Murder of Ana Walshe

Ana Walshe was born Ana Ljubičić in Belgrade, then part of SR Serbia within SFR Yugoslavia, on April 12, 1983. She was raised in Belgrade, attended the Fifth Belgrade Gymnasium, and earned a degree in French language and literature from the University of Belgrade before emigrating to the United States in 2005, where she eventually became a dual citizen. She worked in the hospitality industry, including at The Inn at Little Washington, and married Brian Walshe in 2016, taking his surname; the couple had three sons, who were two, four, and six years old at the time of her disappearance. In February 2022, Ana became a regional general manager at the real estate company Tishman Speyer, splitting her time between the couple's home in Cohasset, Massachusetts, and a residence in Washington, D.C. In 2021, Brian Walshe pleaded guilty in federal court to three counts of fraud related to selling counterfeit Andy Warhol works, and he was on house arrest awaiting sentencing at the time Ana disappeared.

Ana, Brian, and a family friend had dinner together on New Year's Eve. In the first hours of January 1, 2023, she called her mother, sister, and maid of honor, none of whom were reachable, and she was last seen at the couple's Cohasset home around 4 a.m. Brian Walshe told police that Ana had left early to catch a flight from Boston's Logan International Airport to Washington, D.C., after a work emergency moved up a trip scheduled for January 3. Both Tishman Speyer and Brian Walshe separately reported Ana missing on January 4. Investigators found that although Ana had booked a flight for January 3, she had not boarded it, and her credit and debit cards had not been used since January 1.

Brian Walshe was arrested on January 8, 2023, and charged with misleading the police investigation after officers could not confirm his account that he had visited a CVS and a Whole Foods in Swampscott on January 1. Prosecutors alleged that he had instead gone to a Lowe's store in Rockland, Massachusetts, that morning and spent $463 on cleaning supplies, a hammer, and wire snips; a search of the Walshe residence turned up blood and a damaged, bloody knife in the basement. On January 18, Brian was charged with murder and disinterring a body without authority, with prosecutors alleging that he killed Ana, dismembered her body, and disposed of it. As evidence, prosecutors cited search terms — including how long it takes for a body to begin to smell, methods of dismemberment and body disposal, and whether a person can be charged with murder without a body — found in his Google search history across multiple devices, including his son's iPad. Brian pleaded not guilty, and on March 30, 2023, he was indicted on charges of first-degree murder, misleading a police investigation, and improper conveyance of a human body. The case drew significant public attention in both the United States and Serbia; Serbia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through its consulate-general in New York, communicated with the Norfolk District Attorney's office to provide Ana's mother with non-publicly available information about the investigation.

On November 19, 2025, Brian Walshe changed his plea to guilty on the two lesser charges — misleading a police investigation and improper conveyance of a human body — while maintaining his innocence on the murder charge. On December 15, 2025, he was found guilty of the first-degree murder of Ana Walshe. Three days later, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.