In the latest hearing in the Ana Walshe murder case, Brian Walshe’s attorneys discussed a motion for information on Massachusetts State Trooper Michael Proctor, who led the investigation as well as the one that led to Karen Read being charged in John O’Keefe’s death.
The Cohasset, Massachusetts, man accused of killing his wife made a brief appearance in court on Wednesday.
Ana Walshe was reported missing in January of 2023, and a few weeks later, her husband Brian Walshe was arrested on charges including murder, misleading an investigation and improperly moving a human body.
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He's now being held without bail and a trial date has not yet been set.
At Wednesday's hearing Brian Walshe's legal team requested the case be continued to Dec. 2 to give them time to go through a large amount of discovery to refine their motion before making arguments. With no objections from prosecutors, Judge Beverly Cannone approved the continuance.
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At the last hearing in the case back in June, prosecutors gave an update on the discovery process, which they said was still ongoing.
Norfolk County Assistant District Attorney Greg Connor told the court that he had received all of the crime lab materials, and planned to file a notice of discovery, with the exception of the state DNA lab testing. He said the DNA lab expected to finish testing on their items at the end of this month, and he will file another notice of discovery afterwards.
Those DNA results were not discussed in court Wednesday.
The Walshe case is one of the most high-profile murder cases in the area in recent years. Ana Walshe was first reported missing just a few days into 2023, and as the search for her grew more desperate, her husband Brian began facing charges. He was first charged with misleading police, and eventually murder. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The 39-year-old mom of three's body was never recovered. Prosecutors alleged that Brian killed her in their Cohasset home early New Year's Day, dismembered her body and discarded it into the trash.
Brian allegedly made a series of Google searches on their son's iPad that centered around discarding of a body.
Prosecutors will likely need to lean on digital evidence — including DNA lab testing and internet searches — to try and secure a conviction from a jury, since Ana's body was never found, criminal justice experts have told NBC10 Boston.
During the search for Ana, law enforcement eventually found in a dumpster near Brian's mother's house pieces of clothes and jewelry that Brian Walshe said she was wearing when she left their house early New Year's Day, along with a hacksaw that had a bone fragment in, prosecutors have said.
The case officer in the Walshe murder investigation was Massachusetts State Trooper Michael Proctor — the trooper who also managed the John O'Keefe murder investigation, and was suspended without pay for his unprofessional conduct that came to light in Karen Read's trial. Prosecutors have already announced that Proctor will not testify in the Walshe trial.
