Brian Walshe’s homicide trial might be delayed whereas the defendant undergoes an analysis figuring out his competence to face trial, a Norfolk Superior Courtroom decide ordered Monday.
Walshe, 49, might be hospitalized in Bridgewater State Hospital for 20 days to find out whether or not the alleged assassin is competent to face trial, in accordance with Choose Diane Freniere’s order in court docket data.
The Cohasset defendant has pleaded not responsible to murdering and dismembering his spouse, Ana Walshe, within the early hours of Jan. 1, 2023.
The homicide trial was scheduled to start on Oct. 20 and might be rescheduled for a later date, court docket data present. A ultimate pre-trial convention meant to happen Tuesday morning has additionally been rescheduled.
The court docket didn’t specify a motive for the competency analysis, citing state regulation. The regulation states if a decide doubts whether or not a defendant is “competent to stand trial or is criminally responsible by reason of mental illness or mental defect,” they might order such an analysis at any stage.
Walshe could also be discovered incompetent primarily based on a “preponderance of the evidence,” in accordance with the regulation. He may be held as much as 40 days to make the dedication.
“If the defendant is found incompetent to stand trial, trial of the case shall be stayed until such time as the defendant becomes competent to stand trial, unless the case is dismissed,” state regulation reads.
The prosecution additionally filed a number of responses Monday on problems with DNA proof, Brian Walshe’s alleged data of an extra-marital affair, web searches and extra.
Jailhouse stabbing
Brian Walshe, a beforehand convicted worldwide artwork fraudster, was reportedly stabbed shortly earlier than lights out in Norfolk County Jail on Sept. 11. The defendant’s accidents weren’t life-threatening, in accordance with the Norfolk County Sheriff’s Workplace, and he was handled in a single day at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Middle in Boston.
After Ana Walshe disappeared on New Years Day of 2023 and her employer reported her lacking, the sufferer’s husband was initially described as being cooperative with police. Days in a while Jan. 8 although, Brian Walshe was arrested and charged together with her homicide.
At his arraignments in Quincy District Courtroom then Norfolk Superior, prosecutors learn off a sequence of web searched allegedly carried out by the defendant. Amongst many queries after 4:55 a.m. Jan. 1, the searches included “Can you be charged with murder without a body?” “10 ways to dispose of a body if you really need to.” “Is it better to throw crime scene clothes away or wash them?” and “Can you throw away body parts?”
The searches be part of different proof offered by prosecutors together with safety footage of a visit to purchase $450 value of cleansing provides from Rockland House Depot on Jan. 2.
Walshe’s case has been slow-moving within the years since, with simply 5 Superior Courtroom appearances in 2023.
However the case docket turned busier in 2025, with protection attorneys searching for data about an investigator on the case, former State Police Trooper Michael Proctor. Proctor was fired in 2025 after his involvement in controversy within the homicide investigation of Karen Learn, who was acquitted of probably the most severe costs within the spring.
Courtroom data didn’t element when the potential jury trial could also be rescheduled to. The case is scheduled to return to court docket Oct. 27 at 9 a.m. for a listening to on Walshe’s competency.
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