Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Husband's Art Fraud Connected to Anna Walshe Disappearance?

Episode Date: May 25, 2024

Cohasset man Brian Walshe has been indicted for the murder of his wife, Ana Walshe, who vanished in early January after a New Year's Eve party. Prosecutors say the 48-year-old husband dismembered Ana Walshe and discarded her body in multiple trash cans in the area. Police have recovered blood-stained items from the home, including a hacksaw. Walshe has pleaded 'not guilty' to first-degree murder, but he's headed to jail anyway.   A Massachusetts federal judge sentenced Brian Walshe to three years in prison for art fraud.   He was ordered to serve 37 months in prison. He'll have three years of supervised release after, if he is not serving time for the murder of his wife.  Joining Nancy Grace Today: David Studdard - Spalding County, Ga. Assistant District Attorney; Former Police Officer  Caryn Stark - Psychologist; Twitter: @carnpsych Tom Ruskin - Private Investigator, President of the CMP Protective and Investigative Group, Inc.; Former New York City Police Detective Investigator; Twitter: @tomruskin  Julie Lewis - President & CEO, Digital Mountain, Inc. Dr. Kendall Crowns - Chief Medical Examiner Tarrant County (Ft Worth); Lecturer: University of Texas Austin and Texas Christian University Medical School Bob Ward - Reporter for Boston 25 News; Twitter: Bward3, FB: Bob Ward Boston 25 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Delay, delay, delay. A defense attorney's best friend. I'm talking about Brian Walsh. Remember that name? Brian Walsh is charged in the murder of his wife, Anna, the mother of his children. If you'll recall, her body has never been found. Brian Walsh claimed that his gorgeous young wife left on a weekend, a holiday weekend, to go back to work, headed for the airport. Well, that didn't happen. Brian Walsh now charged with Anna's murder, even though, as I said, her body hasn't been found. But in the last hours, Brian Walsh

back in court. He's had his first hearing in some time regarding the murder of his wife, Anna. His lawyers also in federal court appealing a sentence recently handed down over art fraud. While in court in Norfolk Superior Court, Massachusetts, lawyers for both sides decided that the defense needs to, quote, catch up on the evidence in the murder case. Translation, they're not ready. But what does art fraud have to do with the murder of Anna Walsh and the possible dismemberment of her body? I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thanks for being with us. As you will recall, Brian Walsh accused of murdering his wife New Year's Day 2023 and lying about where she went.

He was just sentenced in Boston's federal court in a separate art fraud case. Now, the judge sentenced Brian Walsh to 37 months, a little over three years, on each art fraud to run concurrently or at the same time. That jail sentence will also run concurrently to any state sentence he may get in the murder of his wife. Let me jog your memory regarding the murder of Anna Walsh. What exactly happened? Glamorous, elegant, could speak several languages, had traveled abroad, just a beautiful woman and a loving mother. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us here at Fox Nation and Sirius XM 111. Friends and family were stunned when Anna disappears after a New Year's Eve party. Listen. New tonight, police are asking the public to help them find a Cohasset,

Massachusetts mother of three who vanished without a trace on New Year's Day. 39-year-old Anna Walsh left her home early Sunday morning. She was supposed to take a flight from Logan to D.C. where she works during the week, but there's no record of her ever boarding a flight. Police say there's been reports that she took a ride share, but investigators haven't been able to confirm that. Three days after she was seen leaving her home with bags in hand, Walsh was reported missing. We cannot confirm that she actually got into a ride share in Cohasset. We can further, we have confirmed with the airlines, and that's been a challenge, that she did not board a plane this week.

Police say her phone has been off and there has been no activity on her credit or debit cards. Just a loving wife and mother to, she always says, three beautiful boys, three beautiful boys, who she loves so much. Three little boys wondering, where is mommy? And Mother Dove, she always says three beautiful boys, three beautiful boys. So she loves so much. Three little boys wondering where is mommy? You are hearing our friends at WPRI and WUSA.

So where's Anna? Now, I had to take that exact flight very often. And between New York and Boston and D.C., it's almost a triangle of hourly flights. It's with me, an all-star panel to make sense of what we know right now. But first, I want to go to Bob Ward, reporter for Boston 25 News. You can find him at Twitter at BWard3. Bob, thank you for being with us. Could you just verbalize that a little bit better than I did? I mean, I know out of in New York

I would very often have to race from Court TV to get to the Marine Air Terminal at LaGuardia different terminal than the main LaGuardia terminal because they had hourly flights not only to Atlanta but to DC where I would go to shoot Larry King. And believe it or not, they were so regular, almost like a bus for Pete's sake. I could be there within two hours of leaving the studios in Manhattan. It was amazing. But there's so many flights out of Logan to New York and D.C. That's a lot of investigation to find out if she really did get on a plane. Right. But, you know, Nancy, right from the very beginning, this sounded odd because you're

talking this was New Year's Day. This was first thing in the morning on New Year's Day. She had a party at her house that went until about one o'clock in the morning, New Year's Eve, into New Year's Day. A of three that who claimed there was an emergency at her realty firm in washington dc okay wait let me let me let me stop right there bob ward is joining me from boston 25 news i'm drinking out of the fire hydrant from you bob ward you're giving me so much information so quickly so with the three children, she was actually working in D.C., living in the Boston area. And what was her job in D.C.? Was it a new job? It was a fairly new job. You know, we're still trying to unpack some of this stuff, but she had she had a job with an apartment down

in D.C. OK, what was her job in D.C.? I'm not clear on what her job was she was not a realtor but she was some kind of property manager that's it that's what it was property manager and hold on just a moment uh we all know about getting a new job you feel like you've got to do whatever they want to make that great impression so they don't say wow we've got her on six months probation we're to can her. She's not doing a very good job. I mean, David Studdard is with me right now, guys. Now, I think of David Studdard as a motorman, as an APD Atlanta Police Department officer, but now he is a very well-known lawyer. David Studdard, do you remember your first day on the job as a cop? Absolutely,

I do. And? It was a long time ago, 1988. And? I do remember my first day, and I was super excited, super enthusiastic, and just wanting to get out and save the world. And didn't want to screw anything up and land at some desk assignment. That's right. We were on a very strict six-month probationary period when we first started there. And any infraction would cause you some difficulty right quick.

So to your point, absolutely. I was willing to do whatever I needed to do to get through that probationary period. And then you put yourself through law school.

Can you remember your first day working as a lawyer? You're like, man, I better not screw this up. This is nothing like being a cop.

That's absolutely right. The same sort of feeling. I mean, Karen Stark, you remember you would be with me on the set at Court TV. Karen Stark is with me, a renowned psychologist joining us out of the Manhattan jurisdiction. She's at KarenStark.com, Karen with a C. Karen, you'd be with me on the set at Court TV and my stomach would be churning to figure out if I can make that flight to get to Larry King Studios in Washington to get on the air, you know, and I would make it. I don't think I ever did not make it. But when you've got a new gig, you'll do anything. And if they told me, hey, you got to fly to D.C. to be on tonight, I go, sure. I can't wait. Just like this woman. They go, hey, you got to fly

down to DC. We got an emergency. I don't care if it's New Year's Day. And she would hop that plane. Would you agree with that? I would agree with it, Nancy. And I remember those days like it was yesterday. And you were always doing above and beyond what you needed to do. I used to watch you on Larry King because I couldn't believe that you would make it and you always made it. But what pressure. Yeah, there were a lot of white knuckles in a cab trying to get to LaGuardia Marine.

So we're hearing from Bob Ward that something wasn't right, but yet it was a new job. So people chalked it off. Well, you know, she's proving herself. But then things even went more sideways take a listen to our friends at boston 25 a cohasset police log is shedding new light on how the investigation first got started it says a call requesting a well-being check was made on january 4th

by a man who identified himself as the head of security at honor walsh's employer in dc tishman spire the log says tishman sp Spire contacted husband Brian Walsh before he reported his wife missing. It explains that he told police Anna left for D.C. and he hadn't heard from her since. According to the log, Anna's phone last pinged on January 2nd at 3.14 a.m. in Cohasset and hit the tower on Reservoir Road in Cohasset, less than a mile from the family's home. Okay, with me, very well-known PI, private investigator, Tom Ruskin is with us. Ruskin is president of CMP Protective and Investigative Group, Inc.,

former NYPD investigator, and you can find him at cmp-group.com. Tom Ruskin, I don't like it when it's your job calling to report you missing, not your family. Correct. I mean, this stinks to the high heavens. It really does. Not to mention that it is a lot easier now than when I joined the force before my colleague in 1982 to check flight records, to check TSA records, to check different airlines. There's only a certain number of airlines that would fly between her home and Washington, D.C. And it's very easy for the TSA and Homeland Security to go into those records now and search for her name, her date of birth, and see if she, A, had a plane reservation, B, did she clear security with all the cameras that are in airports,

and C, did she actually get on the flight? Can I tell you something, Tom Ruskin? That's an excellent point. I hadn't even thought of because I remember going, and you'll laugh at this, stutter, going to the Greyhound bus station in inner city Atlanta, trying to find out if a particular woman who always, and to this day is still a Jane Doe, by the way, who was murdered. If she had gotten off of a Greyhound bus before she was murdered by whom I believe to be a serial killer. Don't worry.

I got him on one. One. He's still in jail right now. Prison. Prison. Not jail. But it was so hard to do, Tom. Nancy, you'll also remember when you ran from Court TV to the Marine Air Terminal at LaGuardia Airport, you used to be able to run through.

No magnetometers. You'd run on a Delta flight or People's Express flight or Eastern back then. And you just jump on the flight with a random ticket that you could fly any hour. Nowadays, you can't do that. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. What exactly was the art fraud with which Brian Walsh is charged? It started when a buyer saw two Andy Warhol paintings for sale on eBay. That's really odd, isn't it? It's like seeing the Mona Lisa on eBay.

Okay. The listing included photographs of authentication stamps. Now, the buyer arranged to buy those paintings, part of a shadows series of Warhol's, for 80 grand. But after having an assistant pick the paintings up, the buyer finds out there were no authentication stamps and the canvas looked new. That led to an FBI investigation. But what does that have to do with murder? Did Anna Walsh discover the art fraud? Was she going to testify about the art fraud? Did Brian Walsh murder Anna Walsh, the mother of his children, over art fraud?

Or was it because she was set to leave him? The employer is reporting Ana missing, not her family. But listen to this, WBZ. WBZ has obtained and verified audio of a voicemail left by Mr. Walsh for one of Ana's friends. It's the same day Ana was reported missing to police.

Good afternoon, it's Brian Walsh. I hope all is going well. I was just reaching out to basically everybody I could. Ana hasn't been in touch for a few days. Do you know anyone that might have had contact with her? Just, you know, calling everyone. So sorry to bother you. I'm sure everything's fine. So we do see the husband reaching out to her friends and leaving voicemails for all of them trying to find out if they had heard from Anna. And joining me right now, Julie Lewis, president and CEO of Digital Mountain Inc. at digitalmountain.com. Julie, thank you for being with us. P.I. points out how much easier it is to check flight records through TSA and even getting subpoenas very quickly or asking the carrier, you know, like Delta to check their records

to find out if somebody made a flight. So according to police, she didn't make that flight but what Julie Lewis about rideshare Lyft uber and all the others digitally wouldn't that leave a trail if she had taken a ride share to the airport you can certainly contact the custodian of records at the ubers the Lyft and types of companies that she would have taken a ride share and find out that information with legal due process and see what the actual fact pattern is there. Well, what about her phone? I mean, most people get their ride share through their phone app. If you have access to her, yes, if you have access to her phone and you knew the

whereabouts of that phone, you would have access to the app, but most of that data would be stored in the cloud and pointing up to the Uber application. It might not be stored on the local phone. So that's something to consider. Got a question for you, Julie Lewis. If we don't have her phone, but we do have her code, say it's like everybody else in America, their birthday or their children's birthday, and we have the code for her phone, can we get into the iCloud that way? Typically, you would need the username you would need um a password for the account and you would also if they have multi-factor authentication turned on um that the code uh from the text message it's a little harder than i thought but you know what we're talking about her phone and where is she where is the husband during all of this? Take a listen to our cut 35.

Lynn Beeland talking. Defendant indicated on January 1st that at 3 p.m. he did some errands and went to his mother's house in Swampscott, but lost because he didn't have his phone. He said he knew he was lost when he saw the pirate ship on Route 1. Defendant stayed 15 minutes then went to Whole Foods and CVS. Surveillance was checked, and he did not enter either of those stores.

Okay, Bob Ward, Boston 25 on this, the disappearance of Arnold Walsh, since the beginning, saw a pirate ship on Route 1. What? Okay, now wait a minute. Wait, wait, minute wait wait wait so he says the husband says he's going to visit his mother and he gets lost on the way to his mom's home and when he sees a pirate ship he knows he's lost but then right goes into whole foods and cvs even though he's lost what the pirate ship is a landmark on the Route 1 area.

There's that area of Swampskate where his mother lives. There are some old landmarks, miniature golf places, restaurants, that sort of thing. And I think that's what it was that he's talking about, was a landmark that he saw that told him where he was. And he said he got lost because he didn't have the GPS on his phone with him because he left it at home. You know, Karen Stark, I find that very unusual. I've told my twins it's like the wizards and their wands in Harry Potter. You don't go anywhere without it. Why?

Doesn't make sense to me. He didn't have a cell phone, especially if he hasn't heard from his wife. Wouldn't you keep your cell phone with you at that time in case she called? Well, let's think about this, Nancy. How many people really leave home these days without their phone? It's improbable. I have trouble believing that he accidentally left it home. And he knows that he's being watched, it seems to me. So

he intentionally left that phone home. I have no doubt about it. He's the nefarious character. He knows exactly what he's doing. In the search for Anna Walsh, local authorities find something very unusual. Take a listen to our Cut 40. Data from his phone also tracked his whereabouts on January 3rd. Locations were traveled at 427 on January 3rd to an apartment complex in Abington. Surveillance shows the defendant's Volvo, as well as a male fitting the defendant's appearance, exit a car near the dumpster. He walks to the dumpster carrying a garbage bag. He's leaning, and it appears to be heavy as he has to heft it into the dumpster.

He walks to the dumpster with the garbage bag and leaves it. On 4-48, he hit another complex in Abington, and at 5-10 p.m., cell phone shows, records, at another apartment in Brockton. Video shows a party consistent with his appearance and his Volvo. Again, he dispatched items in the dumpster. Bob Ward joining us from Boston 25 on his disappearance from the very beginning. i don't have a problem with my husband throwing trash out in the dumpster outside our house but when he starts going from one dumpster to the next dumpster to the next dumpster to the next dumpster all in within a one hour period that concerns me and you know who it reminds me? And you're going to know this name very well. Jennifer Dulos, the missing Connecticut mom of five.

Remember her husband, Fotis Dulos, and his mistress? They're going all around town dropping off items. And they're caught on surveillance video. Why is it, Bob Ward, maybe you can shed some light on this. Why is it that when a woman goes missing, her husband suddenly turns into a neatnik and he has to throw out the trash? Good question, Nancy. I think we know the answer to that. And that's the allegation here that the sadly that January 3rd incident that you just played the cut from the dumpsters in the South Shore in Abington and Brockton. What we're going to find out in court, that is when the remains of Anna Walsh are being discarded in those dumpsters.

Those dumpsters eventually are brought to an incinerator in the South Shore of Massachusetts, and within an hour of those dumpsters being brought to that incinerator, they're destroyed. Anna Walsh's remains have never been located and the thought is that they never will be because that's where those bags were brought. The other trash bags that were recovered in this case were brought to the North Shore, near that pirate ship that we just talked about.

And they were not brought to an incinerator but to a landfill. They were found and it's inside, I don't know if I'm getting ahead of us, but inside those trash bags is where the evidence, the incriminating evidence has been located in this case. Bob Ward, could you tell me everything you just said one more time and very slowly? Sure.

I think the gist is that very quickly after husband Brian Walsh visited these various dumpsters, the dumpsters were cleaned out where the trash was picked up and taken some to an incinerator and some to the pirate ship. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait a minute. Wait a minute. Karen Stark, have you ever noticed how defendants weave in a tiny bit of truth into their big fat lie the pirate ship i mean that's what makes pathological liars so interesting nancy is because it's usually based on a hint of truth right like no smoke without fire there's a little bit of smoke, but the rest of it, they conjure up and they're very adept at being able to tell a lie that has a little bit of truth in it, but a lot of falsehood. Did Brian Walsh murder his wife, Anna, the mother of his children, because she knew about more extensive art fraud? Did that exist? Is that motive for murder?

Or was she murdered because she intended to leave Brian Walsh? What more do we know about her murder? Okay, Bob Ward joining me, investigative reporter, Boston 25. Tell me again what you just said. So on January 3rd, Brian Walsh, according to the prosecutors, is recorded on surveillance trying to dump trash bags into dumpsters in the south shore of Boston, in the towns of Abington and Brockton. The prosecution believes that those trash bags that he was struggling with to get into the dumpsters contained the dismembered remains of his wife, Anna Walsh. Shortly after he did that, those dumpsters were brought to an incinerator in the South Shore. Within an hour of those

trash bags arriving at that incinerator, they were incinerated and converted into electricity. And Anna Walsh's remains have never been found. It's an absolutely horrific and gruesome part of this case. The other half of it is that Brian Walsh allegedly did not discard of all the evidence in the case on the South Shore. The allegation is that he took his tools, the instruments that he used to dismember his wife's body, along with some of her clothes and belongings and put them in other trash bags and discarded those things in dumpsters on the North Shore of Boston near his mother's house, near that pirate ship. Those trash bags have been recovered. And those items are going to be an important part of this case in this trial when it takes place.

And what do you believe, Bob Ward, were in those trash bags? In January, what we were told was that they found a hatchet, a hacksaw. They found a bloody rug. They found Anna's Prada purse. They found the boots that she was seen wearing at that New Year's Eve party. And, Nancy, they found her COVID-19 card. It's absolutely stunning what they found. Joining me, former APD Atlanta Police Department officer and now lawyer.

What rank did you get to, Studdard? I left as an investigator. Nancy, I was a homicide detective when I left. Okay. David, have you ever had a case without a body, a homicide without a body? Yes, I have. Can I just say, that's a tough pill to swallow. It is. But fortunately, even in those cases, and this guy, look, you know, as a homicide detective,

I would have been looking at this guy immediately simply based on the fact that his wife gets on an airplane. She's apparently overdue. He hasn't heard from her in three days. Only after he is contacted by her employer does he make an outcry about his wife. I mean, my wife gets on an airplane. She travels frequently. If I haven't heard from her a few minutes after she's supposed to touch down, I get frantic.

I mean, I'm calling her, you know, trying to call her and call her. This guy has done nothing but he's like a magnet for suspicion. I mean, he's going out. He's talking about this pirate ship, you know, not to mention all of this physical evidence that's located, which to my point is, you know, even the most careful criminals, when they commit these kinds of crimes, it's almost impossible to do it without leaving some sort of forensic physical evidence behind. And this guy has left a mountain of it. I mean, could you, here's another thing. Julie Lewis, I want to circle back to you in just a moment about possible nav systems on his car, but

Tom Ruskin joining me, and then I want Karen Stark to weigh in on this as well. Tom Ruskin guys, private investigator extraordinaire, president of CMP, protective and investigative group. Tom, listen, I don't like jewelry. I really don't like fancy clothes. I don't like fancy cars. But if you were to take, let's just say, um, this little ring right here, This is made of my mother-in-law's jewelry. Okay. It's very thin. It's not bejeweled. But if you were to take that, I would come after you. All right. There are just some things that would matter to me. And I've got a funny feeling this woman would not want her fancy boots and her Prada purse thrown out. No. And it would be weird if she had left and left for a business trip

if she didn't take those with her that they wouldn't be behind in the house and be discoverable. This guy is definitely the prime suspect and probably will be convicted at trial. The fact of the matter is, to the other gentleman's point, you don't need a body anymore to prove a case. It sure helps though, man. Come on, Ruskin. I mean, yeah, you don't need a body. I'm not going to give him a gold star for getting rid of the body. And again, he hasn't been proven guilty. We're just hypothesizing on the evidence that we have. But it sure as

heck helps if you do have a dead body to prove a murder case. But it also goes against him because we know that he was in these yards. He was dumping stuff. What is he doing dumping her garbage? What's the matter? His pickups not working in his house? Karen Stark, he's so right. And Karen, again, I threw this to Stoddard earlier, I think, but why do guys turn into neatniks as soon as their wives disappear? And again, like Stoddard said, and like Ruskin is saying about the trash, it defies the course of normal human conduct. He doesn't check on his wife to see if she landed. Her employer has to call looking for her. And then he wants to take out the trash. Fine. Do it at the corner, at the end of the driveway or the trash chute in your apartment in Manhattan. But why do you go to

five or six different dumpsters? And could somebody just surprise me once and not throw bloody rags and towels in a dumpster? Do something different. What always happens, Nancy, he believes he's not going to get caught. And this looks suspicious, so suspicious. I mean, he gets lost going to his mother. He didn't get lost. He's trying to explain his circuitous route from one dump to the next. And also saying that he went to places

where they could check and he did not go. So, Nancy, can I jump in for one sec? Yes. I just want to also bring up the fact this is a woman. Let's assume that the husband has nothing to do with her murder. This is a woman who is going to take a flight supposedly from Boston to Washington on a business trip. Why is her phone off no one that

travels myself my loved ones my family when we go to the airport you shut off your phone once you're on the flight and you turn it on to mr stoddard's point once you land where why is she becoming all of a sudden surreptitious or becoming covert in her actions? You're right. Which sort of defies the logic of the husband. Tom Ruskin, private investigator, you're absolutely right. I mean, I don't guess any of you people on this panel have read Don't Be a Victim written by. Oh, what's that girl's name?

Oh, Nancy Grace. You're supposed to take a picture of when you're in the parking deck, which I do and send to my family. And then when I get on the plane, I take a picture. I'm on the plane and send to them. You don't even have to write a text or write words, but just let people know where you're going. And Jackie, I think I've even sent them to you before. Yes, I have. Okay, guys, that's not the end of it.

But I want to ask Julie Lewis something. President and CEO of Digital Mountain Inc. Julie, what about, I like to just say OnStar as a blanket nav description. Wouldn't his car show everywhere he had been if it were, you know, anything older than 2010? So before I jump into that, that i just you were talking about pictures and there was supposedly a picture she photographed of herself with her wedding ring off uh and some of her final photos and so within that picture there's things called excess data that you can look for that potentially could have geolocation information about where she was when

the picture was taken see that is why you're the expert. I didn't even catch that, Julie Lewis. So switching gears to the car, you know, the car is a moving computer these days on most cars with Wi-Fi, it has GPS, it has a cell network, all these things that you can use for tracking. So if Brian's car has that in it, law enforcement could have certainly used that information. The other thing that happens in cars is a lot of people sync their phones. And so text messages, contacts, you know, browser history, all these things may be on the car now. For example, if you rent a car, even that information can be on that. So that's something that's really important to know. You mean when you charge your phone in a car,

the car can track everything that you have written on your phone during that time? It could be thinking like when you are in an Uber, your playlist, depending on the configuration, it could actually download that. So you don't want to go in some stranger's car, rental car, and plug it in because the car infotainment system could be grabbing and capturing

some information from your phone. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Where is the body of Anna Walsh? We can't count on anything Brian Walsh says. We already know that he lied to even a friend in the art fraud dealings. He gained access to those paintings by telling a friend who was the lawful owner of the paintings he could help the friend sell the paintings at a good price, according to court documents we've obtained. That friend told investigators that after Walsh took the art, the friend could no longer contact him. He took a powder. He got ghosted. The art in question was valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars.

So if he will lie to a good friend over money, you don't think he would lie to save his own skin? So just to poke another stick in the wheel, just to muddy the water a little bit more, just to get 10 more minutes delay, Brian Walsh is appealing a federal sentence regarding the art fraud as his state murder case inches forward. And I mean inches forward. All of this is swirling while the convicted con artist accused of killing his wife is publicly exoriated for a string of deception that has gone on for years. His stalling tactics and deception in that federal art fraud case caused him more than a 37-month prison sentence. His entire lavish and extravagant lifestyle goes up in flames. As a matter of fact, Walsh, who pled guilty.

Now, remember, he pled guilty. So what's he got to appeal? It was his decision to plead guilty to selling fake Andy Warhol paintings, and he was literally moments away from a sweetheart deal, in part because his wife, Anna, had written a letter of support. That deal would have included no prison time, but the proceedings all came to a screeching halt when federal investigators discovered $2 million worth of assets he hid to avoid paying back the victims. Yes, he was moments away from getting a sweetheart lenient deal, no jail time, when everything came to a stop. Federal investigators uncovered

two mil. And according to prosecutors, this further illustrates the brazenness of his crimes as he attempts to mislead the very body about to pronounce judgment on him. In other words, he tried to fake out the judge that was about to sentence him. Wow. Over the next three years, as Brian Walsh and Anna Walsh's assets were being studied, Walsh was on house arrest as part of the pre-sentence probation period. It was there in their Cohasset their Massachusetts home where he decided his wife was cheating on him with a man back in

D.C. where her job was. The relationship was strained and Anna goes missing. I can never forget those disturbing Google searches including how long before a body starts to smell, how to stop a body from decomposing? The pending murder trial date has come and gone. That was March the 4th.

Does his years-long scheme of fraud have anything to do with his wife's murder? We learned about Google searches. I mean, what an idiot. I just can't stress this enough. Take a listen to our cut 36. This is Lynn Beeland talking. On January 1st, defendant Googled using his son's iPad.

Some of his searches are as follows. Keep in mind that the defendant said he left at 6 a.m. At 4.55 a.m. on January 1st, he searched how long before a body starts to smell. How long before a body starts to smell? Okay, keep going. 8 a.m., how to stop a body from decomposing. At 5.20 a.m., he searched how to found the body. At 5.47 a.m., 10 ways to dispose of a dead body if you really need to. At 6.25 a.m. on the 1st, how long for someone to be missing to inherit. At 6.34 a.m. on the first, can you throw

away body parts? Okay, I think we need Dr. Kendall Crowns, Chief Medical Examiner, Tarrant County, Lecturer, University of Texas, Austin, and Texas Christian University Medical School. Dr. Kendall Crowns, thank you for being with us. Let me just ask you a couple of things that I'd like to point out. Also, this is food for thought for you, Karen Stark psychologist on his son's iPad. Like they don't know how to read the search history. And there's daddy searching how long before a body starts to smell. How do you stop a body from decomposing? How to get rid of a body? 10 ways to dispose of a dead body,

if you really need to. I'm glad he tacked that on at the end. How long for someone to be missing to inherit? That's not for you, Crowns. Can you throw away body parts? Okay, I'm starting to agree with Tom Ruskin and David Studdard that you don't really need the dead body to prove that someone is dead. Dr. Kendall Crowns can you give me some quick answers to those? This is a lightning round for you. How long before a body starts to smell Dr. Crowns?

Four to ten days. That just rolled off the tip of your tongue. I'm not going to ask why. How do you stop a body from decomposing? Refrigeration. I mean, you look at that guy they found in the iceberg, Otzi the Iceman. He was missing for a thousand years and he's stuck in the iceberg. So really, refrigeration is the best way to prevent a body from decomposing 10 ways to dispose of a dead body if you really need to that's not a medical question let me go to the next medical question can you throw away body parts you have to uh you know if you don't want

the trash man to notice them put them in dumpsters like which was possibly done in this case and then chop you know dismember the individual into small enough parts that they aren't recognizable as human, and then mix them in with other trash. And another good way is to put them in, I think it's like these pool chemicals that can melt the body parts down into kind of a sludge. You know, Dr. Kendall Crowns, you're actually- Nancy? Scaring many people that are listening to you right now.

Putting it in pool. Wait a minute, Karen Stark. I know you've got something, Dad. Hold on. What did you say about pool cleaner, Dr. Kendall Crowns? There's a certain chemical they use. I believe it's in pool cleaning or something else. I can't think of it off the top of my head, but it'll actually dissolve the dismembered body parts down relatively. It'll dissolve the bone as well, and it'll just kind of make this kind of ooze. Then you have to dispose of that. I'm glad you're on the right side of the law, Dr. Kendall Crowns. I really am.

But guess what, guys? There's more. Take a listen again to Lynn Beeland. At 9.29 a.m., what does formaldehyde do? At 9.34 a.m., on first, how long does DNA last? At 9.59 a.m., can identification be made on partial remains? At 11.34 a.m., dismemberment and the best ways to dispose of a body. At 11.44, how to clean blood from wooden floor.

At 1156 on the first, luminol to detect blood. At 108, what happens when you put body parts in ammonia. At 121 p.m., is it better to throw primosine clothes away or wash them? Those are on the January 1st. Okay guys just know that while some of these questions are so rudimentary they are cruel and horrible and three little boys are left without their mother while this guy is googling what does formaldehyde do? How long does DNA last? Can an ID be made on partial remains? Dismemberment, best ways to dispose of a body.

What happens when you put body parts in ammonia? Should you throw away crime scene clothes or wash them? So to Dr. Kendall Crowns, lightning round, Dr. Crowns. How long does DNA last uh you can find dna on surfaces for years what does formaldehyde do formaldehyde is a fixative also and that's what you use to kind of pickle the organs to keep them preserved for long periods of time what happens when you put body parts in ammonia dr kendle crowns that one i don't know that's a new one to me as far as i know i stopped you're out no don't go i've got more oh well one more quickie from lynn beeland listen on january 3rd that same day at

102 p.m he did some more google searches what happens to hair on a dead body? At 1.13 p.m., what is the rate of decomposition of a body found in a plastic bag compared to on a surface in the woods? At 1.20 p.m., can baking soda mask or make a body smell good? Can baking soda make a body, a dead body, smell good? These Google searches have led to a bombshell development in the search for Anna Walsh. Bob Ward, joining me, Boston 25 News, an indictment. Explain. He was indicted on three counts. There was murder, misleading investigators, and improper disposal of a body. Of course, he's innocent until proven guilty. They aren't fraud victims speaking out. According to his guilty plea, Walsh defrauded three victims, a California art dealer, a Paris man, and a former friend in South Korea during

the Andy Warhol scam. And he was about to get away with stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from two of those victims until a U.S. art dealer, Ron Rivlin, filed a formal complaint with the feds. The French victim said he met Walsh in Paris in 2015, where Walsh convinced him to buy seemingly legitimate Warhol paintings for $145,000. Now, the French victim convinced his father to loan him the money to buy the paintings. He never got the money back, and his 63-year-old father had no choice but to put off retirement for another 10 years since he lost his hard-earned savings. According to that victim, he and his father no longer speak. Wow, it just seems that Brian Waltz leaves a wake of devastation behind him. What seems to be even more unfair is that when a jury is impaneled to hear the murder trial, they won't know anything about all of the art fraud victims. But the reason I told you about the French art fraud victim is to show it's not just about them losing money. That one victim got his

dad to take money out of retirement funds, and now the dad has had to put off retirement and go back to work till at least his mid-70s. Just as there are devastating consequences in the murder of Anna Walsh. Her boys will grow up without a mother. I just wonder, regardless of what a jury may find, if Brian Walsh will be able to con his boys into believing Anna Walsh just abandoned them. And that will be another travesty of justice connected to Brian Walsh. We wait as justice unfolds. This is an iHeart Podcast.