Brian Walshe Pleads Guilty to Lesser Charges Before Murder Trial

Brian Walshe, a Massachusetts man accused of murdering his wife in their Cohasset home on New Year's Day 2023, pleaded guilty Tuesday to two lesser charges of misleading police investigators and unlawfully disposing of human remains, moments before jury selection was set to begin in his first-degree murder trial. The 49-year-old Walshe maintains his not guilty plea on the top charge, and the case is proceeding in Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, with prosecutors alleging he killed 39-year-old Ana Walshe, dismembered her body and discarded the remains in dumpsters across the region. Her body has never been recovered.

Ana Walshe, a real estate executive who split her time between the family's Cohasset residence and her job in Washington, D.C., was last seen in the early morning hours of January 1, 2023, after a New Year's Eve dinner at home with her husband, their three young sons and a family friend. Brian Walshe reported her missing three days later, telling police she had left abruptly for a work emergency in the capital. Her employer, however, informed authorities there was no such crisis, according to court records.

Investigators quickly focused on Walshe after discovering...