Criminology - Ana Walshe

Episode Date: February 5, 2023

Ana Walshe vanished on Jan 1st, 2023, and her husband, Brian Walshe, is currently awaiting trial for her murder. Brian and Ana rang in the new year with a small celebration at their house. But no one has seen or heard from Ana since the first day of January. Her husband Brian didn't report her missing and later told authorities that she flew out early that morning for work. Join Mike and Morf as they discuss the ongoing case where Brian Walshe stands accused of murdering his wife Ana Walshe. The police quickly zeroed in on Brian. He didn't report her missing and reportedly didn't notify her family. The evidence against him started to mount in the form of strange purchases and incriminating web searches. Brian Walshe will go to trial soon and the entire true crime community will be watching to see how this case unfolds. You can help support the show at patreon.com/criminology An Emash Digital production Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Criminology is a true crime podcast that may contain discussion about violent or disturbing topics. Listener discretion is advised. Everyone and welcome to episode 243 of the criminology podcast. I'm Mike Ferguson. And this is Mike Morford. Mr. Morford. What's going on, buddy? I'm down here. We had a little bit of a cold streak, but now it's warmed up and I'm enjoying the weather. And I hear, as we're recording this, that it's not going to be too nice up north. What's going on up there?

No, it's not. It's not. You have to rub it in my face during the wintertime. I get it. I get it. But I'm happy for you that you're able to kind of bask in the warmth. We're not having it up here at all. But we'll make it through. I'm ready, man. I'm ready to get outside. I'm ready to do some outdoor activities, but the weather's not cooperating. I think if you can get through March and get into April, that's when it starts to be a little bit nicer. So hopefully the groundhog didn't see. a shadow. I don't know. I didn't. I saw that he was on the news headline just ready, but I didn't check the CPC as a shadow or not. Oh, I didn't either. I never look or read it. I never see. Well, let's go ahead and give our Patreon shoutouts. We had Linda Showers, Jay, and Lacey Ann. So some great new support. We really appreciate it. Yeah. Thank you all for supporting the show. It means a lot. And for anyone out there that would like to help support criminology, you can do so by going to Patreon.com. slash criminology.

All right. Let's jump right into this episode. And this is a case that a lot of people are talking about because it's been in the news recently. And one that a couple of people have asked us if we're going to cover. We're talking about the disappearance and presumed murder of 39-year-old Anna Walsh. Anna is an ambitious real estate executive who's married to 47-year-old Brian Walsh. They lived together in Cohasset, Massachusetts, about 20,000. about 20 miles southeast of Boston with her three sons,

who are currently six, four, and two years old. To most, the Walshs seem to have it all. They had a beautiful family, and from 2018 to 2022, Anna had amassed and sold four properties for almost $3 million. By 2022, she still owned four properties, located in Massachusetts, Washington, D.C., and Maryland. These properties have a combined value of almost $2 million.

And all these properties seem to have been in Anna's name, and none of them were in Bryan's. Anna was a hard worker and a hustler. A college friend of Anna's told CNN about her that she is all about elevation. She's a brilliant businesswoman and what I like to call a supermom. But as we all know, sometimes despite a happy-looking family and great finances, there are problems festering below the surface. So how did Anna come to be missing and presume murder at the hands of her husband? we need to go back to take a look at their past, both as a couple and before they got together. Anna Walsh was born in Serbia as Anna Lujabik.

By 2005, she had come to the United States working in Virginia and New York City. She married Mark Nip, a chef at the Wait-Lay Hotel at some point after she got to the States. But there's not a whole lot of information about him or their marriage, but they would eventually divorce. Anna had been learning and working trying to build a better life for herself since arriving in the United States. She earned a master certificate in hospitality management from Cornell University. Brian Walsh is the son of Dr. Thomas Walsh. Dr. Walsh, a neurosurgeon, was head of Brigham and Women's Hospitals Neurology Unit and taught at Harvard Medical School. As the son of such a prominent man, Brian lived.

a privileged and well-educated life. He went to boarding school in Rhode Island, Carnegie Mellon, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Northeastern University, and the JFK School of Government at Harvard University. But despite the money and influence, it was reported in the Boston Globe that a psychiatrist noted that Brian was neglected,

unloved, and emotionally damaged as a child. In 2008, Anna and Brian met while Anna was working at a hotel, the Waitlay, and Stockbridge, Massachusetts, which is part of an area known as the Berkshires. Some sources also say they met while Anna was hired to clean Brian's Boston apartment. The two hit it off immediately. There's a large gap in the history here because Anna was still married to Mark Nip, but Anna and Brian obviously kept in touch. In 2014, Anna and Mark Nip finalized her divorce, and it seems that she'd rather quote her. quickly began dating Brian Walsh, but it wasn't long after Anna and Brian started dating that signs of trouble appeared. On August 3rd, 2014, Anna told police that Brian threatened to kill her and her

friends when they were speaking on the phone the evening before. During the subsequent investigation, Anna stopped cooperating with authorities and didn't want to press charges against Brian. We don't know all the details about what happened in that incident, but it seems as if Anna forgave Brian and the couple were married in 2015. Some sources say in Boston, while others say in Serbia. It's not out of the question that they had two celebrations for their family and friends in the U.S. And another for Anna's friends and family back home. In 2016, Brian visited a friend in South Korea.

Some reports say to attend the friend's wedding, this friend in South Korea was a former classmate of Brian's at Carnegie Mellon. While Brian was in South Korea, the topic of his friend's collection of Andy Warhol painting, came up, Brian told a friend that he could sell the paintings in the U.S. for a lot of money. And the friend trusted Brian enough to try and facilitate a sale for him. And he allowed Brian to take two of the Warhol paintings from the Shadow series as well as a few other small pieces of art. Once Brian was back in the States, he did find someone willing to buy the paintings for a high price, multiple people actually, but Brian paid for for forgeries. of the paintings to be made and sold them as originals to the unsuspecting buyers.

Brian then turned around and sold the originals through well-known places like Christie's auction house. Brian listed the Warhol paintings on eBay for $100,000. Ron Rivlin, who owns the art gallery Revolver in California, sent his assistant to purchase them for $80,000. When the paintings arrived in California, Rivlin knew right away they were fake. He then reached out to Brian Walsh to confront him over the fakes, but Brian didn't respond to him. Eventually, the FBI got involved, and Brian Walsh came forward to deal with the consequences of his deception.

Anna was never implicated in the art theft. But remember, it wasn't just the eBay buyers that were victims. Brian's friend, the actual owner of the paintings, never saw dime, and when he tried to track Brian down, he couldn't. And this wasn't the only friend that Brian has stolen from. Another friend of Brian's from college once loaned him $500,000, which he never paid back. The FBI found demand letters from that friend when they searched Walsh's home in connection with the Warhol paintings. It's believed that there are probably many more victims of fraud and theft at the hands of Brian Walsh that we don't even know about.

Amazingly, Brian kept the journal with entries dating back to 2011, bragging about his conning skills. So, more if we talked about the fact that Brian Walsh grew up, with a life of privilege, right? His family was wealthy. He attended, you know, all these prestigious schools. And then you find out that he was conning people, but it's the, the degree, the amount of money involved that's kind of staggering. You know, if you came to me and said, hey, Ferg, man, I need to borrow some money.

Okay. I might have 50 bucks for you, a hundred bucks. maybe 500 if we're if I'm stretching it I can tell you right now it's not going to be a half a million dollars I just don't roll like that so I could scratch that loan request off to you yeah if it's if it's half a million dollars you can scratch that one off your list right now in September 2018 Brian's father Dr. Thomas Walsh passed away by that time Brian and his father were estranged Sometime after the year 2000, Brian and his father Thomas were working together on a real estate deal,

which was Brian's idea. There was a home in Linux, Massachusetts, that needed a lot of work, but Brian had the deed for it. If Thomas could pay to renovate it, they would be able to flip it for a lot of money. Thomas would get back what he put into the home, and Brian would be able to provide for himself.

Thomas agreed to put up half. a million dollars for his son, and the renovated home did sell. But Brian took all of the money and didn't contact his father for more than 10 years. Understandably, Dr. Walsh wasn't happy with what his son Brian had done to him. At the time of his death, Dr. Walsh's will read, I hereby bequeath to Brian R. Walsh, my best wishes, and nothing else from my estate. According to a New York Post article, Brian's father also told him at some point before he died, you are my son, and I will always hope for the best for you, but I do not want to re-engage. If I did, I know that I would be letting mayhem back into my life, and I cannot have that.

Despite this following out, Brian Walsh was briefly named executor of his father's will and estate, and during this time he's accused of going to his father's home and taking artwork by Salvador Dolly and Joan Mero, a car, and other valuables. He also attempted to sell his father's $710,000 beachfront property for $140,000. Brian contested the will, saying the signature looked forged and that his father wasn't in good health when he wrote it. Brian claimed that he and his father reconnected in 2015 and were on good terms by 2016. But 2016 is the year that Dr. Walsh wrote that will. It's also claimed that Brian didn't notify the rest of the family about his father's passing, which happened away from

home while he was in India. So we talked about Brian Walsh conning friends. And that's bad enough, right? That's horrible to do that to your friends. But now we're talking about him conning his own father out of a large chunk of money. Now, to my way of thinking, it would be pretty tough for a parent to make the decision to basically disengage from a child. but at a certain point, Morph, if, you know, somebody's doing this to you, stealing such a large

amount of money, you know, that would be so hurtful that you could see how at a certain point somebody makes the decision that, man, I just can't have this in my life. I can't be around you. I don't want anything to do with you. I also think it puts into perspective that if Brian was willing to do this to his own father, there might not be any limits to what he was willing to do or who he was willing to con. Yeah. And I go back to a statement that you made, which was, okay, we know about some of these because they're documented. How many other types of transactions, cons, did this guy perpetrate that we

don't really know about? That same year, 2016, Brian was indicted by a federal government. grand jury on charges of wire fraud, interstate transportation for a scheme to defraud, possession of converted goods, and unlawful monetary transaction. But his sentencing would be delayed for a long time. In February 2019, Brian gave Anna a Maserati for Valentine's Day. If he was suffering financially as a result of being caught for his shady dealings, it obviously didn't stop him from spending. extravagantly in 2021. While Anna's mother was visiting them in Massachusetts, she suffered a stroke

or a brain aneurysm. She survived, but she was in really bad shape. And she stayed with them during her recovery. That same year in 2021, Brian pleaded guilty to three of the charges related to the Warhol paintings. He also agreed to pay the victim, his former friend from college, for the value of the art or return the original art. Anna stood by her husband and wrote a glowing letter to the judge asking for leniency in the sentence that would be imposed on him for the art fraud and theft. Anna's mother also wrote a letter claiming that Brian had saved her life when she suffered a stroke and he called 911 and then he helped nurse her back to health for months. Brian's mother, Diana, wrote a letter begging the judge not to sentence Brian to jail or prison

because she had no friends and no other family, and that Brian and his children were her only source of happiness. It's literally what got her out of bed every day. She told the judge that she didn't have a great relationship with Anna, possibly due to a clash of cultures, and that she needed her son. The judge seemed to take the pleas in consideration because house arrest with probation was part of Brian Walsh's sentence. He was allowed to take his children to school and run errands,

as long as he gave his probation officer specific time, locations, and reasons for his outings to approved areas. And I was a little shocked, I think, when I saw this sentencing, right? House arrest with probation. Part of me wondered if the sentencing had to do with, you know, Brian Walsh's family, status, money, and the fact that he had a lot of people in his family who were standing behind him. I just wonder, you know, what would the sentence be for, you know, someone who didn't have the financial means or didn't have the backing of their family? Would it have been different?

And my thought is probably yes. Yeah, I think that may be the case. And also, I think some people might agree with this kind of sentence because it's what is termed the white-collar crime. there was no physical violence, there was no victim that was attacked, anything like that. So some people may find this an appropriate sentence. In 2022, Ana took a job as a regional property manager at Tishman Spire in Washington, D.C. The real estate firm is huge. They're responsible for 30 Rockefeller Plaza, along with a number of other high-profile buildings.

It came with much more money. but it meant that she would be away from her family during the week. On work days, Monday through Friday, she was in Washington, D.C., and on weekends, she would fly back to Massachusetts to see Brian and the kids. Monday mornings, she was up early to fly right back to D.C. Because Brian Walsh was still on house arrest, it doesn't seem as though he was employed at this time and he couldn't leave the area to move with honor. In early 2022, more trouble came the Walls' way. On April 6th, the FBI raided a luxury apartment complex that Anna managed for Tishman Spire in Washington, D.C., called the Crossing. They found weapons, ammo, tactical gear, and surveillance equipment. The building near the Capitol is home the journalist and government officials.

Arian Tazerda and Hyder Ali, who had multiple units in the building, including a penthouse, were arrested. The two, posing as government agents themselves, had let a secret service agent live in one of the units, which was $40,000 a year without paying, and they had given gifts, including tactical gear and weapons to many agents, including an agent on Jill Biden's security detail. The two men claimed to be part of the U.S. Special Police, which doesn't exist, and they also claimed they were investigating the January 6th riot at the Capitol. Tazardis pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy, unlawful possession of a large capacity, ammunition feeding device and voyeurism, while Ali has pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy,

bank fraud, an unlawful possession of a large capacity ammunition feeding device. One of the crossing residents tried to get answers about the whole ordeal from the building's property manager, Anna Walsh, but she wasn't happy with Anna. According to the New York Post, this neighbor called Anna a wolf in sheep's clothing and a very fake person. Another resident said that Anna lied to people and said things she wanted you to hear in the moment but didn't give any real answers and switched between acting like a power woman and being helpless depending on the occasion. And it's tough, you know, to hear these type of things about a person who ultimately becomes a victim. But I also think it's important to include this stuff.

If it's real, it was reported in the newspaper that, you know, these individuals said these things about Anna. I also think that, you know, if you dissected anyone's life, you would find some things like this, right? If you're a person who has a job, especially a high profile job, you're going to interact with a large number of people. And all of those interactions are not going to be. positive, meaning some people are going to come away with a negative opinion of you. And I think especially in a case like this where you have a big spotlight on it and the police are looking at everything, releasing information, you see the details of a person's life come out. Not all of them are good or flattering.

In late 2022, Ana seemed to be in a rush to sell her assets, including her Maserati and a townhouse she owned. She had been running to friends until she suddenly said she wanted them out so that she could sell it. Mandy and Mike Silva lived in the condo Anna owned for more than four years. Mike, a contractor, worked for Anna at multiple residences that she owned. They didn't appreciate being forced out of their homes suddenly. And according to the New York Post, they put their foot down and said, no, you cannot do this to us, and we're fighting back. According to Mike Silva, Anna had a complete meltdown, which wasn't like her at all. She got out of character and angry.

And according to Silva, it seemed like we were ruining her plans. Silva also added something interesting. He said she kept telling us that she and Brian would have something for us in the new year. This was odd because it really seemed that Anna was the one who did the work and secured properties, but she made it sound in this conversation like Brian would be involved. On New Year's Eve, Mike texted both Anna and Brian about 2,500 hours he was owed for work he did at one of the properties. Anna never responded, but Brian eventually texted him back on January 2nd, 2023.

Two days later, on January 4th, Brian Walsh reported his wife, Anna, missing. It's important to look at all of the Walsh's activities over the holidays in order to try and figure out what happened to Anna. It was during this time over the holidays that Anna told people she wanted to move the family to Washington, D.C., where she worked, at her residence there she had decorated rooms for her boys as if she was planning on them being there. Anna talked with her friend Alyssa Kirby about how much she missed her children and how much she wanted them to come to D.C. Alyssa told the Daily Mail, she could not wait for her children to be here with her, with Brian on house arrest and unable to move away from Cohasset. Is it possible that Anna was going to leave her husband and take their kids to D.C.? On Christmas Day, 2002, Anna texted her mother, Malanka, who lived in Serbia, asking her to come to Massachusetts.

Per Boston.com, her text read, please, Mama, come tomorrow, she wrote, but Anna's mom was unable to make arrangements that quickly. Court records would later reveal that on this, December 27, 2022, Brian Walsh searched on Google for what's the best state to divorce for a man. On December 30th, Anna sold her condo for $200,000. This was 60% more than she had purchased the home for in 2020. On New Year's Eve, Anna and Brian had a small celebration at their house. They invited Anna's friend, realtor Jem Mutlou, over to their house and Cohasset to have dinner and drinks and to ring in the New Year. He got there at around 8.30 p.m. and Brian made dinner. They toasted to the New Year together. That same night, Anna made three calls to her mom, two right around midnight and one at 1 a.m.

All three, unfortunately, went unanswered because of the time difference. Anna also called both her sister and a friend who was the maid of honor at her wedding, but they didn't answer either. These could have been happy New Year calls, but because they weren't answered, we don't know what Anna wanted to tell them. left around 1.30 a.m. on New Year's morning after having, by all accounts, a wonderful night. Later that day on January 1st, Jim texted Anna and Brian, thanking them both for having him over the night before. If it hadn't been for their invite, he likely would have rung in the New Year sleeping alone at home. Brian responded telling him that he also had a great time. On January 4, 2023, a security guard, at Tishman Spire, contacted police to inform them that Anna Walsh seemed to be missing.

They hadn't seen Anna since she left work on Friday, December 30th. Investigators contacted Brian Walsh at his and Anna's residence at around 6.30 p.m. on January 4th. Brian told them that he had last spoken to Anna early on New Year's Day. According to Brian, Anna had told him around 2 a.m. that morning that she had a work emergency and would have to fly to D.C. very early. According to Brian, four hours later, around 6 a.m., Anna said goodbye and told him to go back to sleep, and he presumed she got a ride from an Uber or a lift to Logan Airport.

Brian hadn't heard from Anna since then, but he hadn't reported her missing because he wasn't concerned. It was at this point where Brian Walsh officially reported his wife missing. While police were at the home, they noticed that the back seats of Brian's Volvo were down, and there was a plastic tarp spread out. to cover them. The plastic tarp really jumped out at police. And that couple with Brian's seeming lack of concern about his wife being missing made police suspicious. And I think you can see why police would be suspicious. Okay. You're reporting your wife missing, but you don't seem all that

concerned about it. And then you have this car. The seats are down and they're covered with a plastic tarp. All right. That's some Dexter type stuff possibly there. Yeah, and I don't know about you, but the whole hadn't talked to his wife in a few days just doesn't add up to me. I know that if my wife went someplace that I thought she was flying to and I didn't hear from her for a couple days in any capacity, I'd be making calls, trying to figure out what happened, alerting the police. something wouldn't add up to me. So the fact that he supposedly hadn't heard from her in that period of time and didn't think of trying to find out where she was, that seems to raise some red flags.

Yeah, I'm with you. And actually, my wife and I were recently watching one of the true crime shows. I can't remember what it was. But there was a part in the show where the husband had not been able to get a hold of wife or they hadn't talked in a while, but he, he wasn't worried. And my wife turned to me and said, if you couldn't get a hold of me for that period of time, would you be worried? And I said, yeah, obviously we talk multiple times a day on the phone, whether it's while she's on her way home from work or, you know, during the day when she has a break, we talk. So if a couple of days go by,

and we don't talk, that would be so far out of the ordinary. I would be very, very concerned. And I think most listeners out there probably would be, too, if they're significant other sort of went off the radar for days of the time. Yeah, no doubt. Investigators quickly learned that Anna did not take any flight, not on January 1st or the 2nd. She also hadn't flown on January 3rd when she was scheduled to return to work in

Washington, D.C. This was a flight she had already purchased the ticket for in advance, but had missed the flight. There was no record from any ride share operator of any ride near Anna's home on January 1st. Also, local taxi operators had no record of such a pickup. The Walsh's ring doorbell camera would also prove that Anna never even left the home that morning. Brian gave investigators permission to ping Anna's phone to try and locate her. The cell phone pinged near her home on both January 1st and 2nd and was turned off at 3.14 a.m. on January 2nd. Brian called the landlord of the Cohasset residence that he and Anna were renting and asked if there were any surveillance cameras at the house.

Supposedly to see if there was any sign of Anna, but he was told there was only the doorbell camera. So there's a lot going on here, more if to dissect, you know, one thing is that Brian is giving police permission to do certain things, right? So he's cooperating to an extent. But is it because he knows what they're going to find when they look into the cell phone data, the pinging? And then this whole thing about, you know, trying to find out about surveillance camera. Okay. Is that because he's searching for any sign of Anna? Or is it because he's trying to find out if he was possibly caught on any surveillance cameras? Yeah, I think his movements and the level of cooperation at that time are worth, you know, talking about.

Because sort of you mentioned, is he trying to steer the investigation in a certain direction? and in the process cover his own tracks, I think that's a very likely scenario. I'm assuming that Brian Walsh is an intelligent individual. We listed all of the different, you know, very prestigious universities and places that he attended. You know, a smart person could allow the police to do certain things.

And like you said, steer things. things because they know what the police are going to find. And they're okay with them finding that out. In the suburbs of D.C., a woman fails to show up for work and is found brutally murdered. I wonder which emergency. We just walked in the door and there's blood in the foyer. For the next two decades, the case remained unsolved until new technology allowed

investigators to do what had once been impossible. A new series from ABC. see audio in 2020. Blood and water. Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts. Investigators were increasingly suspicious of Brian, and they tried to track his movements. Unfortunately, although he had an ankle monitor as part of his probation, it didn't have GPS. Brian claimed that later in the day on January 1st, after the babysitter arrived, he went to visit his mother, about an hour away in Swampscott at around 4 p.m. and then ran a few errands for her at Whole Foods and CVS.

He also claimed that since he had lost his phone, he didn't have GPS and he got lost, adding 30 to 40 minutes to his trip, getting back home at around 8 p.m. Police search surveillance footage at the locations Brian Walsh claimed he visited while running errands for his mother, and there was absolutely no sign of him at Whole Foods or CVS. Brian claimed that the only thing he did on January 2nd when he left the house was take his six-year-old son to get ice cream. Surveillance footage shows Brian at a shop called Press juices in Norwell, Massachusetts,

but you can't see what he bought in the footage or who was with him. It's been reported that he bought three children's smoothies and two large smoothies, possibly trying to make it seem like Anna was waiting for them at home. Or maybe he picked one up for the boy's babysitter. None of the things Brian claims to have done during the time Anna was missing were trips he was allowed to make based on his probation rules. Brian argued that he was always out of the house at that same time of day

bringing his kids to school, which is true. He was allowed to take his children to school. But since it was a holiday, the children didn't have school. So he shouldn't really have left home per the terms of his probation. Investigators found that not only did Brian lie about where he did go, Brian had gone to a few places he hadn't mentioned to them. On January 2nd, he went to home goods where he bought three rugs. He also went to a Home Depot in Rockland where he bought a hatchet, buckets, mops, tarps, goggles, baking soda,

and a Tyvec cleaning suit, among other things. On this trip, Brian wore a black surgical mask and a pair of latex or nitral gloves. It's interesting to note that he wasn't wearing a mask in gloves on any other surveillance footage, like when he was at press juices. So it's not COVID consciousness that had him wearing gloves and a mask

to shop for cleaning supplies. On January 4th at 415, he went to Lowe's and bought a trash can and some squeegees. He also stopped by a T.J. Max for towels and men's clothing. Brian spent more than $450 on cleaning supplies. All right. So this is the...

point in any story that really boggles my mind. You know, when you kind of get down to the nitty gritty of where someone went, what they bought, kind of their shopping list, you know, I go to a lot of places. I buy a lot of things. But when you go in and buy very specific stuff,

a hatchet, buckets, mops, tarps, goggles, a whole Tyvec cleaning suit. And then you pair that with the fact that your wife is missing. Okay. I mean, what are people to make of that more? You know, he also bought three rugs and some clothing. It's not that hard to kind of put it together. You got to replace rugs.

Why? Because something got to. on the rugs that you had in the home. And all of that stuff that we mentioned are things that someone could or would use to possibly dispose of a body or clean up evidence. I mean, there's just no way around it. Well, it definitely paints a sinister picture. Now, as someone like myself who can go buy $400 worth of cleaning supplies at one time, I love going into Costco or stores like that and loading up and getting everything that I'm going to need for the next three months or six months or however long it lasts in getting it all at one shot. Now, the difference between myself and Brian is my wife isn't missing at the time.

She's usually with me when we're doing these big shopping trips. So it definitely seems very suspicious to be buying all this stuff while your wife is missing. No, I get you. I get you. I like to go to a bulk store and buy. you know, a bunch of cleaning supplies, paper towels, toilet paper. This is a type of stuff that I don't want to run out of. But you know what I don't also buy is a hatchet, a bunch of tarps, you know, a Tyvec cleaning suit. I'm not going to need that in the next six months unless something goes very,

very wrong. Yeah, the Tyvec cleaning suit is one thing that really jumps off the page. I mean, You could maybe make a case that if he's chopping down trees or something, he needs a hatchet and all the other stuff you could sort of, you know, try and explain away. But the cleaning suit, that's something you picture crime scene, clean up people wearing while they're getting these crime scenes taken care of. And that really jumped out to me. On January 5th at 8 a.m., Brian Walsh went to his mother's house, getting there around 9.30 a.m. but staying for only five minutes.

He went to the dumpsters and then left. On January 6th, there was a fire at a home that Anna and Brian used to live in on Jerusalem Road in Cohasset. They had sold the home in March 22. Some people have speculated that somehow Anna had been hiding at the home and started the fire to destroy some sort of evidence. It was quickly ruled by police to be completely unrelated. to Ana's disappearance.

This fire was ruled a consequence of a damaged pipe in the attic and not intentionally set. On January 8th, Brian Walsh was arrested in charge with misleading a criminal investigation. He was later charged with murder and disinterring of a body. Prosecutors believe that Brian dismembered Anna's body in the basement of their home, and Brian has pleaded not guilty to all charges. That same day, January 8th, investigators, searched the Walsh home in Cohasset. In the basement, they found a variety of troubling things, including blood stains, a tarp, plastic liners, a broken bloody knife, and a second knife.

The blood on the knife matched Anna's DNA. The tarp and liners had been purchased at Home Depot on the 4th. Multiple searches in the area by canine officers, state troopers, divers, and even from the air, have not yielded any results. So all of this was some very troubling stuff for police to find, and it painted a very ominous picture, but there would be even more. After getting a search warrant, all of the electronic devices in the Walsh home were analyzed. There was nothing suspicious found on Brian's phone. However, on one of his son's iPads, it appears that Brian made some disturbing and very specific searches. And we have to assume that he made the searches based on the fact that, you know, his

children were so very young. CNN reported that Brian looked up how to dispose of a 115 pound woman's body. And they quote, two law enforcement sources briefed on the investigation as the source of that information. At Brian's preliminary hearing, though, this was not mentioned. Anna Walsh is described as about 5 foot 2 and 115 pounds. So, you know, I think, you know, if this information is correct, it's really damning more to Brian Walsh. Yeah, and there's a lot more damning searches according to police.

And here's a list of some of what they uncovered. On January 1st, 2003, at 455 a.m., he searched how long before a body starts to smell and apparently worried about this three minutes later at 458. searched how to stop a body from decomposing. At 5.20 a.m., he searched how to embalm a body, apparently wanting to preserve Anna's body somehow to slow decomposition. At 5.47 a.m., he looked up 10 ways to dispose of a dead body if you really need to. These searches were made before he even claims that Anna left for work. At 6.25 a.m., soon after he claims he last saw Anna, he searched, how long for someone to be missing to inherit?

Nine minutes after that, he switched back to dealing with the present and searched, can you throw away body parts? At 9.29 a.m., he searched, what does formaldehyde do? Minutes later at 934, he searched, how long does DNA last? At 9.59 a.m., he searched, can identification be made on partial remains? hours later Brian Walsh according to police

was still making troubling searches to try and cover up the murder at 11.34 a.m. He searched dismemberment in best ways to dispose

of a body. He apparently wasn't just concerned with getting rid of on his body though. He also had to get rid of evidence of her murder. At 1144 a.m.

He searched how to clean blood from a wooden floor. He was also wondering how well he had to clean that wooden floor, searching for luminal to detect blood at 1156. Hours later at 108 p.m., he switched gears, searching what happens when you put body parts in ammonia?

Then at 121 p.m., he searched, is it better to throw crime scene clothes away or wash them? The next day, just before 1 p.m., when no one knew Anna was missing yet, A search was made for hacksaw best tool to dismember. At 110, the search, Can You Be Charred with Murder Without a Body, was made, and just four minutes later, can you identify a body with broken teeth?

The troubling search has continued. On January 3rd in the afternoon, police accused Brian Walsh of searching for what happens to hair on a dead body. Soon after this at 1.13 p.m., he searched, What is the rate of decomposition of a body found in a plastic bag compared to on the surface in the woods. Minutes later at 1.20 p.m. there was a search for can baking soda make a body smell good.

All right. So a lot of internet searches for what are very, very strange questions. Now, you and I might make these type of searches in relation to the podcast that we do. We've talked about that before. but our wives aren't missing. There's no suspicion on us. We could easily point back to, you know, what we do for a living. I think when you put all of these searches in context and kind of lump them all together is really damning stuff. But I want to go back to the question that I know a lot of people are asking. It's a question that I've asked a number of times. How do people

not know or realize that at a certain point, there's the real possibility that police are going to uncover this information, these searches that you've done, and it's going to be real hard to explain. And you can make the argument that maybe he thought, okay, they won't search my kid's iPad, which is what he allegedly did a lot of this searching on, but you had to think they were going to search everything in the house. You know, her friend Cambo over at True Crime Island has a saying on his podcast, don't forget to delete your browser history. Well, evidently, Brian Walsh didn't take Canba's advice.

Well, and a lot of criminals don't. I have that theory that, you know, most people think they're smarter than what they really are, especially, you know, some of these people that commit criminal acts, Yeah, this was a smart guy, but are you smart enough to get away with the perfect murder, assuming that this guy is guilty, which he's not been found guilty yet. So we have to kind of talk about it in those types of terms. But obviously, it's going to be an uphill battle for him based on all of these things we're talking about. The purchases, the searches, going to be tough to,

to fight all of that. And I think more if you can draw some conclusions from these searches regarding what police alleged Brian Walsh was concerned with, right? Covering up his crime, disposing of evidence, part of that evidence being his wife's body, police think that armed with the info Brian found in his searches, he said about trying to cover up what he had done because after all these searches on January 3,000, He was then seen at three different apartment complexes using the dumpsters. The first around 4.20 p.m.

And the second, shortly after 4.48 p.m. And finally, the third, around 5.10 p.m. With heavy trash bags. His Volvo was also seen at all three locations. Investigators quickly tried to gather the evidence from all of the apartment complex dumpsters, that Brian had visited. Unfortunately, most of the dumpsters had not just already been collected,

but the bags had also been shredded and then incinerated. However, they were able to save 10 trash bags of relevant evidence that Brian had put in the dumpster at his mother's apartment complex. These bags were already at a transfer station in Peabody, just minutes away from the complex, but an hour away from where on,

Anna was last seen. Some of the things police were able to recover included a dress, a black jacket, a pair of Hunter boots, a prodig purse, and pieces of Anna's necklace that she always wore. This is the exact outfit that Brian claimed he had seen Anna leave the house in. Also found was a hacksaw, Anna's COVID-19 vaccination card, cutting shears, slippers, and rugs. The slippers had both Anna and Brian's DNA on them. investigators also found a hatchet, a Tyvec suit, towels, tape, and bloody carpet. The tarp from the backseat of Brian's Volvo wasn't found, but blood was found in the car

when authority seized it for evidence. Armed with everything they have, authorities believe they have arrested the right person responsible for Anna's disappearance and presumed murder, and they feel they can successfully prosecute Brian Walsh. Well, you would have to say that as a... a prosecutor, you would have to be feeling very good about this mountain of evidence. This is a lot more. If you and I do a lot of cases where, you know, people go to trial and the evidence is not overwhelming. A lot of it is circumstantial. This is a boatload of of evidence pointing to Brian Walsh. Now, you never know what can happen during a trial. You never know

how a defense attorney can mitigate some of this evidence and make it seem as though it's not as damning as what it appears to be right now. But it looks rough against Brian Walsh. Yeah, I think traditionally no body murder cases are ones that are hardest to prosecute. And unless you have a really strong case against the defendant, I think they try not to prosecute those cases until they can find a body. But if there is a case that I've talked about or I've covered where there was a strong case with no body, this might be the one because he really left a lot for them to work with. Those who knew Brian and Anna were shocked when Brian was arrested and even, even more so when it came to light, what police had found.

Some people had no inkling that Brian could commit this horrible crime. But to some that knew him, only one motive comes to mind, and that is money. An anonymous family friend of Brian's claim to News Nation now that Brian had wanted the finest things in life from a young age. He was wearing Armani. when he was 13, he was accused of stealing $100,000 from his father's bank account. Now, while some people think Brian hatched a plan to kill Anna to profit, others think maybe he snapped in the midst of a heated argument.

Some people think perhaps Anna had told Brian she was leaving him and taking the kids. That's something that we talked about. Anna was setting up a room for the kids in her D.C. residence. someplace where Brian couldn't go due to his probation limitations. Anna's mom Malanka had lived with Anna and Brian for 16 months and had never gotten the feeling that anything was wrong in their relationship. Malanka has supported Brian early on in the investigation, telling CBS News,

my son-in-law would not do anything to harm my Anna, and I do not believe any of the statements had have so far been related to the possibility that Brian harmed her. But she later told them, he assured me that Anna is fine and alive and I believe him. I'm shocked by the new details that she was allegedly killed because I still hope that she is alive and well. It sounds like Malanka is not as convinced in Brian's innocence as she once was. And more, we see this in a number of cases.

Sometimes family members are quick to support someone, but then as more and more evidence is revealed, more things come to light, you know, that support kind of wanes a little bit because it starts to look as though this person really could have done it. Yeah, I think we've covered cases in the past where the family starts out supporting someone that's accused of a crime like this. And then as the pieces fall in the place, it becomes harder and harder to do that. one case that comes to mind is the the McDonald family murders in which Colette McDonald's family supported Jeffrey McDonald

until things just started overwhelmingly proving that he likely had killed their daughter. Well, and I'm sure Brian charmed his mother-in-law. And so at first, she probably thought, well, there's no way that he would have done this to Anna. She spent 16 months living with them.

Prosecutors were quoted in the Boston Globe saying his likability, communication, and his reassurance helped him swindle his victims. Even Rivlin, the swindled gallery owner, used complimentary words to describe Brian telling the New York Post. He was charismatic, articulate, transparent, and professional in their original dealings. Not every person that knew Brian Walsh was surprised by his arrest for the murder of his wife. One person, a friend of Brian's late father, Fred Pescotaur, did say to the New York Post that Brian was a very angry and physically violent person, adding that he wanted no involvement with Brian in any way, shape, or form. Pescator recalled an incident when Brian was accused of smuggling antiques, saying, Brian picked up a stanchion and literally attempted to kill four or five guards.

It seems no charges were filed for that incident. Other people from Brian Walsh's past have come forward with troubling accusations. Jeffrey Ornstein, who had been a friend of Dr. Thomas Walsh for over three decades and had known Brian since he was 13 years old, told the New York Post that Brian was diagnosed as a sociopath at Austin Riggs Psychiatric Center in Stockbridge, where Jeffrey claims Brian was a long-term patient. And this is also an interesting part of any case. For me, when you have someone accused of something like this, murder,

you're going to have all kinds of people being interviewed, coming out who knew this person, and you are going to read conflicting statements. Some people are going to say, this was a great person. I knew them. There's no way they could do this. And then you're going to have other people kind of saying the signs were there. I had bad dealings with this person. This person was violent. And I think it just all goes back to your interactions with anyone and what they allow you to see

in certain situations. Yeah. And I think that's something we see in a lot of these cases where once there's a spotlight on a person in a case like this, you get everyone coming out of the woodwork, you know, with these little stories of, well, this happened, that happened. And you wonder, is all of it true? And if it is, are there warning signs in that person's past that may have said, hey, this person may be a danger and, you know, we need to keep an eye on them. Yeah, I tend to think in most scenarios, all of that.

it's true, right? Because a person can be a great person to some, a lousy person to others, right? You have different sides, you have different faces in different scenarios. That's true for a lot of people. One of Brian's mom, Diana Walsh's neighbors and Swamp Scott brought up a question that a lot of people were asking. Why was Anna with Brian to begin with? She told the New York Post that Brian and Anna were an odd pairing, saying she was a gorgeous woman from Serbia. I just wonder why she went for him. Nobody can figure out his game. And it really does seem as if Anna was a go-getter, a hard worker, and trying to excel in her successes,

while her husband, Brian Walsh, seemed like a grifter, a con man. In media coverage of this case, it seemed as if, at least early on, Brian Walsh thought he might outsmart police. and he seemed to smile and act confident in front of the cameras. This has led a lot of people to wonder if Brian is enjoying the infamy. Brian's lawyer, Tracy Minor, released a statement as detailed by Fox News saying, it's easy to charge a crime and even easier to say a person committed that crime. It's much more difficult to prove it, which we will see if the prosecution can do.

defense attorney Tracy Minor seems very confident about this her statement continued in my experience where as here the prosecution leaks so-called evidence to the press before they provide it to me their case isn't that strong i intend to win this case in court not in the media which is already tried and convicted mr walsh so i'm a little struck by the fact that this a defense is so confident given the stuff that has come out about, you know, Brian Walsh. But what else is a defense attorney going to do? Say, oh, man, I don't know if I can do this one. I don't think we can win.

No, that's not what defense attorneys do. You know, in speaking to the media, they have to portray confidence. They have to say that the prosecution doesn't have as much evidence as they're, trying to put out to the press. We're going to shred it. We're going to destroy it, stuff like that. They have to. Yeah, and I'm no legal expert, but it seems like the defense is really going to have an uphill battle trying to discount and explain away all the things we've laid out in this episode.

Oh, I absolutely agree. I think portraying confidence is one thing. But actually being confident behind the scenes is, is a, another. I think when you said uphill battle, that is absolutely correct. Brian Walsh is currently being held on $500,000 bond. He maintains his innocence. The three Walsh boys are currently in the custody of the state. Two different families are petitioning the court for custody of all three children and are willing to adopt them together. Brian will appear in court next on February 9th and we'll have to stay tuned to see what develops. Yeah, so morph as we wrap up this case, obviously

It's a very interesting one. It's grabbed the attention of people all over. You see headlines about it as things get released and all of that. You said, we'll have to stay tuned because there's more to come. And I think a lot of people are really going to be following this case intently to see what the outcome is. And not just the guilt or, innocence, but, you know, if there is a full-blown trial, what evidence comes out, what revelations come out, and really does the entire story come out? And for me, part of that is if he is guilty, if he killed Anna, which many people believe he did, what was the true motive? You know, and in a lot of cases, not all of that comes out. There are theories put forth by the prosecution, but not always does the defendant, you know, lay it all out there.

Now, if there's a guilty plea or something like that, okay, we may get all of that, but it's not guaranteed. Yeah, and I think at the end of the day here, there's a couple of things really come to front and center for me. and one of them is the fact that there are three children here that are being displaced and their mom is missing presumably murdered and their father stands accused of doing it. And that's just terrible that these kids are going to have to deal with that. But then there's also the whole possibility that this man likely is accused of at least dismembering his. wife and disposing of her like trash.

Just I don't know how and maybe this is, you know, unless you're one of these people that can do this, how you do that to someone that you supposedly love, little on anyone, but especially someone you love, I just, I can't comprehend that someone would do this. So those details that are hopefully going to come out, you know, they may be very troubling. Oh, I think they'll be troubling. but I also think you're not alone in having a hard time, understanding how someone can do this, if this guy is guilty of doing it, I think, you know, a lot of people who are into true crime and follow cases, it's part of the reason why they do.

You're trying to understand the psyche, the mind of an individual that somehow allows them, to do some of these really heinous things. But that's it for our episode on Anna Walsh and Brian Walsh. And like you said, Morph, there is more to come in this case. And we'll all be following it. I know you and I will. And I know a lot of the people listening will.

But we'll definitely be back with everyone next Saturday night with an all new episode. So until then for Mike and Morph. We'll talk to you next week. Can too heard you loud and clear with their new ultra-moister collection, powered by batana oil and Jamaican black caster oil. This new lineup collection is clinically proven to deliver non-stop moisture for up to five days. Five whole days. The shampoo gently cleanses without stripping, and olivin and stylers keep curls soft, defined,

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