COHASSET — Brian Walshe, a former Lynn resident, has been charged with the murder of his wife, Ana Walshe, the Norfolk district attorney’s office said Tuesday.
Ana Walshe, a mother of three, lived with her husband in Cohasset and was last seen on New Year’s Day. She was reported missing on Jan. 4.
Brian Walshe was already in custody and charged with misleading a police investigation to which he pleaded not guilty. He is being held on $500,000 bail.
“The continued investigation has now allowed police to obtain an arrest warrant charging Brian Walshe with the murder of his wife,” Norfolk District Attorney Michael W. Morrissey said in a video announcing the new charge.
Walshe is set to be arraigned Wednesday in Quincy District Court on the murder charge. The time of the arraignment is not currently known.
He did not say what additional evidence led to the murder charge.
“Additional details of the investigation and the evidence in support of those charges are likely to be presented at arraignment but will not be disclosed at this time,” said Morrissey.
A person who answered the phone at the office of Walshe’s attorney, Tracy Miner, said Miner would have no comment. An email seeking comment was left with Miner. She has previously said that her client has cooperated with the investigation.
Ana Walshe, 39, was reportedly last seen leaving their home Cohasset in the early morning hours of Jan. 1, purportedly to take a ride-hailing vehicle to Logan International Airport for a flight to Washington, police and prosecutors said.
But police have found no indication that she either took a vehicle or boarded any flight out of Logan recently.
Ana Walshe was reported missing several days later by her employer in Washington, where the couple has a home and to which she often commutes during the week for work at a real estate company, authorities said.
Her cellphone has not been used and there has been no activity on her credit or debit cards, police have said.
Authorities have searched the family’s home as well as a wooded area near the home. The couple has three young children.
Prosecutors said in court that Brian Walshe was seen on surveillance video buying $450 worth of cleaning supplies at a home improvement store the day after his wife was last seen. Police also found a broken knife and blood in the basement of the couple’s home, prosecutors said, although they did not say whose blood it was.
Last week, investigators were seen taking away a dumpster located outside of The Landing at Vinnin Square apartment complex in Swampscott where Brian Walshe’s mother lives. He was also seen on surveillance footage in close proximity to a dumpster located just outside Vinnin Liquors.
In Peabody, investigators looked through a transfer station for possible evidence that could potentially be used in the case. According to a report by CBS News, sources told WBZ-TV’s I-Team that investigators had found a hatchet, hacksaw, trash bags with blood, a rug and used cleaning supplies at the transfer station. Town Clerk records in both Lynn and Marblehead show that Ana Walshe had properties in both towns. Records also show that Ana Walshe sold her property located on 6 Edgewood Rd. in Marblehead before moving to her Cohasset home.
Brian Walshe had been on home confinement while awaiting sentencing in a fraud case involving the sale of fake Andy Warhol paintings, according to federal court records. Cohasset police said Ana Walshe’s disappearance and her husband’s case appear to be unrelated.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.
