Ana Walshe appears in a photo that police released during her missing person’s case. On left, officers are taking her husband Brian Walshe out of the police station after his arrest for allegedly misleading them in their search for Ana. (Image of Ana Walshe via Cohasset Police Department; screenshot of her husband via CBS Boston)
A Massachusetts man accused of killing and dismembering his wife over an affair is appealing his 37-month federal prison sentence after he pleaded guilty in a scheme to sell counterfeit Andy Warhol paintings.
Walshe, 49, is appealing his recent art fraud conviction after he was sentenced last month. He pleaded guilty in April 2021 to charges of wire fraud, interstate transportation for a scheme to defraud and unlawful monetary transaction.
The news comes as he awaits trial in the murder of his wife, Ana Walshe, 39. He was indicted last year on charges of murder, misleading a police investigation, obstruction of justice, and improper conveyance of a human body, prosecutors said. A hearing in the murder case was set for May 1 so his recent court-appointed attorney could get up to speed, NBC Boston affiliate WBTS reported.
As Law&Crime has reported, Ana Walshe was reported missing from her home in Cohasset, Massachusetts, on Jan. 4, 2023. Prosecutors said she had been missing since on or about New Year’s Day. Prosecutors believe he dismembered her body and made incriminating internet searches, and police accused him of lying about his whereabouts.
Authorities said they found a bloody knife in the family’s basement. Brian Walshe allegedly spent $450 on cleaning supplies from Home Deport on Jan. 2. He made the Home Depot trip in violation of his probation after admitting to selling fraudulent artwork.
Brian Walshe allegedly claimed Ana Walshe, an executive at a real estate management company based Washington, D.C., had to leave home early on New Year’s Day due to a work emergency, an affidavit said. Prosecutors said she was having a monthslong affair with a man there, CNN reported.
Assistant District Attorney Greg Connor told CNN Brian Walshe suspected his wife of having an affair, visited the Instagram page of one of her male friends, and asked his mother to hire a private investigator to surveil her in Washington, D.C., which his then-attorney disputed.
“Mr. Walshe had no idea that his wife was having an affair until he learned it in discovery in this case,” the attorney, Tracy Miner, said, CNN reported.
Brian Walshe said he went to his mother’s home in Swampscott, Massachusetts, later that day, documents said. He allegedly claimed not to have his cellphone and suggested that one of his sons must have taken and lost it sometime on New Year’s Eve or the following day.
Walshe maintained that he left his mother’s home to run errands for her at Whole Foods and CVS. But police said they did not find him on surveillance footage at the Whole Foods or CVS when he claimed to have been there.
Law&Crime’s Alberto Luperon contributed to this report.
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