The NBC10 Boston Investigators are learning more about Ana Walshe, a missing mother from Cohasset, Massachusetts, and her husband, Brian Walshe, the man now accused of obstructing the investigation into her disappearance.
A source connected to the investigation said a troubling internet search history related to murder was found on Walshe's electronic devices. New details of the case came out in his arraignment on Monday, with prosecutors saying that investigators found blood and a bloody knife in the basement of the Walshe family's home.
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Meanwhile, the search for Ana Walshe continues. The 39-year-old has not been seen since New Year's Day.
Anyone with information on Walshe's whereabouts is urged to contact detectives at 781-830-4990.
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Court records paint a picture of a man who had a falling out with his father over money — and of a man accused of deception in the past. He was criminally convicted in a case involving selling fake art online.
Brian Walshe is already on probation and home confinement, wearing a monitoring bracelet, awaiting sentencing for a federal case involving the sale of fake Andy Warhol paintings on eBay in 2016.
In letters to the judge in that case, his wife, Ana Walshe, said she met Brian in 2008 and it was "love at first sight." The couple married in 2015 and had three children. She talks about his kindness and describes him as a nurturing and loving dad, but also said he has been deeply affected by his childhood and claimed he was taught to lie and hide. She wrote that he regretted his actions in the past and that he had been focusing on charity work and transforming his life.
During a hearing in that case last summer, Brian Walshe's lawyer told the court Ana, who worked in Washington, D.C., had moved out of the jurisdiction, leaving Brian to take care of their children. But police say the mom of three was home in Cohasset recently. She was last seen on New Year's Day. Her Instagram post on New Year's Eve reads, "Take the risk of optimism."
Brian Walshe is also tangled in a probate case involving his father's home in Hull, Massachusetts, and a will that went missing after his death. According to court records, Walshe's cousin alleges he was the executor of the estate and that Walshe was purposefully excluded from the will after a "severe falling out" with his father and running off with a significant amount of his money.
Those allegations are detailed in court documents filed in the case out of Plymouth Probate & Family Court. In sworn affidavits, friends of Tom Walshe, Brian's father, said that Brian and Tom were estranged over money. One statement described Brian as a "sociopath" and a "very angry and physically violent person." A different witness statement said they had heard from Tom Walshe about Brian's "lack of honesty and integrity."
Brian Walshe claimed that his father had been in the process of making a new estate plan and that it was "highly unlikely" that he would have wanted to leave his only son out of the will.
Brian Walshe entered guilty pleas on three of the charges, including wire fraud, in the art case. He was awaiting sentencing and on probation when his wife disappeared.
Ana Walshe has not been heard from in eight days. NBC10 Boston was able to get in touch with her sister in Serbia on Monday. The family said they are trying to figure out a way to get here, and that their biggest concern is the couple's three children, with their mother missing and their father behind bars.
A judge set Walshe's bail at $500,000 cash. His only charge at this point in the current investigation is misleading police.
