mr Walshe did not disclose this to police.

Ms Beland said that Ana Walshe’s phone had pinged on cell towers in the area of their Cossahet home on 1 and 2 January.

Mr Walshe is seen on surveillance footage at the Press Juice Bar in Norwell.

A reciept obtained by the news outlet showed Mr Walshe ordered three children’s size smoothies and two large peanut, banana and honey smoothies at 9.57am. The store is about 15 miles from the couple’s home in Cohasset.

The same day, prosecutors would later allege Mr Walshe again made incriminating searches online.

These included “can you identify a body with broken teeth?”, and “hacksaw best tool to dismember”.

According to prosecutors, Mr Walshe googled “what happens to hair on a dead body?”, “what is the rate of decomposition of a body found in a plastic bag compared to on a surface in the woods?”, and “can baking soda mask or make a body smell good?”

Tishman Speyer, the real estate firm where Ana Walshe works, reports her as missing to Cohasset police.

Officers perform a welfare check at her home, according to the police affidavit.

Mr Walshe gives consent for them to search the property and gives an account of his movements over the previous few days.

Cohasset Police Chief William Quigley issues a statement saying that Ms Walshe is missing, and appeals for help from the public.

Investigators from Cohasset police and Massachusetts State Police begin a massive search operation to comb wooded area around the couple’s home.

A task force set up to check Mr Walshe’s movements on 1 January find no evidence that he was ever at the CVS or Whole Foods stores, as he had claimed.

The Norfolk County Prosecutor’s Office announces Brian Walshe has been arrested and charged with misleading a police investigation.

Mr Walshe is arraigned in the Quincy District Court, where a probable cause affidavit is released.

Prosecutor Lynn Beland says that officers found no evidence that Ms Walshe had taken a cab to the airport, or departed on a flight, on 1 January.

She reveals that a broken knife and blood were found in the basement of the couple’s home.

Mr Walshe had made misleading and conflicting statements about his movements on 1 and 2 January, which had impeded their investigation, Ms Beland said.

Mr Walshe pleads not guilty. He is seen smiling as he is led from the court house. A judge orders him to be held in custody on a $500,000 bond.

Ms Walshe’s disappearance is described as “suspicious”.

The Walshes’ three young sons are placed in the care of the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families.

 Sources tell WBZ-TV that a hatchet, hacksaw and blood are seen at a trash refuse centre in Peabody.

The Norfolk District Attorney’s Office confirms in a statement that items of interest were recovered.

“Search activity conducted north of Boston yesterday resulted in a number of items being collected, which will now be subject to processing and testing to determine if they are of evidentiary value to this investigation,” a press statement says.

A few dozen Cohasset residents gather for an interfaith prayer vigil at the town common. Residents say they are desperate for answers about what happened to Ms Walshe.

“I feel like everyone in the community just feels like they want to do something and need to something, but everyone is feeling a little bit hopeless right now,” Alison Sheerin tells CBS Boston.

Washington DC police release an incident report showing Ana Walshe filed a complaint in 2014 stating that her husband had threatened to kill her and a friend.

Ms Walshe, who was then known by her maiden name Ana Knipp, reported the death threat in August, about a year before she and Brian Walshe married in Serbia.

The case was closed after she refused to cooperate with the police investigation, a spokesperson told The Independent.

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Call logs from the Cohasset Police show that it was the head of security at Ms Walshe’s Washington DC real estate firm who first alerted authorities about her disappearance.

Police received a call from her employer Tishman Speyer at 11.44am on 4 January to request a well-being check.

The caller tells police that the “company has contacted the husband … he has not filed a missing person report”.

The logs appear to contradict comments made by the lawyer representing Ms Walshe’s husband Brian Walshe when he appeared in court last week to be arraigned on charges of misleading police.

Mr Walshe is charged with murder.

Michael Morrissey, the Norfolk District Attorney, said in a video statement on Tuesday that his office has “been involved in an intensive investigation into the fate of Anna Walshe” since she was reported missing on 4 January.

“The continued investigation has now allowed police to obtain an arrest warrant charging Brian Walshe with the murder of his wife.”

Mr Walshe is arraigned at the Quincy District Court on charges of murdering his wife and improper transport of a body.

Prosecutors laid out some of the evidence against him revealing that Mr Walshe made several chilling internet searches on his son’s iPad after his wife was last seen alive.

The searches included specific details on how to dispose of a body, how to clean up a murder scene, and smells and “can you identify a body with broken teeth”?

Prosecutors revealed they had recovered Ana Walshe’s Prada purse, rain boots and her Covid-19 vaccination card from trash cans at an apartment where Brian Walshe’s mother lives.

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It’s alleged Brian Walshe disposed of several trash bags in a dumpster at his mother’s address in Swampscott, including blood-stained towels and rags, and cleaning products.

Some of the items are consistent with the cleaning products purchased by Mr Walshe at a Home Depot store on 2 January.

Lynn Beland, the Norfolk County district attorney, said DNA testing by the Massachusetts Crime Lab was consistent with Ana Walshe’s.

Her DNA was also found on a Tyvek suit that investigators recovered, that Mr Walshe had allegedly purchased on 2 January.

Outside court, defence attorney Tracy Miner released a blistering statement accusing prosecutors of leaking evidence to the media after the court appearance.

“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,” Ms Miner said in a statement to The Independent.

“I am not going to comment on the evidence, first because I am going to try this case in the court and not in the media.”

Ms Miner said it was “easy to charge a crime and even easier to say a person committed that crime”.

“It is a much more difficult thing to prove it, which we will see if the prosecution can do.”