Jury selection continues Wednesday in murder trial of Brian Walshe

After an eventful first day of Brian Walshe’s murder trial, more potential jurors will fill Norfolk Superior Court on Wednesday as the presiding judge and lawyers for both sides work to assemble a 16-person jury for the case.

Before selection started on Tuesday, Walshe pleaded guilty to two lesser charges he faced in connection with the disappearance of his wife, Ana, who prosecutors say he killed and dismembered. Walshe admitted to misleading the police investigation and to disinterring a body.

He would face up to three years in prison on the disinterring a body charge and up to a decade in prison for misleading the police investigation.

On the first day of selection, nine people were selected to serve on the jury for Walshe’s trial, WCVB reported. Judge Diane Freniere intends to seat 16 jurors. Jury selection will continue each day this week.

Opening statements in the case are expected on Dec. 1, assuming a jury is empaneled before the Thanksgiving holiday.

Walshe is accused of killing and dismembering Ana Walshe on New Year’s Day 2023 in the Cohasset home they shared with their three children. Prosecutors say he hid his wife’s remains in dumpsters in various locations across the state. Ana Walshe’s body has never been found.

In court papers, prosecutors have said Brian Walshe made a series of Google searches leading up to and after his wife’s death, including “best state to divorce for a man,” “dismemberment and best ways to dispose of a body,” and “can you be charge with murder without a body.”

Prosecutors have said Walshe was motivated to kill his wife by the knowledge that she was having an affair with a man in Washington, D.C., where she worked, and by money troubles stemming from a federal art fraud case.

If convicted, Walshe would face life in prison without the possibility of parole.