Massachusetts man Brian Walshe is under arrest for misleading investigators in pursuit of the case of his own missing wife Ana Walshe.
His wife didn’t show up for work at the real estate firm Tishman Speyer on Jan. 4, prompting her employers to call the police. Brian Walshe told police he hadn’t seen his wife since Jan. 1, making him the last person known to police to have seen her.
Here is a breakdown of what we know about Brian Walshe:
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What did Brian Walshe do for a living?
At the time of his wife’s disappearance, Walshe was on house arrest on charges related to art fraud. He copied original Andy Warhol paintings and attempted to sell them as originals. Walshe reportedly pleaded guilty in April 2021.
His LinkedIn profile lists executive positions at LETS: Leadership & Effective Teamwork Strategies and Capital Letters Consulting, neither of which seems to have a website. No other user on LinkedIn is listed as working for or having worked for either company.
Court papers also showed he made something in the ballpark of $100,000 when he appointed himself as the representative of the estate of his late father, Thomas Morecroft Walshe, against his father’s wishes. He sold off items of value, including Joan Miro and Salvador Dali paintings, oriental rugs, and a car, before he was discovered.
Other court filings reveal that he had stolen $1 million from his father about a decade before he died in 2018. As a result, his father allegedly left him nothing in his will.
What did family and friends have to say about Brian Walshe?
Jeffrey Ornstein, a friend of Walshe’s father, said the neurologist admitted his son had been “diagnosed as a sociopath” while he was a long-term patient at Austen Riggs Center’s psychiatric hospital. Another friend, Dr. Fred Pescatore, confirmed the elder Walshe called his son a “sociopath” who was also a “very angry and physically violent person.”
Those who attended the sessions of the life coach group Boston Breakthrough Academy nicknamed Brian Walshe “Head and Shoulders.” It was born out of his hairstyle and cool personality.
“This whole situation he finds himself in comes as a complete shock to me,” one of the participants, Ali Ozdemir, told the New York Post. Ozdemir described Walsh as “someone you wanted to hang out with or be around.”
Are police suspicious of Walshe?
Walshe lied consistently to police about where he was going and when he had last heard from his wife, and officers ultimately determined that Walshe’s misleading statements had affected their missing person search and arrested him on one count of intimidation. A judge set his bail at $500,000 cash at the request of the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office.
In the days following his wife’s disappearance, he was seen buying $450 worth of cleaning supplies, which was a violation of his house arrest. Internet records showed he searched “how to dispose of a 115-pound woman’s body” and information on dismemberment. Investigators found blood remnants and a bloody knife at the Walshes’ home, and a hacksaw, hatchet, rug, and cleaning supplies were found in a transfer station’s trash compactor 15 minutes away from the home of Walshe’s mother.
Between 10 and 20 search warrants were reportedly filed Friday but are being kept from the public.
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Who is representing Walshe in court?
Walshe retained attorney Tracey Miner to represent him on the charge of misleading investigators. The Boston attorney represented Gordon”Gordie” Ernst during the college admissions scandal and a former FBI agent who was ultimately convicted of aiding crime boss James “Whitey” Bulger.
Walshe is now in police custody. His three children are in the custody of the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families.
