A Massachusetts judge overseeing the murder trial of Brian Walshe ruled Monday that prosecutors may show jurors a still image taken from video of his missing wife playing with their children on a rug inside the family's Cohasset home, after defense attorneys argued the footage was too inflammatory.
Prosecutors had wanted to show the entire video to illustrate a connection between the victim and the rug itself. They said in court that the rug seen in the clip is identical to one later recovered 40 miles away from a dumpster near the home of Brian Walshe's mother, Diana, along with a saw and a "bone fragment."
Brian Walshe, a 50-year-old convicted fraudster, is accused of killing his wife Ana after learning she was having an affair. Prosecutors also allege he believed he would have a better chance of avoiding federal prison time for his art fraud conviction if he became the sole caretaker of their three children.
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But Ana Walshe had plans to move with the kids to Washington, D.C., where she worked and where she was carrying on the affair, according to prosecutors.
Her alleged paramour is on the witness list, according to defense attorneys, and he is expected to testify.
He declined to answer questions about the case when approached Sunday.
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Brian Walshe was the beneficiary of his wife's $2.7 million life insurance policy and owed nearly $500,000 in restitution in his federal case, court records show.
He entered court around 9:05 a.m. Monday, carrying a stack of paperwork and wearing a navy blue suit and green tie. A court officer unlocked his handcuffs once he reached the defense table.
Judge Diane Freniere took up a number of motions in limine at the final pretrial hearing before jury selection is expected to begin Tuesday.
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She said the trial would stream over Zoom. She warned the defense that anything Walshe's lawyers planned to use in their opening statement should be shared with the court and prosecution before it is displayed to jurors. She agreed to the defense's request to add questions to the juror questionnaire, including one about whether prospective jurors would agree not to use social media or watch the news during trial.
She also allowed prosecutors to introduce some evidence of Brian Walshe's federal conviction in order to show their alleged motive, but she said she would not allow some location data investigators obtained through his monitoring bracelet, which she said had "little evidentiary value."
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The judge also said she would likely allow statements from Ana Walshe's friend, Melissa Kirby, surrounding a discussion the two had on Dec. 29, just three days before Ana Walshe was last seen alive. They discussed Ana Walshe giving her husband an "ultimatum" and an argument on Christmas.
The judge ruled this conversation is evidence of both a motive and of Ana Walshe's state of mind shortly before she vanished.
Her remains have not been found, but prosecutors allege Brian Walshe killed her, dismembered her and hid the evidence. The defendant has pleaded not guilty.
Investigators say they found digital evidence showing Walshe allegedly searched Google more than a dozen times for instructions on how to dispose of human remains. Then they say they found video of him at Home Depot, buying mops, goggles and a knife.
Former Massachusetts State Trooper Michael Proctor, who was a detective on the case, lost his job in connection with his handling of the investigation into Karen Read in the death of her boyfriend, John O'Keefe.
Read was acquitted of all homicide-related charges in that case earlier this year.
