Brian Walshe, center, stands with his lawyers Kelli Porges and Larry Tipton as they listen to the jury announce the guilty verdict of first degree murder of his wife Ana in 2023 by a Norfolk Superior Court jury in Dedham, Mass., on Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool)2025-12-18T04:52:03Z BOSTON (AP) A Boston-area man was sentenced Thursday to life in a Massachusetts state prison for the grisly murder of his wife, who disappeared nearly three years ago and whose body has never been found. Brian Walshe was convicted Monday of first-degree murder in the killing of Ana Walshe. The sentence carries no possibility of parole.He pleaded guilty in November to misleading police and illegally disposing of a body after admitting he had dismembered her body and disposed of it in dumpster. He said he did so only after panicking when he found she had died in bed. Ana Walshe, a real estate agent who immigrated from Serbia, was last seen early Jan. 1, 2023, after a New Years Eve dinner at the couples home. During the trial, prosecutors leaned heavily on digital evidence found on devices connected to Walshe, including online searches for dismemberment and best ways to dispose of a body, how long before a body starts to smell and hacksaw best tool to dismember. Investigators also found searches on a laptop that included how long for someone missing to inherit, how long missing to be dead, and can you throw away body parts, prosecutors told the jury. Surveillance video also showed a man resembling Walshe throwing what appeared to be heavy trash bags into a dumpster not far from the couples home. A subsequent search of a trash processing facility near his mothers home uncovered bags containing a hatchet, hammer, sheers, hacksaw, towels and a protective Tyvek suit, cleaning agents, a Prada purse, boots like the ones Ana Walshe was last seen wearing and a COVID-19 vaccination card with her name. Stay up to date with the news and the best of AP by following our WhatsApp channel. Follow on Prosecutors told the jury that the Massachusetts State Crime Laboratory examined some of the items and found Ana and Brian Walshes DNA on the Tyvek suit and Ana Walshes DNA on the hatchet, hacksaw and other items. Prosecutors floated several possible motives for the killing. An insurance executive testified that Brian Walshe was the sole beneficiary of Ana Walshes $1 million life insurance policy, suggesting a financial motive. But prosecutors also portrayed a marriage that was falling apart; Brian Walshe was confined at their home in the affluent coastal community of Cohasset, about 15 miles (24 kilometers) southeast of Boston, awaiting sentencing on an art fraud case. Ana Walshe meanwhile commuted from their home to Washington, D.C., where she worked. The year before she died, his wife had started an affair, details of which were shared in court by her boyfriend William Fastow. Brian Walshes attorney denied that his client knew about the affair.In his opening, Walshes attorney, Larry Tipton, argued it was not a murder case but what he called a sudden unexplained death. He said the couple loved each other and were planning for the future.But Walshes defense never called a witness and Brian Walshe declined to testify.When initially questioned by investigators, Walshe said his wife had been called to Washington on New Years Day for a work emergency. But witnesses testified there was no evidence Ana Walshe took a ride service to the airport or boarded a flight. Walshe didnt contact her employer until Jan. 4.The couples three young children are in state custody. ___Whittle reported from Portland, Maine. MICHAEL CASEY Casey writes about the environment, housing and inequality for The Associated Press. He lives in Boston. twitter mailto PATRICK WHITTLE Whittle is an Associated Press reporter based in Portland, Maine. He focuses on the environment and oceans. twitter mailto