DEDHAM, Mass. — Brian Walshe was found guilty of murder in the first degree in Norfolk Superior Court late Monday morning in the killing and dismembering of his wife, Ana Walshe, in the early hours of New Years 2023.

Over a 10-day trial in Norfolk Superior Court, prosecutors gave evidence that Walshe, 50, killed his wife before dismembering and disposing of her body, which was never found, over the next days.

After nearly seven hours of deliberation Friday and Monday, the jury, composed of six men and six women, unanimously found the defendant guilty of murder in the first degree just before noon.

Walshe gave no strong expression as the verdict was read, remaining stoic until he was guided from the courtroom in handcuffs.

“We took this job to speak for victims, and (the trial team) did one heck of a job speaking for Ana’s family,” Norfolk DA Michael Morrissey told reporters outside the courthouse. “And I just wanted to also say we did hear from Ana’s sister, and her comment was, ‘Justice has been served.'”

Before the trial, Walshe pleaded guilty to additional charges of lying to police about his wife’s disappearance and mishandling her body after she was already dead, but maintained that he is innocent of killing his wife. The defendant was previously convicted of fraud in a separate federal case ongoing before the murder.

Lawyers gave alternate views of the night of Ana Walshe’s death over the course of the trial. Prosecutors argued the husband was motivated by his wife’s affair and money, as all the couple’s assets were in her name to protect them from his legal troubles stemming from the art fraud case.

The prosecution said there was evidence Walshe was looking into his wife’s lover in D.C., investigating divorce strategies and regularly fighting with the victim before her death.

The Commonwealth’s case involved dozens of gruesome searches done on Walshe’s Macbook in the days following his wife’s death, including how to dismember and dispose of a body. Prosecutor Anne Yas said in her closing statement none of the searches involved natural causes of death or guiding children through the loss of a parent, calling his expressions in surveillance footage “cool and calculating.”

Walshe’s defense stated he was a “loving father and loving husband,” and when Ana Walshe suddenly died in their Cohasset home on Jan. 1, 2023, he reacted out of “confusion, panic, and fear.” Defense attorney Larry Tipton argued Walshe didn’t think people would believe she had died of natural causes and was concerned about his children.

Prosecutors argued it was “extremely unlikely” for Ana Walshe at age 39 and in “excellent health” to have died of natural causes.

Tipton pointed out that all the searches were done after Ana Walshe’s death and all the blood evidence was found in the basement where Walshe had dismembered the body.

“Mr. Walshe loved Ana Walshe, the mother of his children,” Tipton said in his closing statement. “There is no evidence that he premeditated murder, there is no evidence that he killed his wife. None whatsoever.”

Walshe declined to testify in the case.

The jury had the options to decide if he was guilty of first-degree murder, which requires premeditation; a lesser charge of second-degree murder; or innocent.

Morrissey thanked the investigators in the case, noting they dug through dumpsters, department stores, lumber stores, and more to gather the evidence. Nearly 60 witnesses testified in the trial, he said.

“They put on a very, very great case in a difficult setting,” said Morrissey. “Now, we’ve seen other cases where we’ve not had a body, but this is the first one I can remember that we’ve had a first degree conviction.”

The jury began deliberating after 12:20 p.m. Friday and reached a verdict at about 11:45 p.m. Monday.

Walshe is scheduled to return to court for sentencing on Wednesday at 9 a.m.

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