Brian Walshe held on bail; police found bloody knife in home basement of missing Cohasset mother
COHASSET – Prosecutors said a bloody knife was found in the basement of Brian Walshe, the husband of missing Cohasset woman Ana Walshe, and he allegedly bought hundreds of dollars in cleaning supplies after her disappearance.
A judge ordered Brian Walshe held on $500,000 bail Monday after he was arraigned in Quincy District Court. He is accused of misleading the police during the investigation into the disappearance of his wife.
Monday marks eight days since Ana Walshe was last seen.
Prosecutors said Ana Walshe was reportedly last seen leaving her home around 4 a.m. on Jan. 1 to get a ride to Logan Airport in Boston for a flight to Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. During the trial of on Monday, prosecutors said she never entered the Uber. or Lyft.
Ana Walshe’s cell phone was hit in the area of the home on Jan. 1 and Jan. 2, police said.
In 2018, Brian Walshe was charged with fraud in US District Court after he allegedly sold two fake Andy Warhol paintings. As a result, he is under house arrest pending his sentencing in federal court and is required to report whenever he goes anywhere.
According to prosecutors, Brian Walshe said he went to Whole Foods and CVS on Jan. 1, but there is no surveillance video of the receipts to show he ever went.
“It is also important to note that this is the day Anna went missing,” police said in court documents.
On January 2, he said the only time he left the house was to take his son for ice cream. Prosecutors said surveillance cameras at Home Depot caught him buying about $450 worth of cleaning supplies.
Court documents allege that at Home Depot, Brian Walshe wore a black surgical mask, blue surgical gloves and made a cash purchase.
Investigators executed a search warrant at the home Sunday and said they found blood in the basement along with a broken and bloody knife.
A defense attorney did not seek bail in the case, allowing the federal court to determine whether Brian Walshe violated his house arrest. Instead, the judge agreed to the prosecution’s request for a $500,000 bond.
The I-Team has learned that the couple’s three young children are in custody while the search for their mother continues.
WBZ-TV obtained and verified audio of a voicemail left by Brian Walshe for a friend of his wife. The friend, who lives in Washington, DC where Ana Walshe works, said the voicemail was left on Wednesday. On the same day, she was reported missing to the police.
“Hello, this is Brian Walshe. I hope everything is going well. I was just reaching out to everyone I could. Ana hasn’t been in touch for a few days,” Brian Walshe said on the voicemail. “If you know anyone who may have had contact with him, you know I’m trying to call everyone. I’m sorry to bother you. I’m sure everything is okay.”
Peter Kirby lives in Marshfield and is an old friend of the Walshe family. He called Brian’s arrest and the ongoing search for Anna “absolutely heartbreaking.”
“The Internet is full of people who have decided,” Kirby said. “We were worried that when they didn’t find anything that Brian would become the target, the prime suspect. I’ve known him for years. His biggest fear is that Ana is gone. That’s really heartbreaking.”
Kirby said he was texting Ana Walshe on the Thursday before she disappeared.
“We have to get back to our lives and yet our friend Ana is still missing,” Kirby said. “Our dear friend Brian is in this terrible situation where he’s terrified and heartbroken and stuck in an endless loop of unknowns while the internet decides he’s the bad guy.”
CBSBoston.com staff
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