Accused killer Brian Walshe has found competent to stand trial for the murder of his wife, Ana Walshe, following an evaluation hearing Friday.
Massachusetts Judge Diane Freniere scheduled Walshe’s trial for December 1, after the hour-long hearing at the Dedham courthouse, according to FOX News Digital.
A report from Bridgewater State Hospital found Walshe competent. Walshe’s defense did not contest the findings.
Freniere denied a motion by Walshe to change venues. By the end of next week, jury selection should be completed.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Walshe’s trial was set to begin on October 20 but postponed after his attorneys requested a competency evaluation, WBTS reported. Prosecutors opposed the delay.
Ana Walshe, a 39-year-old mother of three, disappeared on New Year’s Day 2023 and reported missing shortly after. Her remains have not been found.
Prosecutors alleged that her husband killed her and provided false information to authorities about her disappearance.
Ana Walshe’s employer at a real estate company was the first person to report her disappearance.
“Police were notified around Jan. 4 by her employees in Washington, D.C., that she had not shown up for work on Jan. 4. That was the first time that police were notified that she was missing,” Norfolk Assistant District Attorney Lynn Beland previously said.
The defendant claimed that Ana had been called back to Washington, D.C., on January 1, 2023, for a work emergency, but he did not contact her employer until January 4, 2023.
“Brian explained the fact that he had not reported his wife missing was due to an incident he said occurred over Christmas when Ana had been unreachable for about 24 hours. Brian said when he told Ana how concerned he was, she told Brian not to worry and not to call her work looking for her,” the affidavit read.
Evidence presented at the defendant’s arraignment earlier this year indicated that he made numerous searches on his son’s iPad around the time Ana vanished, including, in part:
- ’10 ways to dismember a body’
- ‘Does baking soda make a body smell good?’
- How long is someone missing before you can inherit?
- ‘Can you throw away body parts?’
- ‘Can you be charged with murder without a body?’
- ‘Dismemberment and the best ways to dispose of a body?’
- Brian Walshe is also accused of buying $400 worth of cleaning supplies during the days surrounding his wife’s disappearance.
Prosecutors said investigators found blood in the family home’s basement, along with a bent knife that appeared to have blood on it.
Prosecutors also said a hacksaw and a rug with blood on it were found at a transfer station in Peabody, around 45 miles from the Walshe residence.
Brian Walshe also allegedly bought $400 in cleaning supplies during the days surrounding his wife’s disappearance.
Ana’s cellphone, credit card, and debit cards have not been used since New Year’s Day, and her phone last pinged at her home on January 1.
According to WBTS, a final conference and the trial itself were postponed. His attorneys said they have “grave concerns about the defendant’s ability to intelligently and meaningfully participate in the trial” in the request for the evaluation.
Part of the request stemmed from a stabbing in jail last month, they said, but prosecutors noted that Walshe went back in his cell shortly after, and there were no medical records to back up any competency concerns.
Nevertheless, the judge ordered a three-week evaluation at Bridgewater State Hospital.
Walshe is charged with first-degree murder, intimidating a witness, juror, police officer, or court official, and disinterring a body. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Check back for updates.
For the latest true crime and justice news, subscribe to the ‘Crime Stories with Nancy Grace’ podcast.
[Feature Photo: Ana Walshe/Instagram]
