24 Jan The murder of Ana Walshe has lawyers raising questions, poking holes in case against husband Brian
Fox News
By Stephanie Pagones, Chris Eberhart
January 20, 2023
QUINCY, Mass. – Local and high-profile criminal defense attorneys – including the lawyer who successfully cleared her client, Barry Morphew, of murder charges – are casting doubt on the strength of the prosecutors’ case against accused wife-killer Brian Walshe, with one arguing: “There’s no direct link.”
Walshe, 47, appeared in a Massachusetts court on Wednesday morning to face new charges in connection with the disappearance and presumed death of his wife, 39-year-old Ana Walshe. The previously convicted art swindler has so far been charged with murder, improper transport of a body and misleading a police investigation.
A non-guilty plea was entered on his behalf, and he was ordered held without bond.
During Wednesday’s hearing, Assistant District Attorney Lynn Beland described 20 instances in which Brian had conducted Google searches after Ana Walshe’s alleged Jan. 1 disappearance.
Search inquiries were allegedly related to body parts, dismembering or disposing of remains, and tracking evidence. Investigators also allegedly found evidence of Ana Walshe’s DNA and blood on materials Brian Walshe had tried to discard, Beland said.
And on Dec. 27, Brian Walshe Googled, “What’s the best state to divorce for a man?” Beland told the court.
“Rather than divorce, it is believed that Brian Walshe dismembered Ana Walshe and discarded her body,” she added.
Internet sleuths and true crime fanatics were quick to pin Walshe a “monster” and argued that this “won’t be a difficult case at all.”
Iris Eytan has successfully represented several clients accused of murder in cases that resulted in their acquittal or the dismissal of their charges. Most recently, she represented Barry Morphew, the man accused of killing his wife, Suzanne Morphew, in May 2020.
Her defense led to the dismissal of a first-degree murder charge and revealed details of possible prosecutorial misconduct. Suzanne’s body has not been found, and no one has since been charged with her death.
Speaking to Fox News Digital on Wednesday, Eytan argued that there were holes in prosecutors’ timeline and questions regarding what happened in the hours leading up to Walshe’s disappearance, and the subsequent events.
“Certainly, the defense and the public, we don’t know anything other than four minutes of a prosecutor reading off a yellow piece of paper with her handwriting,” Eytan said. “That’s all we know.”