SERIALously - 302: Evil Mastermind or Complete Moron? Brian Walshe & Ana Walshe

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey guys, I am so excited because we are finally going back out on tour and this is going to be our biggest tour yet. We are hitting a lot of cities coming to a city near you and this tour is going to be unlike the last tour and unlike any episode or case that we have ever presented. It's going to be an all new exclusive case, an entirely new approach, interactive with you guys, And it is just gonna be so great. I am so excited to connect with all of you guys. I am very eager for you to hear this case and it's just going to be an unforgettable night. So tickets are on sale now, but grab yours now before they're gone.

Starting point is 00:00:37 You can get all of the information at annieelyse.com. I will also link it in the show notes and I'm really excited to see you there. So head to annieelyse.com, grab your tickets and I'll be seeing you soon. Anna Walsh, three young kids at home. Where did she go? We know that there was evidence that she once was threatened by her husband then did not cooperate with authorities in the investigation.

Starting point is 00:01:02 At 4.55 a.m. 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 to unfound a body. On January 4th of 2023, she was officially reported missing after she didn't show up to work. Brian also reported his wife missing and told authorities Anna left their home

Starting point is 00:01:27 for a flight to D.C. It is such an intimate, violent crime. And the parties had children who were in the home. Hey, true crime besties. Welcome back to an all new episode of Serialistly with me, Annie Elise. And we have a massive case that we need to talk about today. It's one that I have talked about in the past, starting years ago, but there have been a lot of updates and I feel as though this case is now

Starting point is 00:02:30 kind of rediscovering a whole new interest and people are finding it because everybody was glued obviously to the Karen Reed case, right and this case has a lot of the same players cough cough Michael Proctor and It is just on the surface when you don't even include all of that. It is just such a wild case. It is like the dumbest murderer on the face of the earth is involved in this case. And you know, I say it all the time. I love to see criminals big, dumb and stupid. And this guy is like a grade A freaking moron. His Google history says it all.

Starting point is 00:03:06 He is so freaking beyond shady. He looks like who's that guy from Family Guy? Is it quagmire? Like the guy with the big rectangle head? Literally, he looks like that. And I usually don't come for people's looks. But if you're a murderer, it's kind of like gloves are off. I can do whatever I want.

Starting point is 00:03:22 And this guy is just a freaking moron. And we love to see it though, because it's like, we love when idiots think they can get away with murder and you end up getting caught because you're such a moron that you Google literal things of like how to dismember, how to cover up, how to do this, what hacksaw is the best. Like you're an idiot and like you know we just we love to

Starting point is 00:03:48 see it. So anyway, in today's episode I'm going to be going over some of the updates of the case. I'm also going to be stitching together some of the pieces from the previous episodes where I've covered this case because it's been years and years and years and I just want it all in one easy place so that you can learn about the case, start to finish, and hear everything that you need to hear. And if you haven't guessed by now, it is the case of Brian Walsh and Anna Walsh and it is very deeply upsetting and deeply disturbing. And as we go, I think you too are also going to be kind of like who the hell is this guy?

Starting point is 00:04:25 Like did he really think he was gonna get away with this? What's going on? Which let me just throw it out there. Everything that is in this episode is alleged. He has not been convicted and found guilty at the time of this recording. So innocent until proven guilty. Insert big eye roll here. No seriously though this case is deeply haunting and very upsetting and it just deserves to have a bigger spotlight on it and a lot of people, like I said, they are curious about this case,

Starting point is 00:04:53 especially coming off the heels of everything that went down with Karen Reed and Michael Proctor's involvement. So I'm gonna break down everything and I'm also gonna be, like I said, putting updates along the way so that you just have the full, you know, most up-to-date version of this case.

Starting point is 00:05:07 But let me start by just asking you this simple question, okay, what if the person that you built a life with turned out to be hiding something extremely dark, something extremely dangerous? Because that is what's happening in this case. It really does have it all. It has betrayal, a missing mom of Three, Google searches that are literally straight out of a freaking horror movie, and even fake Warhol paintings. Andy Warhol, the famous artist, okay? So like I said, this is the

Starting point is 00:05:38 case of Anna and Brian Walsh, and we are going to get right into it. Anna Walsh is a 37-year-old mother of three from Cohasset, Massachusetts. She's a very beautiful woman standing at 5'2' and around 115 pounds. She has brown hair, brown eyes, with an olive complexion. Those who knew Ana say that she speaks with an Eastern European accent.

Starting point is 00:06:00 She is a native of Serbia and came to the United States in 2005. Before coming to the States, Ana was commuting back and forth between Serbia and Washington, DC, on summertime work visas. She is a very career-driven woman who was just full of all kinds of levels of intelligence. Ana is multilingual and able to speak not only English and Serbian,

Starting point is 00:06:22 but also French, Spanish, and Croatian. She graduated with her bachelor's degree at the University of Belgrade in Belgrade, Serbia, and then obtained her master's from Ivy League Cornell University in New York. Anna went on to work many hospitality jobs before her most recent job with Tischman Spire as their regional general manager in Washington, DC and the Baltimore area. She commuted during the week to Washington, DC for this job and stayed in a townhouse in the area that she had purchased back in March of 2022 for $1.3 million. According to friends and court records, Ana and her husband Brian married in 2015. Ana is also a mother of three small children

Starting point is 00:07:06 between the ages of two and six years old. So now let's change gears for a second and talk about Ana's husband, Brian Walsh. Well, it's a little harder to find out information on him because unlike Ana, who is a very much active person on social media, Brian is the complete opposite. Brian is 47 years old and is the co-founder and CFO at LETS, which means Leadership and Effective Teamwork Strategies, which actually seems to be shut down as there is virtually no information on this company at all.

Starting point is 00:07:40 The couple has been featured in Boston Magazine and Brian has also been featured in the Boston Globe as a Boston-based international art dealer. However, with all of this and this fancy looking life and this facade that one might believe when reading the paper, Brian does have prior legal issues and therefore is actually currently on home confinement and wearing an ankle monitor. See, in November of 2016, a buyer found two Andy Warhol paintings for sale on eBay. The paintings were two of Warhol's shadows, which is a series of untitled abstract canvas paintings from 1978.

Starting point is 00:08:17 The original listing price for the paintings was $100,000. In the advertisement, the eBay seller was Brian, and he included a picture of an invoice for the two Warhol shadow paintings with Warhol foundation numbers and a purchase price of $240,000. Now, this buyer on eBay believed that the paintings were authentic because it had the Warhol foundation numbers, it had that invoice, by all accounts, these were authentic pieces. So between November 3rd and November 5th, 2016, the buyer arranged with Brian to purchase the artwork outside of eBay for $80,000.

Starting point is 00:08:54 This is something that oftentimes happens on these websites, whether it's Facebook, Marketplace, eBay, any of these sales websites. And you always have to be extremely careful because a lot of the time people will try to skirt around the fees and they'll try to bribe the seller saying, hey, if we go off site, go offline, I'll pay you less, but eBay won't take the fees. So essentially you may actually be making equal or more. Is that okay with you? But what happens when you do that is you don't know who you're buying or selling to. And if it's off site, you don't get a lot of the protections

Starting point is 00:09:25 that come with those websites and the guarantees and the security of where your money is being transferred and sent to. But in any event, that's the deal that these two made outside of eBay. So Brian and the buyer signed a contract which specified that the buyer had three days to terminate the contract and get a full refund

Starting point is 00:09:43 if the buyer did not accept the artwork. On November 7, 2016, the buyer's assistant flew to Boston and met Brian in person to retrieve the paintings and provided him with the cashier's check for $80,000. According to bank records, the cashier's check was deposited that same day into an account that Brian controlled and $33,400 of it was subsequently withdrawn in the following two weeks. The day after purchasing these paintings and retrieving them, the buyer, of course, wanted to take a look at them, wanted to look at the authenticity of them and wanted to check

Starting point is 00:10:19 them out, knowing that that window was closing for this three-day guarantee or refunds policy that Brian put forth. So on November 16th, the buyer removed the paintings from the frames and found no Warhol Foundation authentication stamps and noticed that the canvases and staples looked new. So when he compared the paintings to the photographs from the eBay listing, they did not look identical.

Starting point is 00:10:44 The buyer concluded that the paintings he purchased from Brian were not authentic. The buyer then repeatedly attempted to contact Brian, who initially did not respond, and then was making excuses for the delay in refunding the buyer's money. The buyer was Ron Rivlin, the owner of Revolver Gallery in California, the largest Andy Warhol gallery in the world. Ron said that he's bought in thousands of Warhols and this is the only purchase that got him. He was so familiar with the art,

Starting point is 00:11:11 but this guy had somehow tricked him into this. He said he was good. He had a clever playbook and an Oscar-worthy performance. He also stated that when he first met Brian, Brian came off as charismatic, articulate, and professional. However, according to Ron, Brian's demeanor completely changed when he was caught lying about the fake paintings,

Starting point is 00:11:31 and he was very tactful in how he played the legal system. He also said that Brian has a masterful ability to coerce and deceive people. With this crime, Brian was facing up to 50 years in prison and a fine of up to $1 million combined. But the government was set to agree to a sentence that included no jail time at all. However, after Brian allegedly embezzled funds from his late father's estate while out on bail in the Warhol case, they are now seeking a sentence currently of 30 months in federal prison.

Starting point is 00:12:02 That's right, just when you thought he couldn't get any scummier or scamier, he went and caught another charge in federal court when he plundered his deceased father's estate after finding out that he had kept him out of the will. Now, let me just tell you about this for a minute. His father had the ultimate mic drop moment in the will, saying, and I quote, "'My best wishes, but nothing else.

Starting point is 00:12:26 Well, that would catch anybody off guard. I don't wanna say anybody, but anybody who's expecting to receive something from a will. So according to court filings, Brian illegally helped himself to more than $100,000 in cash, paintings by Miro and Dali, pottery, art glasses, and even a car belonging to his father's estate, which he then sold off. Now, when this case went to federal court, the rightful managers

Starting point is 00:12:52 of Brian's estate had the opportunity to send letters to the judge talking about how the embezzlement truly affected them. And honestly, they did not hold back a single bit. Dr. Fred Pescatore, the longtime best friend of Tom Walsh, Brian's dad, said he and another man, Jeffrey Olmstein, who were Tom's dearest and closest friends for almost three decades, had quite a bit to say. He said, Tom openly discussed Brian and his grandchildren with me often.

Starting point is 00:13:19 Tom had mentioned that another grandson was on the way, and he outright stated that like his son and his prior grandson, he wanted nothing to do with the new offspring. Tom told me that Brian had been in contact about the new offspring. Tom stated that Brian was looking for money again, and that it made him quite uncomfortable.

Starting point is 00:13:38 Tom indicated that he kept the conversations with Brian as short as possible. Tom was always clear that he did not want his son Brian to inherit anything from him. Going on to say, I had no individual animosity towards Brian. So Tom felt open to discuss how he felt about Brian and the pain and disappointment that Brian had caused him, stemming from the time Brian had stolen

Starting point is 00:13:58 a significant amount of money from Tom. I personally spoke with Dr. Martin Samuels and he was not interested in being involved in the estate as he wanted absolutely nothing to do with Brian. Marty stated that Brian is an evil person and capable of just about anything and I want nothing to do with this so please do not involve me. And Marty was a work buddy of Tom's. It is clear in our communication that he had heard what all of us had heard from Tom regarding Brian's lack of honesty and integrity. Brian and Tom's estrangement had everything to do with money.

Starting point is 00:14:28 Brian stole money from Tom and swindled him out of almost $1 million. Brian basically did to his father what he is accused of doing in Boston in federal court. Their estrangement had nothing to do with Tom's alternative lifestyle, but rather all to do with Brian being a sociopath who could never stay in one school as a child. I even went on a trip to China with Brian, Tom, and my partner at the time. I witnessed firsthand what Brian was capable of. I saw Brian attempt to smuggle out antiquities from China. When Brian was confronted, he picked up a Stansion and literally attempted to kill four or five guards that had

Starting point is 00:15:06 come to talk to him about his crime. Brian is not only a sociopath, but also a very angry and physically violent person. I want nothing to do with him, but I will stand up for my friend Tom's rights and I will not let his memory be on the pack of lies from Brian. Wow, like a pretty bold letter and statement. But get this, Brian's legal troubles and his all around scum bagginess, it went even further back, even before he and Ana were ever married. Okay, you guys know I am all about

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Starting point is 00:16:55 on inside your body. You'll thank yourself later. Trust me. In 2014, Anna reported to the police that her then boyfriend, Brian, threatened to kill her and her friends. There aren't many other details other than Brian threatened her over the phone because Anna later refused to cooperate with police and an investigation, so it never progressed or went forward. So we know that Brian is a walking red flag, right? I mean, he has stolen art, he has embezzled from his father, from the grave.

Starting point is 00:17:30 He even allegedly threatened to kill Ana. However, does that necessarily mean that he would take it a step further and really hurt her? Or was that just an idle threat? And that's pretty much what Ana's friends and family were left wondering when she went radio silent on January 1, 2023. Then three days later, on January 4, police received a phone call simultaneously from Ana's husband Brian and her employer Tishman Speyer.

Starting point is 00:17:58 Ana was missing and had not shown up to work in three days, which according to her employer, this was extremely unlike her. However, we later learn that the employer is the one who made the initial missing persons report for Ana. So just keep that in mind that Brian did not report his wife missing for three days. Ana was last seen at her home in Cohasset, Massachusetts between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. on New Year's Day. Bryan stated that Anna was taking a ride share from her home to Boston Logan International Airport in attempt to catch an early flight to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on January 1st due to there being an emergency with one of the properties that she was in charge of in Washington,

Starting point is 00:18:41 D.C. However, after further investigation, there was no ride share scheduled for the morning of January 1st. Officer Gregory Lowrentz 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

Starting point is 00:19:08 missing and file a police report with the Quasar police. And what was his name like when you saw him at the doorway? Very calm. Now, this initial interaction with Mr. Walsh, was it recorded? No, it was not. Why was it recorded? The Quasar 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?

Starting point is 00:19:34 He told me that he had tried texting her and he did contact 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, 2023, between the hours of 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. Did he say where she was going after that point? She had a work emergency and had to go back to Washington, D.C. Did he say how she was going to leave the home that day? She was going to take an Uber or a Lyft. And head to where, sir?

Starting point is 00:20:07 Logan Airport. In addition, it was also determined that her cell phone pinged in the area of the home on the 1st and the 2nd, which was after Brian said she had left, indicating that Anna was not in Washington, D.C. In addition, investigators were able to confirm with all of the airlines that Anna was not in Washington, D.C. In addition, investigators were able to confirm with all of the airlines that Anna did not board a plane at all during this time frame. Meanwhile, officers from the Metropolitan Police Department in D.C. searched the townhouse but found no sign of Anna there anywhere.

Starting point is 00:20:39 Investigators stated that Anna's cell phone has been off since January 1st and that her credit card and debit cards have also been inactive since New Year's Day as well. Brian told police that on January 1st, he had three hours allocated to take his mother home from a surgery that she had, but that his mother had recovered from the surgery quicker than expected and had driven herself home. However, he still used that time that he had approved and allocated to go visit her and run errands for her. So Brian says in that time,

Starting point is 00:21:07 he left the couple's home without his phone, got lost on the way to his mother's house, and then later went to both Whole Foods and CVS. But when police pulled surveillance video from those stores, Brian was nowhere to be found. But you know where they did see Brian? At Home Depot. And on surveillance,

Starting point is 00:21:25 he was seen with a cart full of cleaning supplies, including cleaning products such as mops, brushes, tape, tarps, a Tyvek suit with boot covers, buckets, goggles, baking soda, and a hatchet. At Home Depot, he was wearing a face mask and rubber gloves, and the total was around $450 for this supplies, and Brian paid in cash. At 5.32 p.m., he was seen on a street camera removing his gloves and masks. The next day, on January 3rd at 4.27 p.m., Brian drove to an apartment complex.

Starting point is 00:22:00 Surveillance showed Brian's Volvo pull up to a dumpster carrying a garbage bag. He leaned, and whatever it is in the bag appears to be heavy because of the way that he was carrying it. He walked over to the dumpster and left the garbage bag there. At 4.48 p.m., he went to another apartment complex.

Starting point is 00:22:17 Then at 5.10 p.m., he went to a third apartment complex. And video surveillance showed Brian and his Volvo throwing things away at that dumpster. The following day, on January 4th, he went to TJ Maxx and Home Goods and purchased towels, bath mats, and men's clothing. January 4th was that same day of the wellness check. When police came to the house, the officer saw Brian's Volvo with the back seats laying down and plastic liner laid out on top of the seats.

Starting point is 00:22:44 But at this point, they were just doing a wellness check and he was saying, no, I haven't seen her. She got on her flight. She was going to DC. I don't know. So the next day on January 5th, the back seats of his Volvo were still down and the carpet seemed to have fresh vacuum streaks on it. The police asked Brian about the liner and he said that he threw it away.

Starting point is 00:23:02 Once the car was analyzed, there was still some blood in it. What car did you look at? There's a Volvo XC90. And did you get any permission to look at that footcar? 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're able to open it at this point in time? Yes. Okay. Now, sir, fast forwarding to January 5th, which was a Thursday,

Starting point is 00:23:33 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 apologize. There was a, I'll do this from time to time, there was a plastic sheet, you said lining the rear area. Yes.

Starting point is 00:23:47 Is that a trunk or is it more like a 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. Okay, 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.

Starting point is 00:24:13 Okay. So I'll call it a traditional SUV configuration? Yes, yes, your honor. 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 Ana might have taken her own life or abandoned the family.

Starting point is 00:24:43 During that interview, what did he say that his normal contact would be with his wife Ana Walsh while she was working in Washington? or abandon the family. 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?

Starting point is 00:25:29 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

Starting point is 00:26:04 Issues so he told you that he had another criminal matter going on? Yes. So at this point, things just are not looking good. Ana hasn't been heard from since New Year's, and Brian's alibi does not check out at all. He's also been caught on video making all sorts of suspicious purchases. But that's not all. Buckle up, because things are about to get even worse when the investigators get a hold of Brian's search history. And like we say, the Google history will get you every time.

Starting point is 00:26:35 Brian used his son's iPad to do the following Google searches and the following activities. January 1st, at 4.55 a.m., he searched how long before a body starts to smell. Three minutes later at 4 58 a.m. how to stop a body from decomposing. A little over 20 minutes later at 5 20 a.m. he searched how to embalm a body. A little over 25 minutes after that at 5 47 a.m., he googled 10 ways to dispose of a dead body if you really need to. Then at 625 a.m., how long for someone to be missing to inherit? At 634 a.m., can you throw away

Starting point is 00:27:16 body parts? At 929 a.m., what does formaldehyde do? At 934 a.m., long does DNA last? At 9.59am, can identification be made on partial remains? At 11.34am, dismemberment and the best ways to dispose of a body? At 11.44am, how to clean blood from a wood floor? At 11.56am Luminol to detect blood. Then he pauses for a little bit and comes back to Google at 108 p.m. and he searches what happens when you put body parts in ammonia. Searches again at 121 p.m.

Starting point is 00:27:55 Is it better to throw crime scene clothes away or wash them? On what planet do these criminals actually become stupid enough to Google search all of these things that are very incriminating, then to have their spouse mysteriously go missing either days later or in this case, potentially days before or the day of? I mean, you are literally asking to get caught.

Starting point is 00:28:21 Go to an internet cafe, do anything. You're using your own family's tech devices to make these searches. On what planet do you think you're not going to get caught? It blows my mind. It really truly does. And this wasn't all of it. Because the next day on January 2nd, the searches continued. First he went to HomeGoods, where he purchased three rugs.

Starting point is 00:28:42 And then he began his Google searches again. At 12.45pm, H hack saw best tool to dismember. At 1.02pm, what happens to hair on a dead body? At 1.10pm, can you be charged for murder without the body? At 1.13pm, what is the rate of decomposition in a body found in a plastic bag compared to a body left on the surface in the woods? Pretty specific, my guy. At 1.14pm, he searched, can you identify a body with broken teeth? Which to me, this indicates the teeth were already broken or he was planning to break

Starting point is 00:29:18 them to make it so she was difficult to identify. And then he Googles at 1.20pm, can baking soda mask or make a body smell good? And unfortunately, these searches were not all that the investigators found that was painting a really grim picture of what truly happened to Anna. Police and crime scene investigators searched Anna and Brian's home. They found blood in the basement, along with a damaged knife and some blood on it. They also found a second knife in the basement, along with a damaged knife and some blood on it. They also found a second knife in the basement. There was also a large tarp on the ground that Brian had purchased from Home Depot.

Starting point is 00:29:52 Police tried to locate some of the things that Brian threw away when he first went to those three apartment complex dumpsters. The bags were already picked up though, and taken to a location for shredding and incineration. By the time police figured all of this out, some of the bags and the contents of the bags were already destroyed. However, they did secure and search the dumpsters from Brian's mom's apartment complex. That was the search at the big trash station in Peabody. Investigators found 10 trash bags, and inside the trash bags, many items had a lot of blood all over them. The items included towels, rags, slippers, tape, gloves, cleaning supplies, a carpet, a dress,

Starting point is 00:30:32 a black jacket, hunter boots, a Prada purse, and a vaccination card with Ana's name on it. And lastly, a hatchet. Portions of the carpet rugs that they recovered had huge blood stains all over them, as well as some baking soda. They also found a portion of a necklace that Anna wore frequently, and had a lot of photos wearing it as well. The state crime lab performed an analysis of the blood found on the items and sent them for DNA testing. The slippers had both Anna and Brian's DNA on them, and on the Tyvek suit, there was Anna and Brian's DNA on the inside cuffs of the sleeves. On the outside of the sleeves, Anna's DNA was found. On the left pant leg of the Tyvek suit, Anna's DNA was also there. There were also tissues that had Anna's DNA on them.

Starting point is 00:31:17 So all of that together, the Google searches, the lying about his alibi, the hatchet, the blood, the lying about his alibi, the hatchet, the blood. All of that ultimately was enough to finally arrest Brian on January 8th, just a week after Ana went missing. Okay, let me be real with you guys. Every summer I get this itch to just like refresh my closet, but I hate wasting money on pieces that I know I'm only gonna wear once or that won't last past the summer season.

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Starting point is 00:33:03 luxury staples in your wardrobe, it is the best. Brian Walsh was charged with misleading an investigation and intimidating a witness, and the judge set the bail at $500,000 cash and set the next hearing for February 9th. A not guilty plea was entered on Brian's behalf and he appeared in court in a long sleeve gray shirt and spoke only briefly to say that he understood the charge. Then on January 18th, 2023, the charges were upgraded to first degree murder and for transferring a body without authority.

Starting point is 00:33:44 They were incredibly disturbing revelations as Brian Walsh stood motionless in court. Up until now, he has only been charged with misleading investigators. But today, prosecutors laid out detailed internet searches and DNA evidence they say links them to his wife's murder, even though her body has never been found. Do you understand what the charges are for Walsh? I do. The only words spoken by Brian Walsh at his arraignment for charges of murdering and disinterring or improperly transporting

Starting point is 00:34:13 the remains of his wife, Anna Walsh, the prosecutors say was killed and dismembered the morning of January 1st. Rather than divorce, it is believed that Brian Walsh dismembered Anna Walsh and discarded her body. 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. Towels,

Starting point is 00:34:42 rags, slippers, tape, Tyvek suit. Prosecutors also say Walsh and his wife's DNA were found on several items he allegedly placed in a dumpster near his mother's Swampskut home, including on slippers, a Tyvek suit he was allegedly wearing. Also found her purse, a portion of a necklace, and Anna Walsh's COVID vaccination card. Friends say Anna never revealed any trouble at home. The difficult part about all of this is that it's completely out of everybody's hands. Nobody saw it coming. And I think that's the most terrifying and scariest thing about all of this.

Starting point is 00:35:18 Now, it was Anna Walsh's Washington co-workers who first reported her missing January 4th and prosecutors say that's the first day Brian Walsh told Cohasset police he hadn't spoken with his wife since New Year's Day. He's now being held without bail. But what we still don't know is the why of it all. Brian had it all with Anna. She was successful. She mothered his three children and from the outside looking in they seemed happy and I get it

Starting point is 00:35:45 Not everything always appears as it does from the outside But they did seem to have a happy and loving life together So why would he do something this heinous to his wife to the mother of his children? Well one answer might come from Brian's Google searches Which what is it with this guy and his Google searches? Does he think that it's like chat GBT? Does he think it's gonna give him the answers to everything? On December 27th, prior to Ana going missing,

Starting point is 00:36:12 Brian Google searched, what's the best state for divorce for a man? So Brian seemed to think that he and Ana could be headed for divorce. So with that, the question is, did he snap? Did he think that rather than getting divorced, you know, let me kill her instead, I don't want a divorce. If I can't have her, no one can. That kind of thing. Plus, besides divorce, it seemed like maybe Brian could have had a financial motive as well. See, Ana reportedly had a $2.7 million

Starting point is 00:36:41 life insurance policy. And sure enough, Brian was listed as the sole beneficiary. And that seems to go right along with his Google search of how long for someone to be missing to inherit. It seems like this was financially motivated as well. So Ana is presumed dead. And since police have not been able to recover her body, some investigators believe it's possible that she was in those trash bags

Starting point is 00:37:04 that were unfortunately incinerated. It's horrifying to even think about that. Now even though Anna Walsh's body still hasn't been found two years after she's vanished, this case hasn't exactly gone quiet. If anything, it's actually only gotten more chaotic as Brian Walsh is now heading toward trial. Back in December of 2023, Brian's original high-priced attorney

Starting point is 00:37:27 suddenly stepped away from the case, and then a court-appointed lawyer took over. Now that kind of switch-up doesn't always scream trouble or a red flag, but in this case, it definitely did raise some eyebrows, because when somebody ditches their legal team halfway through, it's usually because either A, they ran out of money, or B, they have decided

Starting point is 00:37:48 to completely shift gears in terms of their defense strategy. So which was it? Then in February of 2024, Brian got hit with an entire separate wave of legal drama. This time it was tied to those Andy Warhol paintings, the ones that he had tried to sell online, which remember we had talked about that before and we also talked about it at the top of this episode. All of that finally caught up to him, and he was sentenced to more than three years in federal prison.

Starting point is 00:38:14 He was also ordered to pay almost half a million dollars in restitution. And while that case isn't technically tied to Ana's disappearance, prosecutors will likely use it to show pattern, painting him as a fraud, as a manipulator, and generally just not a trustworthy guy, a scammer, a grifter. Especially loop in the whole life insurance policy of it all with Ana, right? I mean, this guy clearly had financial motivation to commit crimes in the past, so who's to say he wouldn't do it again? Our NBC 10's Eli Rosenberg joining us live outside

Starting point is 00:38:47 federal court with today's sentencing details, Eli. For so important to note, this is totally unrelated to that murder charge. Federal prosecutors calling this a multi-year art fraud scheme that really did span the globe. In the end, in a hearing this afternoon, a judge sentencing Brian Walsh to three years and one month in prison.

Starting point is 00:39:10 You saw him in court today for the one of the first time. So what was that like to see him? Brian Walsh's mother with nothing to say as she left federal court. Her son, Brian Walsh appearing in court, not in connection with the murder of his wife for which he is charged. Rather to be sentenced for his involvement in a multi-year arced fraud. It is a bit unusual to be facing both federal and state charges and have those federal charges

Starting point is 00:39:36 or the state charges go to sentencing. Walsh learning his fate after pleading guilty to crimes centered around two Andy Warhol paintings. Walsh is accused of convincing a friend in South Korea to let him sell the friend's two Warhol paintings. The art valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars. Walsh, though, accused of selling two fake versions of Warhol's shadows for $80,000.

Starting point is 00:40:02 That prompted an FBI investigation into Walsh, a guilty plea on this and ultimately Tuesday sentencing of three years and one month in prison. It gives the court, now this is a federal court, but it gives the government the chance to hold him in the event that there are problems with respect to the prosecution for the murder of his wife. And things this afternoon just a little different considering this murder charge. First of all, as soon as the hearing wrapped up, Walsh was returned to state custody and his judge did say that Walsh will serve the 37 months concurrently or at the same time as any prison time he gets

Starting point is 00:40:41 on that state murder charge. So things were just continuously coming out, like a slow drip. Every few months there was new information. But then things got really messy in the summer of 2024. And that was thanks to none other than Michael Proctor. Now, if you have followed the Karen Reed trial at all, you definitely know the name, right? He was the lead investigator in Karen Reed's case.

Starting point is 00:41:06 He was also the lead investigator in Anna's case, but he had made headlines at this point in summer of 2024 for all the wrong reasons. Everything related to the Karen Reed case, his offensive text messages, his biased text messages, all of this stuff was just exposed, just put on full display. And it became crystal clear that he was anything but impartial, so much so that he ended up getting fired because of his work on the Karen Reed case.

Starting point is 00:41:33 So all of that scandal ended up spilling over into the Walsh case. And Brian's legal team, they of course were going to jump all over it. They demanded that Michael Proctor's phone data be turned over. They argued that he compromised the entire investigation just as he had done with Karen Reed. I mean, it was basically a defense team's dream come true, right? You have a lead investigator on this case who has already been put in the exposed and put in the public light for his mishandlings on that case, ultimately ended up being fired.

Starting point is 00:42:05 He was also the lead investigator on your case. I mean, what could be better, right? What could cast more doubt? So they jumped all over it. This is 23 CR 9, one of the colorless versus Brian Walsh. More than a year and a half after Brian Walsh was charged with killing and dismembering his wife, Anna, he's now trying to find out if the police who investigated him had an ax to grind. The lead investigator on Walsh's case was Massachusetts state trooper Michael Proctor,

Starting point is 00:42:31 who also investigated Karen Reed for the death of her boyfriend, John O'Keefe, and who, while doing so, wrote insulting text messages about Reed. My emotions got the best of me based on, you know, the fact that Ms. Reed hit Mr. O'Keefe with her vehicle and left him to die on the side of the road. In court documents, Walsh's attorney writes, quote,

Starting point is 00:42:51 Proctor demonstrated bias against a person accused of murder. So now the defense wants to see if Proctor said anything similar about Walsh. They're demanding prosecutors turn over everything they have on Proctor, including his cell phone data, his internet account, and more than 3000 pages from an ongoing federal investigation

Starting point is 00:43:07 into the death of John O'Keefe. Walsh's attorney also says the recent arrests of a Stoughton police officer for the death of Sandra Burchmore also raises questions about possible misconduct. And I was going to explain why we file such a detailed minimum of law,

Starting point is 00:43:23 but I don't. I don't think I need to waste the court's time with that. At today's hearing, Walsh's attorney says he's already received from prosecutors some of what he's asked for and expects to receive more. Prosecutors say they can't share everything Walsh wants because some of it might include sensitive information about ongoing investigations. Now, both sides have agreed to share what they can for now and then to come back before the

Starting point is 00:43:47 judge one month from now about what they still disagree on. But then there was a plot twist. The DA's office dropped Proctor completely and they said that now other investigators would now take over. But let's be real, the lead investigator had basically become like radioactive. There was no way around it. There was no way that you could just like hush hush make this kind of slip under the rug.

Starting point is 00:44:11 Now he won't be involved in another high profile murder trial, which he was also lead investigator. He was a complete disaster in the Cameron Reed case that would follow him around at any other trial. According to this recent court filing, the district attorney not planning on calling Proctor in the Brian Walsh trial. Brian, did you kill your wife? Walsh is charged with killing his wife and dismembering her body in early January 2023. The baggage he comes with,

Starting point is 00:44:39 it costs more to call him than not to. Now the defendant will likely call him, that's their right. But it won't come off as badly for the government. Proctor was the subject of controversy when during the Reed trial, texts he sent to colleagues and friends were made public. And soon after the trial, state police suspended him. Legal experts say Proctor had faced the same line of questioning in Walsh's trial. The Walsh case is very different from Reed.

Starting point is 00:45:05 You know, it's always a little more difficult to prove murder without a body. And then, sure enough, in November of 2024, two more bombshells hit. First, Judge Beverly Canone, which, yes, was the same judge who got major heat over her role in the Karen Reed trial as well. She also was removed for Brian's case, and she was replaced with a new judge. And the second bombshell was that the owner of the Walsh's family home filed a lawsuit. Not against Brian, but rather against his mom, Diana. They claim that the alleged murder destroyed the property value. So for that, he is suing for $400,000.

Starting point is 00:45:55 We all know that Ozempic, Wegovi, all these GLP-1s are all the rage right now, right? And if you've ever been curious about GLP-1 medications or wondered if they might be right for you, the first step is finding out if you qualify. And that is where Ro's Free Insurance Checker comes in. It's a super easy tool that tells you which GLP-1 medications are covered by your insurance. No paperwork, no sitting on hold, no guessing, they do it all for you.

Starting point is 00:46:22 You just submit your insurance info and within a few days, you'll get a clear report showing what's covered and whether prior authorization is needed. That's it, no hassle. The reality is, insurance can be ultra confusing, but Roe makes it simple to understand your options so that you can make this next step with confidence.

Starting point is 00:46:40 Over 500,000 people have already trusted Roe to check their coverage for free. So if you've been thinking about it or you just want to see if you qualify, go to ro.co.ae. That's R-O-C-O-A-E to check your coverage for free. Go to ro.co.ae for black box warning and full safety information about GLP-1 medications. on medications. Then in December of 2024, we finally got a trial date, October 20th, 2025. And at that same hearing, Brian's team doubled down on all of the Michael Proctor of it all, all of that drama.

Starting point is 00:47:22 They wanted access to his text messages, his phone records, even thousands of sealed pages from the Karen Reed case. They wanted all of it. Which you might be asking, okay, well why? That's not their case. Well, it's because they're claiming that Michael Proctor was already under federal investigation while he was leading the Walsh case, which that's a major red flag. And honestly, with Proctor, every single thing is a red flag, so I'm really not even that surprised, but the defense team was surely going to use this.

Starting point is 00:47:54 And apparently the Massachusetts state police agreed, because in March of 2025, they fired him, fired Michael Proctor, got rid of him, and that opened the door for Michael's team to challenge pretty much every single thing that Michael Proctor ever touched. Interviews, warrants, evidence, you name it. It was fair game now. And as if that wasn't enough, Brian's attorneys are now trying to get some of the most damning evidence thrown out entirely, including those infamous Google searches, the ones that

Starting point is 00:48:27 were such huge red flags and so indicative of what was going on in Brian's mind during those few days. They're arguing that the investigators accessed all of that data before they had a valid warrant, which if that's true, that is a major f*** up. And if that is what makes this case fall apart, I mean, where is the justice for Ana? Where is the justice for her family? I just hope that Michael Proctor didn't completely screw this whole thing up, just like he did so epically with the Karen Reed case.

Starting point is 00:48:59 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 when the state called Lieutenant John Fanning to the stand, he testified about what a forensic examiner found in the internet search history on one of Walsh's devices. He said I found something in the search history and 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

Starting point is 00:49:40 body, numerous searches related to that, another search related to divorce. And so after 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 analyst,

Starting point is 00:50:10 further analyzation 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? The data we're talking about. Yes, we had stopped and we were going to obtain a search warrant to seize that device. 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

Starting point is 00:50:46 had to be limited to communications between December 25th, 2022 and January 6th, 2023, a key time period. And communications, not searches for other online activity. That's the key here. And the defense, they questioned the lieutenant about the issue of consent to search. You are familiar with Massachusetts State Police consent to search forms, correct?

Starting point is 00:51:08 Yes. 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 6th, did you? No, we were working together cooperatively to find Anna Walsh. I was happy that we were working together cooperatively to find Anna Walsh. And I was happy that we were working together. You know, but I understand your answer that 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

Starting point is 00:51:38 Minor, talking to Sergeant Buchanek, 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 my question is simple. You use those consent to search forms. You did not use one in this case. That's correct. And those consent to search forms without the labor of point, they're used to make sure that what you do when it's looked at later on,

Starting point is 00:52:05 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. And trooper Nicholas Guarino, the forensic investigator that the lieutenant was talking about, explained what he collected. So you said a search warrant for the home.

Starting point is 00:52:29 Were you present for a search warrant of the Walsh home in Cohasset? 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 the cracked 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

Starting point is 00:53:10 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 in Cellbrite, 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 pair down the data by date range. And it gives a comprehensive list of how the device has interacted from the 25th to the 6th, as told. And what did you begin to notice while you were going through this data and timeline range?

Starting point is 00:54:07 So it has every device interaction, what's been done with it. Started seeing searches on the 27th of December for best place to get divorced, worst place to get divorced, best dates for divorce. worst place to get divorced, best states for divorce. And after the 27th, did you notice anything further that caught your attention when you were analyzing the data for this device? Yes. The morning of the first, approximately about 4.50, 4.55 a.m., began seeing searches of how to dispose of a body.

Starting point is 00:54:41 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, the glass at dump, cadaver dogs at the dump, and I contacted, well I went downstairs and

Starting point is 00:55:08 contacted Trooper Keefe to tell him 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 into trial, which for now is currently scheduled to start October 20th. But I'll tell you this much, yes, Brian Walsh is innocent until proven 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. So yeah, that's where we're at right now.

Starting point is 00:55:36 Brian is still set to go to trial this October, yet he continues to claim that he's innocent despite the bloody knife, the hatchet, the mountain of digital evidence. He still is just saying, I'm innocent, I'm innocent, this was not me. The hearing this morning began with a defense motion to dismiss, arguing that the prosecution did not present to the grand jury sufficient evidence to indict Walsh for first degree murder on the theories of premeditation or cruelty. And bear in mind that in Massachusetts, the first degree murder on the theories of premeditation or cruelty. And bear in mind that in Massachusetts, the first degree murder statute mandates that prosecutors must prove either premeditation

Starting point is 00:56:10 or extreme atrocity. The judge is taking the motion to dismiss under advisement. As of now, Walsh's trial is scheduled to begin in October. It may be some evidence of motive, but it is not evidence of premeditation. It is not evidence of malice, according to the case law. And there's nothing in these... Well, but the evidence of malice that they're going to rely on that was before the grand jury is certainly contained in those searches.

Starting point is 00:56:36 If the searches happened before. That's their theory. That is their theory, but... One of their theories, anyway. But their evidence presented to the grand jury doesn't establish that and it requires the grand jury to speculate and pile inference on inference and say, well, maybe it could have maybe. I don't know what the grand jury was thinking. So you can't just throw it. Forgive me, but you can't just throw things against the wall and see what sticks and walk away and say the grand jury heard sufficient evidence.

Starting point is 00:57:06 And because that is the probable cause to arrest him. They don't need Thomas Walsh's, excuse me, they don't need the minors' statement to establish probable cause. They can go at it alone with Mr. Walsh's statement, she left at 6 6 30 and the fact that those six searches are done before then isn't that sufficient maybe the Commoth will make our job easier it looks like they've made our job easier for felony murder they didn't even brief it right well we gotta start i mean october tick tock it's coming so figure out what your theory is going to be and let's argue about the things that really matter, right? Well, these really matter to us. I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I feel like this guy is still in so deep. I still think there is plenty of evidence against him, but curious to know what you guys think.

Starting point is 00:58:09 So anyway, I'm going to be keeping a very close eye on this case as I have been for the last two years, and I will definitely keep you posted as everything unfolds. So let me know what your thoughts are on this case in the review section on Apple, in the Q&A section on Spotify, or in the comment section over on YouTube. I just want to know what you think because this case, it just keeps getting messier and messier. And if the trial does happen as scheduled in October, we certainly will be covering it.

Starting point is 00:58:37 So make sure to check back for updates and for all of that trial coverage. And let's just hope that Ana gets the justice that she deserves, that she deserves, that her children deserve, that her family deserves, and let's just hope to that this quagmire looking douche canoe idiot moron freaking dweeb is thrown behind bars for the rest of his life where he belongs. Only time will tell, right? Allegedly. But alright guys, I will be back with you on Thursday for Headline Highlights where we are going through everything happening this week in the true crime world. And of course, I am with you every single Monday for deep dives into new cases. And if you guys feel like you need even more content

Starting point is 00:59:16 to binge, you want more access, you can check out Patreon, patreon.com slash Annie Elise. I have exclusive episodes over there. Right now, if you sign up, you can unlock over a hundred exclusive bonus episodes. We do members only live streams over there. We have a private group chat where we're talking about all of these cases night and day. We have giveaways. We have annual gifts. All sorts of stuff. So go check it out. It's patreon.com slash Annie Elise. Don't be left out. Come hang out with all your besties over there. All right guys, thank you for tuning in. Let me know what you guys think about this case and until the next one, be nice. Don't kill people. Don't Google anything questionable and don't be a greedy little slimebag. Okay. All right. Talk to you soon. Bye.

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SERIALously - 302: Evil Mastermind or Complete Moron? Brian Walshe & Ana Walshe

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