Brian Walshe, a Massachusetts art dealer accused of killing his wife on New Year’s Day 2023, was sentenced Tuesday to 37 months in federal prison in a separate art fraud case.
Walshe had previously pleaded guilty to wire fraud and other charges in which he took photos of a friend’s authentic Andy Warhol paintings and used them to sell fake Warhols on eBay, WBTS reported.
A judge said that Walshe’s term would run concurrently with any state sentence he faces in his murder trial.
Ana Walshe, a realtor, was first reported missing on January 4, 2023, by her Washington, D.C.-based employer when she failed to show up for work, as CrimeOnline reported. Brian Walshe told investigators that she was supposed to take a ride share to D.C. for work on New Year’s Day, but prosecutors say there was no evidence that she ever left her home in Cohasset, Massachusetts.
Brian Walshe later arrested and charged with first degree murder when investigators learned he lied about what he did around the time his wife disappeared.
Evidence presented at his arraignment last 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?’
Walshe is also accused of buying $400 worth of cleaning supplies during the days surrounding his wife’s disappearance.
Prosecutors said blood was found 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’s residence.
Walshe was arrested in the art fraud case in 2018 and pleaded guilty to one count each of wire fraud, interstate transportation for a scheme to defraud, possession of converted goods, and unlawful monetary transactio, WBTS said. In addition to the prison term, he’ll spend another three years on supervised release and must pay restitution.
After the sentencing, he was taken back to jail, where he is being held without bond on the murder charge. He has also been charged with misleading a police investigation/obstruction of justice and improper conveyance of a human body in the case. Ana Walshe’s body has not been found.
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[Featured image: Brian Walshe; Norfolk District Attorney and Ana Walshe/Facebook]
