Brian Walshe’s defense team will begin presenting its case to jurors in his murder trial Thursday morning.
Prosecutors rested their case on Wednesday afternoon after calling a pair of key witnesses who were close to Walshe’s wife, Ana. The jury heard from Gem Mutlu, who spent New Year’s Eve with the couple, and Alissa Kirby, one of Ana Walshe’s closest friends in Washington, D.C., where she worked.
It’s not known how long Walshe’s defense will go — they listed just eight possible witnesses, making it unlikely their case will go as long as the government’s.
But it does appear likely that Walshe himself will testify in his own defense.
Judge Diane Freniere denied a motion from Walshe’s defense for a required finding of not guilty after prosecutors rested their case, finding that, in the light most favorable to the commonwealth, there was enough evidence to support the case continuing. Such motions are commonly made at the close of the prosecution’s case and the defense’s case in criminal trials.
Walshe, 50, is accused of killing his wife, Ana, in their home on the early morning of New Year’s Day 2023, then dismembering her body and disposing of her remains at dumpsters across the state.
Walshe’s defense has said Ana Walshe died a sudden, unexplained death of natural causes and that he panicked after finding her dead. Before the trial started, Walshe pleaded guilty to two charges, admitting that he moved his wife’s body and misled the police investigation into her disappearance.
