Authorities have charged the husband of missing Cohasset, Massachusetts, woman Ana Walshe with her murder.
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Brian Walshe was arraigned Wednesday at Quincy District Court on charges of murder and disinterring a body, according to the Boston Globe. He pleaded not guilty and was ordered held without bail.
Prosecutors said Brian Walshe dismembered his wife before discarding her body. New surveillance footage from Jan. 3 showed Walshe carrying a garbage bag out of an apartment complex in Abington that investigators believe held his wife's body.
Walshe also conducted numerous online searches in the days before Ana Walshe was reported missing, including "Can you be charged with murder without a body?" and inquiries about divorce, prosecutors said.
“On Dec. 27, the defendant googled, ‘What’s the best state to divorce from?’" Norfolk Assistant District Attorney Lynn Beland said during the arraignment. “Rather than divorce, we believe Brian Walshe dismembered Ana Walshe and discarded her body.”
Ana Walshe was reported missing on Jan. 4 by her employer, real estate firm Tishman Speyer, when she failed to show up to work in Washington, D.C. Investigators led a multiday search, but she hasn't been found.
Tishman Speyer CEO Rob Speyer released a statement Wednesday following the news of the murder charge.
“All of us at Tishman Speyer are devastated by the tragic and untimely passing of our beloved colleague, Ana Walshe," the statement says. "Ana’s vivacious energy and warmth made her a true friend to so many at Tishman Speyer and in the broader Boston and D.C. communities. We extend our deepest sympathies to all who knew and loved her, especially her three young boys, her mother and her sister. She will be greatly missed.”
The murder charge comes after Brian Walshe was arrested Jan. 8 and held on $500K bail for misleading police in the investigation into his missing wife. On Jan. 9, police said they found blood and a damaged knife in the basement of the Walshes' home.
Prosecutors said Walshe left out details of his whereabouts in the days following his wife's disappearance, including a trip to Home Depot, where he purchased $450 worth of cleaning supplies.
On Jan. 10, CNN reported that investigators uncovered new evidence that shifted their focus from a search for a missing person to a potential murder investigation, including internet searches from the husband on “how to dispose of a 115-pound woman’s body.” Investigators also reportedly found a hacksaw with torn cloth material and bloodstains at a trash transfer station.
UPDATE, JAN. 18, 2:15 P.M. ET: This story has been updated with a statement from Tishman Speyer and new information from Wednesday's arraignment.
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