A Massachusetts man is standing trial on accusations that he murdered and dismembered his wife after believing she was having an affair, and his alleged Google search history is under scrutiny.
Brian Walshe pleaded guilty on November 18 to disposing of his wife Ana Walshe's body, according to NBC News, but he is fighting the charge that he murdered her. He is accused of "assaulting and beating his wife with the intent to murder" Ana, who was last seen on New Year's Day 2023 in the family's Cohasset home near Boston, according to NBC News. Ana's body was never found. Prosecutors believe her remains were placed in dumpsters and destroyed.
According to CBS News, prosecutors are accusing Brian of making "violent Google searches" that allegedly included "10 ways to dispose of a dead body if you really need to." He also allegedly searched, "How long before a body starts to smell?" and "Can you be charged with murder without a body?" CBS News reported.
Prosecutors also allege that Brian searched the words "cheating wife" before his wife disappeared, CBS News noted. The searches were conducted on his son's MacBook, according to prosecutors, who also accuse him of searching for divorce-related terms on Google. Prosecutors told the judge a report on the MacBook is 1,000 pages long, CBS News reported.
He's also accused of searches relating to having a "threesome," WCVB reported.
The DA announced the murder charge in a news release that indicated Brian was also accused of misleading the police.
Prosecutors allege that Brian disposed of his wife's remains in various dumpsters, according to WCVB.
The indictment says police first responded to the couple's home on a missing person investigation. That indictment alleges that Brian told police that he and his wife hosted a New Year's Eve dinner at their home with a friend and then went to sleep. He told police she told him she had a work emergency and needed to fly back to Washington D.C., kissed him, and left, according to the indictment.
According to the indictment, they had three kids together, who were in the house. Brian told police he got up and made breakfast for them. He told police a babysitter arrived, and he left the home to go to his mother's condo and go grocery shopping, the indictment says, but it adds that he was not observed on video at the grocery stores in question during the time frame he says he was there.
He took his sons out for ice cream, according to the indictment, which notes he had previously been convicted of federal fraud by wire. He left home and went to places he wasn't approved for travel, prosecutors alleged. They allege that he lied about his whereabouts that day.
"The delays resulted in the contents of dumpsters in which the defendant disposed of Ana Walshe’s remains being incinerated," the prosecutor said, according to WCVB.
Jury selection was underway on the murder accusation on November 18.