Law&Crime Sidebar - Alleged Wife Killer Brian Walshe Wants Damning Search History Tossed

Episode Date: May 24, 2025

Ana Walshe was last seen at her Massachusetts home on New Year’s Day of 2023. But the law enforcement’s missing person investigation quickly turned into a murder inquiry when they discovered incriminating searches on a family iPad, including “how to get rid of a body.” Brian Walshe is now charged with killing and dismembering his wife. His defense attorneys argued this week that some of the most incriminating evidence against him should be thrown out. Law&Crime’s Jesse Weber has the details.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW: Get 15% off OneSkin with the code SIDEBAR at https://www.oneskin.co #oneskinpodHOST:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokeVideo Editing - Michael Deininger, Christina O'Shea & Jay CruzScript Writing & Producing - Savannah Williamson & Juliana BattagliaGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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will keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't let your fears take hold of you as you dive into this addictive series. Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. And it was numerous searches about dismembering a body, how to and bomb a body, how to get rid of a body. Numerous searches related to that. Someone's internet search history has once again landed them in serious hot water, with a Massachusetts father standing accused of killing his wife. But the defense wants the judge to keep those incriminating searches away from a jury. We were in court for Brian Walsh's latest hearing.

Welcome to Sidebar, presented by law and crime. I'm Jesse Weber. Hey, real quick, I want to thank One Skin for sponsoring today's episode of Sidebar, because let's be honest, being on camera as much as I am. having the right skin care products matters and our skin it changes as we get older it's dry deeper wrinkles but there is a game changer out there it's called one skin now one skin was founded by an all-woman team of scientists to develop the proprietary OS01 peptide so this peptide targets cellular senescence a

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Your future self? We'll definitely thank you. nine-year-old Anna Walsh never returned home from a supposed work trip at the beginning of 2023. Her husband Brian Walsh became a suspect in her disappearance. Within days, he would be under arrest, accused of not only killing Anna, but of dismembering her. And law enforcement in Cohasset, Massachusetts says Walsh's own internet search history could put him behind bars for a very long time. But now Walsh's defense team is trying to have that evidence tossed out before Walsh goes to trial in front of a jury. And I got to give you a little bit of backstory here to understand why this is so big. So, Anna, who's originally from Serbia, lived in Cohasset, Massachusetts,

with her husband, Brian, and their three children. She worked in Washington, D.C., commuted back and forth. The family had reportedly celebrated New Year's Eve with a family friend when she was allegedly called to a work emergency on New Year's Day, and she was never seen again. When she stopped showing up for work, her employer was the one who actually first reported her missing. So then an officer went to the Walsh home to perform a wellness check and her husband said he hadn't heard from her since she left her D.C. And that is when disturbing details started to emerge because Walsh apparently made several disturbing Google searches which led police to believe Anna was dead. Law enforcement also discovered that Walsh had lied to them

about where he'd been in the days between January 1st when Anna was reportedly last seen and January 4th when Cohassee police performed that wellness check. Walsh was arrested on January 18th, and despite Anna's body never being found, he was indicted on charges of murder, misleading a police investigation, and improper conveyance of a human body, meaning police believe that Walsh somehow disposed of Anna once she was dead. And during an early court hearing back in 23, the prosecutor read some of those internet searches that Walsh had apparently made after Ana's disappearance, read them aloud for the court, a doozy to say the least. What I'd like to do now just describe his actions on the days from January 1st.

I'm going to indicate on January 1st at 3 p.m. he did some errands and went to his mother's house and swamps, but the loss because he didn't have his home. He said he knew of his loss when he saw a pirate ship on Route 1. Defendant stayed 15 minutes and went to Whole Foods in CBS. Savannah was expected he did not enter either of those stores. On January 1st, defendant Googled using his son's iPad. Some of the searches are as follows. Keep in mind that the defendant said he left at 6 a.m. At 455am, on January 1st, he searched how long before a body starts to smell.

At 4.58 a.m., how to stop a body from decomposing. At 5.20 a.m., he searched how long found a body. At 5.47 a.m., 10 ways to disclose the dead body if you really need to. At 6.25 a.m. on the 1st, how long for some of it be missing to inherit? At 6.34 a.m. on the 1st, can we throw away body pots. At 9.29 a.m., what does come down to hide do? At 9.34 a.m. on the first, how long does DNA last? At 9.59 a.m., can identification be made on partial remains?

At 11.34 am, disememberment in the best ways to dispose of a body. At 1144, how to clean blood from wooden floor. At 1156 on the first, moment on to detect blood. At 108, what happens when you put body pots in ammonia? At 1.21 p.m. is the better to throw primacy clothes away or wash them? Those on these January 1st. There was also information gave when he planned his home, which showed on January 2nd, he was at home goods in Norwell,

where he purchased three rugs. There were also more Google searches on January 2nd. At 12.45 p.m. packs off, that's two to dismember. At 110 p.m. can you be charged with murder without a body? At 11.m. can you identify a body with broken teeth? Such damning information, such damning evidence. And according to an affidavit of probable cause, Walsh was also spotted on a surveillance camera at Home Depot. This apparently was a shopping trip that he needed.

never mentioned to police. The affidavit indicates he was wearing a black surgical mask and blue surgical gloves and made a cash purchase. Hmm. Investigators later determined he spent $450 on things like cleaning supplies. Authorities say they found the Walsh's DNA, along with a COVID vaccine card for Anna, some of her clothes, a hacksaw, cutting shears, and a hatchet in trash bags in a dumpster, apparently across the street from Walsh's mother's condo complex. In fact, the surveillance photo was discovered from January 3rd showing someone wearing a face mask, throwing away what appeared to be heavy bags. And then a bloody damaged knife was also reportedly found in the basement of the Walsh home. Now, despite all this apparent evidence, Walsh has

entered a not guilty plea. He's been behind bars with no bail ever since. He faces life in prison if he's convicted. But now we've got to talk about what's happening. Okay, so with Walsh's trial that's expected to start in October, his defense team, and arguably one of their best moves that they should be doing is to make sure as little of this evidence comes into trial and the jury doesn't see it, right? So his defense team is trying to get some of the evidence in this case thrown out, including the electronic device extraction that uncovered those chilling, eerie Google searches. So you had a two-day evidentiary hearing that was held this week with the prosecution and the defense making arguments in front of a judge.

So several investigators who worked on Anna Walsh's missing person case and subsequently her murder investigation, they were called to testify. And according to Cajas of police, Anna was last seen at work on December 29th, then last seen by the family friend at the New Year's Eve get together. Walsh had apparently told police that Anna had got up early to travel to D.C. for this apparent work emergency saying she took an Uber or a lift to the airport like usual. But despite that being Walsh's story, an officer testified that her cell phone last pinged the following day, January 2nd, 2023, around 3 in the morning, a quarter mile from the Walsh home. Investigators also discovered that the airline that Anna supposedly used,

no record of her flying to or from D.C. Officer Gregory Lorence was the first to interact with Walsh and updated the court on how the investigation even got started. Who did you meet there at that residence? Brian Walsh. Can you explain to me what happened when you got to the house that day? I exited my cruiser and he met me at the doorway and said that he wanted to report his wife missing and file a police report with the house of police. And what was his meeting like when he saw him at the doorway?

Very calm. Now, this initial interaction with Mr. Walsh, was it recorded? it was not. Why it wasn't recorded? Quasso, police did not have body-worn cameras at that time. And so, what had he told you he had done to try and locate his wife at this point in time? He told me that he had tried texting here, and he did contact his employer, her employer. And what did he tell you as far as the last time he had seen his wife? It would be Sunday morning, January 1st, 2020. between the hours of 6 a.m. and 7 a.m.

Do you say where she was going after that point? She had a work emergency and had to go back to Washington, D.C. Do you say how she was going to leave the home that day? She was going to take either an Uber or a lift. And head to where, sir? Logan Airport. Sergeant Harrison Schmidt was next to take the stand, and he explained that he was involved in coordinating a search for Anna

and went to the Walsh home on the evening of January 4th to do an interview with Brian Walsh. And at this point, this is still a missing person's case, okay? So Sergeant Schmidt told the court that he and another officer walked around the home with Walsh looking for anything that might point to how or why Anna had gone missing. And Sergeant Schmidt testified that while they didn't search the attic at the time, they did do a search of the backyard pool, which the sergeant said was uncovered and full of water, despite it being January.

The fire department even helped shine spotlights into the pool. they even drained it, thinking maybe Anna had, you know, fallen in somehow, but they didn't find anything. So back to Sergeant Schmidt, he also noted something odd about a Volvo at the home. What did you, what car did you look at? There's a Volvo XC90. And did you get any permission to look at that foot car? Yes. And who'd you get the permission from? Mr. Walsh. And what did you notice about the Volvo? In the trunk, there was, The trunk was lined with, like, plastic sheeting. And so you were able to open it at this point in time?

Yes. Okay. Now, sir, fast-forwarding to January 5th, which was a Thursday, what did you do to try and locate Ms. Walsh that day? I did a lot that day. Let me just go back for a second. I'll do this from time to time. There was a plastic sheet. You said lining the rear area?

Yes. Is that a trunk, or is it more like an old? open area in the rear of an SUV? The trunk area is a SUV with a hatch. So the trunk area, not the seating area. OK, thanks. So not like a sedan, though, which would have a separate distinct trunk,

it has access to the seats. Correct. The seats would fold down. You could go from the trunk into the back row. OK. So I'll call it a traditional SUV configuration. Yes, yes, sir. And we learned that during a later visit to the home, police searched the attic, but they didn't find anything suspicious.

Investigators also said that the plastic liner that was originally noted as being in the rear of the SUV, that was now gone. Sergeant Schmidt told the court that investigators questioned Brian Walsh about whether Anna might have taken her own life or abandoned the family. During that interview, what did he say that his normal contact would be with his wife, Anna Walsh, while she was working in Washington? A daily contact. During the interview, did you have the opportunity to ask him whether or not Anna was contemplating suicide? Yes. And what was his response to that? She wouldn't do that.

What, if anything, did you say she was unhappy about? Stress from work and distance. And was he asked about extramarital affairs on either side? Yes. What did he say? Neither of them had extramarital affairs. Did you ask, or was he asked, on whether or not, if they had had an argument the morning she left January 1? Yes.

What was his response? There wouldn't have been enough time that morning. What do you say the biggest argument they had had recently was? She had a two-week vacation scheduled, and instead of coming home, she was in Belgrade visiting her mother. Now, did he say what was causing stress in their relationship at this point in time? Yes. What was causing stress? The distance being away from the children.

And in addition to the distance, were there any other stressors in their relationship? Prior legal issues. So you told you that he had another legal, another criminal matter going on? Yes. That's right. Walsh was already up to his neck in legal issues, this time in federal court. Back in 2021, nearly two years. before Anna was reported missing, Walsh had entered a guilty plea to multiple fraud charges for

selling two fake Andy Warhol paintings. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts, a buyer found a listing on eBay for two abstract Warhol paintings that were part of his shadow series, and there was a photo of an invoice for the paintings with Warhol Foundation numbers and a purchase price of $240,000. The paintings were listed on eBay for $100,000. The buyer managed to get them, thousand. It's a steel. But when he got the paintings, the buyer quickly figured out they were fakes. These are the real ones. These are the fakes. He tried to contact Walsh, who at first wouldn't respond, and then made excuses for why he couldn't refund the buyer's money.

So after Walsh pleaded guilty as he awaited sentencing, he was on house arrest. He was only allowed to leave the house during certain times, had to notify federal authorities if he did so and authorities were then able to track his phone if need be to make sure he was where he was supposed to be. But Walsh claimed in the early days after his wife's disappearance, his son had hidden his phone that he couldn't find it. So the authorities would just have to trust that he went where he said that he did. Okay. And they didn't uncovering evidence that Walsh allegedly lied about his whereabouts using things like store security video. But for the fraud case, Walsh was sentenced in 2024 to 37 months in prison for each count ordered to pay $475,000 in restitution.

But back to this evidentiary hearing, okay, want to talk about this. So Sergeant Schmidt testified about this strange email that investigators received that was a purported ransom demand. During this interview, did anyone ask him about the name Richard Walker? Yes. Who asked about Richard Walker? Trooper to Chico. And did he know a Richard Walker?

No. What was the significance to you at this point in time of the name Richard Walker? I had received an email with a ransom request from an email address with the name Richard Walker. And when had you received this email in relation to the interview that you were conducting with the defendant at this point in time on January 7? Before. Your Honor, may approach? Yes.

Sergeant, I'm showing you a copy of a document. Do you recognize that? Yes. Is that the email you received from the Richard with the name Richard Walker attached to it? It is. The column wants to seek to have this marked as the next exhibit. It's in the binder, Your Honor. and before i try and admit it twice it's exhibit nine thank you any objection no objection

did you read the body of the email we have the so named on a walsh with us here we had a deal worth 127 thousand dollars she messed up we have her here with us and if she doesn't pay the money then she'll never be back and we know that the police and the fbi are involved good luck finding us. I'm going to have that back. Besides Trooper to Chico mentioning that name once, was the name, was there any further discussion of Richard Walker or the substance or even the substance of the email? No.

According to police, they were suspicious of this ransom demand because it didn't mention anything about where to send the money or even a deadline to do it. Massachusetts State Police, they were also involved in the Walsh investigation. And you had Sergeant Yuri Bukinnik testified that he spoke with Walsh's mother, Diana, who said her son had looked into hiring a private investigator to find Anna. And the trooper also spoke with the eldest child who was six at the time about the last time he saw his mother. What did the oldest child tell you about what he remembers is the last time he saw his mother, Anna Walsh? What the child stated was that the last time he saw his mother was surrounded around the events of him hearing a noise,

waking up, coming downstairs, and seeing her on the couch underneath his blanket, which he left in the room overnight. She was dressed in a set of pink pajamas with red hearts, and as he was walking by, the kitchen island. He saw his iPad. He picked up the iPad, recognized that it was malfunctioning or broken, not working properly, and he requested that his mom, Anna, fixed the iPad for him. Once she fixed the iPad, he indicated that Anna went upstairs and changed into her real clothes, returning back downstairs, holding a brown duffel bag, approximately two feet length and a purse, which he gestured to her wearing on her shoulder. He then stated that her taxi was here. He told her, I love you. She responded, I love you more. And she walked

out the door to her ride when asked if he saw the vehicle, saw the headlights for the vehicle or saw her get into the vehicle. He stated he did not. Those are strictly his speculations obviously he used the word speculation but and how did the conversation end with the oldest child um i had a question for him asking does he know where his mom before i was able to finish that question diana became animated with her arms as he was sitting on her lap flailing her arms in the air i stopped abruptly being interrupted by her gesture. She finished the question for me, stating cell phone. The child never answered my intended question, which was if he knew where his mom was, nor the question

that Diana finished. He strictly said that mom wanted him to move to D.C. to be with her. He abruptly got up, got up off of Diana's lap and ran into a different portion of the home. And did you have any further conversation with the oldest child? Yes, I did. And what was that, sir? At one point, a little bit later on, he returned to the area where myself, Detective Lopes, was standing. He opened the door slightly, just wide enough to the basement that he could fit through. He took a step onto the first step going down into the basement.

I looked back at me, extended his arm, and I told him that he shouldn't go into the basement on his own, realizing there were child locks on the door. Then Diana also opened the door all the way and grabbed his hand and told him not to go down there. That is so chilling, given that police said they later discovered blood and a damaged knife down in the basement. And when the state called Lieutenant John Fanning to the stand, he testified about what a forensic examiner found in the Internet search history of one of Walsh's devices. He said, I found something in the search history. That's interesting. I said, well, what was it?

And it was numerous searches about dismembering a body, how to embalm a body, how to get rid of a body. Numerous searches related to that. another search related to divorce. And so after he said he notified you of that, did he communicate to you and other troopers what he had found? Yes. How so? He sent an email.

And as far as analyzing the iPad Mini, what was your understanding as further analysis of the iPad Mini? of the iPad Mini at this point in time? We were going to stop. And what was going to be done as far as the iPad Mini after stopping? We were going to data we're talking about. Yes, we had stopped, and we were going to obtain a search warrant to seize that device. So after that, investigators got warrants for Walsh's home and had Walsh and the children go to Walsh's

attorney's home while they searched. On Sunday, January 8th of the attorney mine. I did. When was that? When we went to arrest Brian Walsh. And where was that? At her residence. And what was the contact you had with attorney minor at this point in time?

She met us right out front. She actually came out before we got to the door. And I asked where Brian was. She said in the house, I said, we need to go talk to Brian right now. And she said, well, he's not going to say anything. I said, that's fine, but we need to find him right away. right away. We walked right in. A dining room was right off to the left. Brian Walsh was standing there and we placed him under arrest. So the defense is arguing that this incriminating search history

was discovered without a warrant, right? There's a constitutional violation. And investigators took eight devices from the Walsh home, including iPhones, iPads. According to the warrant, the forensic searches of those devices had to be limited to communications between December 25th, 2022 and January 6, 2023, a key time period, and communications, not searches for other online activity. That's the key here. And the defense, they question the lieutenant about the issue of consent to search. You are familiar with Massachusetts state police consent to search one, right? And you didn't use one or try to use one or attempt to fill one out before you took the

items, the devices for Mr. Walsh that day on January 16th. No, we were working together cooperatively to find Anna Walsh, and I was happy that we were working together. No, I understand your answer, but you didn't use a consent decision. There was already an agreement, so I think it would have been, it wouldn't have made sense after just talking to Attorney Minor, talking to Sergeant Buchanick, an agreement in writing to then show up with a consent form. I think that, I think Attorney Minor would have had a problem with that. Well, you think that, but my question is simple. You used those consent to search forms, you did not use one in this case. That's correct.

And those consent to search forms without believing the point, they're used to make sure that what you do, when it's looked at later on, that there's evidence that there was, in fact, a voluntary consent, and that whatever parameters of any search that was conducted would be followed and that the person giving consent understood that. Yes. That's all I have. Thank you, too. Redirect.

Thank you, Your Honor. Lieutenant, if we were asked a question about any of the police. supports concerning whether or not you would mention that the Sun might have used the iPad with the report? Yes. Do you the memory of that paragraph where you mentioned, were that you were asked about as far as the Sun using it there, the iPad? You guys are confusing me.

I'm sorry, do I remember? We're right there with you. Do I have a memory of the paragraph? Is the one I just read? Yeah. Yes. Okay. Do you remember what you mentioned as far as the son using the iPad and that report?

Would the report help you? Yes. Your Honor Mayor? Yes. I'm showing you the report which has a number of 2003-112-4 slash 116. I want you to take a look at the third paragraph, specifically the second sentence. I'm going to the third. Got it.

All right. Lieutenant, did you write the report whether or not the Sun used the iPad? I did. And then you go to day two of the hearing, and you had Trooper Nicholas Guarino, the forensic investigator that the lieutenant was talking about, explained what he collected. So you said a search warrant for him for the home. Were you present for a search warrant of the Walsh home in Kilhaston? Yes, I was. And when was that, sir?

Sunday, January 8th in the morning. And what was seized from the home as far as devices that morning? There was three MacBooks. The iPhone 13 Mini, the iPhone, that should be the iPad 6 Mini. the iPad 6 with a crack screen, another iPad that I don't remember the exact model number of, and an iPhone SE. And Trooper Guarino confirmed that he knew the date range in which he could search, but said that communications could include things like web chats that use a browser.

During his examination of those details in the extraction, he realized that some of the items in the search history were suspicious. So once it opened itself, I would have looked at the timeline view. So I loaded timeline and filtered by the date range that was given. Now, why do you use the timeline view? Multiple reasons. It's the easiest way to pare down the data by date range. And it gives a comprehensive list of how the device is interacted.

from, again, from the 25th to the 6th, as we told. And what did you begin to notice while you were going through this data in the timeline range? So it has every device interaction, what's been done with it, started seeing searches on the 27th of December for best places to get divorced, worst place to get divorced, best dates for divorce. And after the 27th, did you notice anything further that caught your attention when you were analyzing the date of this device? Yes. The morning of the first, approximately 4.55 a.m., began seeing searches of how to dispose of a body.

And how, after starting to see these searches, what did you do? So I went through the information, the data, probably up to about the second. And I saw numerous searches about body disposal, removal of smell, oasis dump, cadaver dogs at the dump. And I contacted, well, I went downstairs and contacted Trooper Keith to tell them what I had found search-wise. Now, to be clear, at the time of this recording, the judge hasn't made a ruling yet on whether those internet searches will come in a trial, which for now is currently scheduled to start October 20th. But I'll tell you this much.

Yes, Brian Walsh is innocent until proving. guilty, but for his defense's sake, they need to make sure the jury never sees those searches, because you and I both know for criminal defendants, when those searches come into trial, not great. But that's all we have for you right now here on Sidebar, everybody. Thank you so much for joining us. And as always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should get your podcasts. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next time. You can binge all episodes of this law and crime series, ad free right now on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.