Crime
Court wrapped up on Wednesday afternoon with a State Police forensic scientist going over evidence found in trash bags.
Livestream via NBC10 Boston.
On Wednesday afternoon, Massachusetts State Police forensic scientist Davis Gould took the stand in the Brian Walshe murder trial at Norfolk Superior Court, describing the evidence investigators pulled, in part, from a dumpster outside Walshe’s mother’s apartment in Swampscott.
Photos shown to jurors revealed a trail of items stained with what appeared to be blood — a splattered carpet, men’s outdoor slippers soaked through, a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, a Tyvek suit, and an array of tools, including a hammer, wire snips, a hatchet, and a hacksaw streaked with red-brown stains.
One of the photos of evidence shown in court.
Walshe is standing trial for allegedly killing his wife, Ana, on New Year’s Day 2023. Prosecutors say he then dismembered her body and tossed her remains in dumpsters around the region, including the one near his mother’s home. Investigators never found her body.
In the days after her disappearance, they say Walshe repeatedly misled police as searches stretched from the couple’s Cohasset neighborhood to Washington, D.C., where Ana worked.
During opening statements, Walshe’s attorney, Larry Tipton, argued that Walshe found Ana suddenly dead after a night of New Year’s celebrations — and then spiraled into a panic.
On Nov. 18, just before jury selection began, Walshe pleaded guilty to two charges — misleading police and improperly removing or concealing a body. He still faces a first-degree murder charge. Sentencing on the lesser charges will come later.
At the end of the day Wednesday, prosecutors did not say who would appear next on the witness stand. However, it is possible that William Fastow, the man with whom Ana had an affair, will come next.
During some housekeeping on Wednesday, the court discussed paring down the evidence of text messages between Fastow and Ana.
Beth Treffeisen is a general assignment reporter for Boston.com, focusing on local news, crime, and business in the New England region.
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