DEDHAM, Mass. (Court TV) — A Massachusetts man was sentenced to life in prison after a jury convicted him of killing his missing wife.
Brian Walshe sits in court during his sentencing on Dec. 18, 2025. (Court TV)
On Monday, a Norfolk County jury convicted Brian Walshe of first-degree murder for the death of his wife, 39-year-old Ana Walshe, rejecting the defense’s theory that Ana died suddenly and Brian discarded her remains in a panic. The jury deliberated for more than five hours over two days before reaching its unanimous decision.
On Thursday, Judge Diane Freniere noted Brian’s “deceitful and manipulative behavior” and “barbaric” acts as she sentenced him to the mandatory life sentence without parole for Ana’s murder. She also sentenced him to 19-20 years for lying to police and three years for improper conveyance of a human body, to run consecutively.
Prosecutors said that Brian murdered his wife on January 1, 2023, and then spent several days trying to conceal the crime before she was ultimately reported missing by her employer on January 4. Surveillance video showed Brian purchasing $450 in cleaning supplies and tarps on January 2.
Investigators testified that Ana was having an affair before her death and had told a friend she planned to leave her husband. Investigators say Brian’s internet search history included things like “how long before a body starts to smell” and “dismemberment and best ways to dispose of a body.”
At the time of Ana’s presumed murder, Brian was on house arrest while awaiting sentencing for a separate fraud case involving the sale of fake Andy Warhol paintings.
