Brian Walshe, the Boston man accused of murdering and dismembering his wife, real estate executive Ana Walshe, opened his long-awaited trial with a partial retreat.
As jury selection began Tuesday in Norfolk Superior Court, Walshe pleaded guilty to two of the three indictments tied to Ana’s disappearance, Boston 25 News reported. Walshe conceded that he misled police and unlawfully disposed of her body.
He told Judge Diane Freniere he was “here to plead guilty,” an about-face from earlier denials.
Walshe, who maintained his not-guilty plea on the murder charge, heads into a Dec. 1 trial with the most serious allegation still looming, but with two lesser counts effectively taken off the table.
Prosecutors allege Walshe killed Ana, an executive with Tishman Speyer, in the couple’s Cohasset home on New Year’s Eve 2023. He’s accused of Googling body disposal tips on his son’s iPad and allegedly moving evidence around Greater Boston.
Investigators uncovered a hacksaw, a blood-soaked rug and a broken knife in searches spanning the family’s home and a network of trash facilities. Ana’s remains have never been found.
Ana, a mother of three and a rising real estate professional whose work took her to Washington, D.C., was reported missing days after the holiday. Her disappearance launched a sprawling, high-profile investigation; Walshe was arrested for allegedly misleading investigators looking into his wife’s disappearance.
A Norfolk County grand jury indicted Walshe in March 2023 on charges of murder, misleading investigators and improper conveyance of a human body. He was deemed competent to stand trial last week.
Walshe, already serving a three-year federal sentence for selling fake Andy Warhol paintings, has been held without bail since his 2023 arrest. His defense team pushed last month to move the trial out of Norfolk County, arguing that saturation coverage made an impartial jury unlikely. Freniere denied the motion, keeping the case in Dedham.
The defendant was also stabbed inside the Norfolk County Sheriff’s Correctional Center in September.
His trial is expected to last up to three weeks.
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