The husband of a Massachusetts woman who disappeared around New Year’s Day made more than a dozen disturbing Google searches, including “10 ways to dispose of a dead body if you really need to” and “how to stop a body from decomposing” in the minutes before he had originally told police he last saw his wife, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Prosecutors presented the evidence against Brian Walshe, 47, in Quincy District court after issuing a murder warrant Tuesday in the death of his wife, Ana Walshe, 39.
Along with being accused of assaulting and beating his wife with the intent to murder her, Brian Walshe is charged with moving her body or remains, according to the criminal complaint. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.
More coverage on the disappearance of Ana Walshe
Evidence prosecutors presented in court offered disturbing new details about Brian Walshe’s actions in the hours before and after he previously claimed he last saw his wife.
In the early morning hours of Jan. 1, in the hour before Brian Walshe originally told investigators that Ana Walshe had left their home in the wealthy suburb of Cohasset, he made the following Google searches from his son’s iPad: “how long before a body starts to smell,” “how to stop a body from decomposing,” “10 ways to dispose of a dead body if you really need to,” “how long for someone to be missing to inherit,” and “can you throw away body parts?”
Later that morning, Brian Walshe’s Google searches included: “how long does DNA last,” “can identification be made on partial remains,” “dismemberment and the best ways to dispose of a body,” “how to clean blood from wooden floor,” and “what happens when you put body parts in ammonia?”
On Jan. 2, Walshe’s Internet searches included “hacksaw best tool to dismember,” “can you be charged with murder without a body” and “can you identify a body with broken teeth,” prosecutors said.
The probable cause affidavit and arrest warrant, which would typically include the above details, are impounded until March 10, according to a court order.
Brian Walshe entered the courtroom just before 9:20 a.m., wearing a grey shirt and handcuffs and standing behind a glass partition. Throughout the preceding, Brian Walshe looked around the room but showed little to no emotion.
He only spoke once when Judge Mark Coven asked him whether he understood the charges. “I do,” Walshe replied.
In a lengthy statement, Brian Walshe’s lawyer, Tracy Miner, claimed the media “has already tried and convicted Mr. Walshe.”
“It is easy to charge a crime and even easier to say a person committed that crime. It is a much more difficult thing to prove it, which we will see if the prosecution can do. I am not going to comment on the evidence, first because I am going to try this case in the court and not in the media. Second, because I haven’t been provided with any evidence by the prosecution,” Miner said.
Miner asked the court that Brian Walshe be released from custody — where he has been since his Jan. 8 arrest on the charge of misleading an investigation — which the judge denied.
Brian Walshe is being held without bail pending indictment. He is next due in court for a status hearing on Feb. 9.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence or the threat of domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline for help at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), or go to www.thehotline.org for anonymous, confidential online chats, available in English and Spanish. Individual states often have their own domestic violence hotlines as well.
Advocates at the National Domestic Violence Hotline field calls from both survivors of domestic violence as well as individuals who are concerned that they may be abusive toward their partners.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
