In court today
• On the stand now: William Fastow, the man Ana Walshe was in an extramarital relationship with in Washington, DC, before her death, is now testifying in the murder trial of Brian Walshe.
• The case: Brian Walshe, who denies killing is wife, pleaded guilty last month to misleading police and improper conveyance of a human body. Her body has not been found.
• Testimony: Yesterday, record keepers from Uber and Lyft testified that Ana Walshe did not take a rideshare to the airport on January 1. Earlier this week, prosecutors walked the jury through data extracted from Brian Walshe’s laptop, including evidence of graphic Google searches, such as “best way to dispose of a body.”
Court has adjourned for morning break
The trial has adjourned for a mid-morning break.
Cross examination of William Fastow will resume after the break.
The defense questions Fastow on cross examination
Defense attorney Kelli Porges has begun her cross examination of William Fastow.
Porges took steps to confirm with Fastow that Ana Walshe never expressed that she thought her husband knew about their affair or that she planned to tell him about it before her death.
Fastow clarified that he and Ana Walshe didn’t post photos of each other or comment with flirtatious messages on each other’s public social media pages and he never met her friends aside from their mutual friend Gem Mutlu.
Fastow testified that he can’t remember if he told Mutlu about his extramarital relationship with Ana Walshe before or after she disappeared. They’ve spoken about it since, he said.
Fastow said on one occasion while he was with Ana Walshe out to dinner, Fastow got a call from Brian Walshe. When Ana Walshe spoke to her husband later that day, he told her their son took his phone and called Fastow.
Ana Walshe never spoke about an imminent plans to reveal their affair to her husband, Fastow acknowledged.
“There was no plan that I was aware of,” Fastow said.
Porges asked, “She never told you, ‘Hey, Will, I’m gonna go blow up my marriage and come be with you?’”
Fastow agreed.
Fastow testifies he has not seen Ana Walshe since Christmas Day 2022
Willam Fastow also reviewed a photo of Ana Walshe and identified a Gucci pendant necklace and a Cartier watch he said she frequently wore.
The jury saw that selfie of Ana Walshe in court.
Fastow also confirmed he hasn’t seen Ana Walshe since December 25, 2022.
The jury hears voicemail Brian Walshe left for Fastow on January 4
Brian Walshe called William Fastow on January 4, 2023, and left him a voicemail.
The jury heard the audio in court. Here’s what Brian Walshe said in the voicemail message:
“Good afternoon William, this is Brian Walshe. I hope all is going well. I was just reaching out to basically everybody I could. Ana hasn’t been in touch for a few days and I spoke to work today she hasn’t been in. They went to the house, and she wasn’t there or looks like she’s been there recently. So just wondering if you’ve spoken to her recently like Sunday or the last two days. Just so let me know, or if you know anyone that might have had that contact with her, just calling everyone. Sorry to bother you, I’m sure she’s fine.”
“I immediately called Brian back,” Fastow testified.
Fastow told Walshe he was near the house and offered to check to see if she was there.
Brian Walshe provided Fastow the garage code to enter the home but the door leading from the garage to the house was locked, Fastow said.
He called Walshe back after checking the townhome and told Walshe it didn’t look like she was there or had been there recently.
Fastow went back to the house later that night to check again but found no change.
Fastow made plans to meet with Ana Walshe on January 4
While William Fastow was in Idaho and Ana Walshe was with her family in Massachusetts over the holidays, the pair made plans to meet on January 4, 2023, to celebrate the New Year and discuss their future.
Fastow had made dinner reservations, he said.
“Our plans were to have dinner on January 4 to celebrate New Year’s and discuss our 1, 3, 5, and 10 year plans,” Fastow said.
“And what had you and Anna discussed about your future together?” prosecutor Anne Yas asked Fastow.
“We’d had a number of conversations about what a life together might look like, what merging two families would look like, how that might work,” Fastow said. “But I had always said to Anna that she needed to figure out how she wanted things to be with Brian and what she wanted that to look like for her life before, you know, we could make any sort of commitments or decisions.”
A text message around the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve wishing him Happy New Year was the last time Fastow ever heard from Ana.
On January 2, 2023, Fastow’s texts and calls to Ana Walshe went unanswered, he said. Her phone went straight to voicemail when he tried to call. He even tried calling her from a landline thinking she might’ve blocked his cell phone number.
He was concerned after not hearing from her, Fastow testified.
Brian Walshe called Fastow twice on January 4, 2023, but he ignored the calls.
“I was in an intimate relationship with his wife. I had not heard from her in several days, and frankly, I was concerned that maybe he had found out and was calling to confront me,” Fastow testified.
Remember: Brian Walshe’s defense team has repeatedly said that he didn’t know about his wife’s affair before January 1, 2023.
Walshe didn’t leave a voicemail the first time but he did later that day. Fastow provided that voicemail to law enforcement.
Prosecution shows Fastow photo Ana Walshe sent him on New Year's Eve
Prosecutor Anne Yas showed William Fastow a photo he received from Ana Walshe of her with Gem Mutlu and one of her son’s on New Year’s Eve. Mutlu was at the house with the Walshes that night.
The photo was not shown in court because the minor child was not redacted.
Court is back in session after a break
The parties don’t agree on what messages between William Fastow and Ana Walshe should come into evidence so they were looking for a ruling from the judge.
Fastow is back on the stand. The jury is now seated.
Judge Diane Freniere admitted 43 pages of text messages between Fastow and Walshe into evidence. Fastow confirmed he provided the text messages to law enforcement.
Prosecutors will now continue to question Fastow.
Ana and Brian Walshe fought about her absence on Christmas Eve and most of Christmas Day, Fastow says
William Fastow said that Ana Walshe and Brian Walshe argued about her missing Christmas Eve and most of Christmas Day with their family.
“There were some points of contention,” Fastow said.
Brian Walshe disclosed their dispute over Christmas to investigators during police interviews after her disappearance.
But according to Fastow, Brian Walshe’s dragging federal fraud case was the biggest point of contention in Walshe’s marriage.
“The biggest stressor was his inability to resolve his criminal case, and the fact that, because of that, she couldn’t be with her children and bring them back to Washington, DC, and the fact that it was it felt like it was holding up her life,” Fastow said.
They also fought about Brian Walshe’s spending, Fastow recalled.
Ana Walshe was the primary breadwinner, Fastow said, and he recalled hearing about an argument over Brian Walshe’s spending on her credit card. Brian Walshe bought items for a sports memorabilia business on her credit card, Fastow testified.
Ana Walshe wanted to tell her husband about the extramarital relationship at some point, Fastow testifies
William Fastow told prosecutors that he did not keep the relationship with Ana Walshe a secret and that she wanted to tell Brian Walshe about the affair at some point.
“Did you keep your relationship with Ana secret?” prosecutor Anne Yas asked.
“I did not, no,” Fastow said.
Fastow testified he told people about their relationship. They’d socialize with his friends but they never spent time around her friends, Fastow said.
Fastow testified that Ana wanted to tell her husband about their extramarital relationship.
“Ana felt it was really important that when Brian was to find out about the relationship, that he would hear it from her. She had expressed a great concern, and I think she felt it would be a strike against her integrity if he found out a different way,” Fastow said.
Ana Walshe and Fastow’s relationship became more serious around July 2022, according to Fastow.
Ana Walshe traveled to Massachusetts for her husband’s planned sentencing hearing in his federal art fraud case, and at the time she thought she would soon be able to relocate Brian Walshe and their kids to Washington, DC, but the sentencing was ultimately delayed without an outcome.
After that, Fastow said he stopped dating other people. Fastow testified he and Ana Walshe spent Thanksgiving 2022 together in Dublin, Ireland. Ana Walshe continued on to visit family in Serbia after that.
They also spent Christmas Eve that year together with his friends in Annapolis, Maryland. She spent the night at his home.
Her flight to Massachusetts was canceled on Christmas morning because of snow but she left Fastow’s house because his kids were coming over.
She eventually opted to drive to Massachusetts that day, he said.
Fastow testifies he was aware of Brian Walshe’s federal fraud case
William Fastow testified that Brian Walshe’s legal situation came up quickly between him and Ana Walshe, because an insurance company declined to underwrite her insurance policy for the townhome in Washington, DC.
Ana Walshe told Fastow her kids were living with their father in Massachusetts because Brian Walshe’s home confinement, connected to his then-ongoing federal fraud case, was predicated on him being the primary caregiver for their children.
Ana Walshe was “despondent” over the fact that she felt she wasn’t in a position to be the mother her kids deserved, Fastow testified.
The defense has objected more than once to Fastow’s testimony as to Ana Walshe’s state of mind. The parties had a sidebar before Fastow’s testimony resumed.
Before the side bar Judge Diane Freniere read the jury an instruction: “You’re going to hear through this witness evidence of Ana Walshe’s state of mind, and it is limited to the purpose of establishing her state of mind as may be relevant to the defendant’s motives at the time. Evidence cannot be considered as proof of the criminal act that is charged in this case.”
This post has been updated with additional information.
Ana Walshe and William Fastow "started an intimate relationship" within weeks of her relocating to DC, Fastow says
Ana Walshe and William Fastow started an intimate relationship within weeks of her relocating to Washington, DC, from Massachusetts.
“We quickly became close friends then confidants and before long we started an intimate relationship,” Fastow said. “We would share conversations about our lives, what we were going through, personal troubles, those sorts of things.”
They would see each other a few times a week and speak almost daily, he said. Fastow said they’d go to functions together and on dates regularly. She would go with him sailing on his boat in Annapolis, Maryland, Fastow said.
Fastow said he was separated at the time when he and Ana met.
Fastow testifies he never met Brian Walshe in person
Brian and Ana Walshe were referred to William Fastow, who is a real estate broker, when they were looking for a townhome in Washington, DC, by Gem Mutlu — the last person other than Brian Walshe to see Ana alive on New Year’s Eve.
Fastow said he’s never met Brian Walshe in person but they spoke over Zoom a few times.
Prosecutors begin questioning William Fastow
The commonwealth has called William Fastow, the man who Ana Walshe had an affair with, to the stand.
Before the jury entered Judge Diane Freniere ruled that some text messages between Fastow and Ana Walshe will come in during Fastow’s testimony. The judge said it’s reasonable for the jury to infer Walshe had seen her text message exchanges with Fastow despite the defense team’s opposition.
Freniere said the text messages speak to Ana Walshe’s state of mind before her death.
“In particular, she sends messages regarding her feelings of confusion in her married life, her intimate relationship with Fastow, and her desire to make future plans with Fastow,” the judge said.
The trial of Brian Walshe is back in session
Brian Walshe is back in court. The judge is on the bench and the jury is seated.
Before the jury was brought into the courtroom, the parties discussed possible sentencing on the lesser charges Walshe has already pleaded guilty to.
The defense disputed the sentencing enhancement on the misleading police charge, which carries a maximum sentence of up to 10 years but can be enhanced up to 20 years if Walshe is convicted of murder at trial.
There was disagreement over whether Walshe could still face the enhancement for misleading the police in connection to the murder investigation regardless of the outcome at trial.
Judge Diane Freniere said she won’t sentence Walshe on those counts until after a verdict is reached at trial.
What we know Brian Walshe told investigators about William Fastow
Earlier this week, the jury heard parts of interviews between investigators and Brian Walshe in which he mentioned William Fastow as one of his wife’s friends in Washington, DC, where she commuted for work.
Fastow sold Ana Walshe her DC townhouse and the two eventually entered into a romantic relationship, according to prosecutors. Fastow is expected to take the stand today.
In a recorded interview on January 4 with investigators, Brian Walshe said he had called Fastow looking for Ana. Fastow went to Ana’s townhouse to look for her.
In a January 5 interview, Brian Walshe reiterated that his wife was not seeing anyone else. Her said she would wear a wedding ring and talk about her husband while she was in DC.
Walshe told investigators on January 7 interview that at some point in the night on New Year’s Eve, Ana sent a photo of her and their son to Fastow.
Through extraction records of Brian Walshe’s electronic devices, prosecutors also showed that Brian Walshe was searching Fastow’s name on his phone on December 25, 2022.
In their opening statement, prosecutors said Ana spent Christmas Eve with Fastow in DC and she drove back to Massachusetts the next day after missing her flight. Ana Walshe also didn’t spend Thanksgiving with her family, the prosecution said. The commonwealth said she was in Dublin with Fastow before flying to see her sick mother in Serbia.
When asked, Walshe said several times that the only problem in his marriage was that they didn’t get to spend enough time together.
CNN’s Lauren del Valle contributed reporting to this post.
Jury saw graphic searches found on Brian Walshe's computer earlier this week
Prosecutors went through dozens of searches Brian Walshe made on his laptop earlier this week.
The graphic queries were made on January 1, 2 and 3rd of 2023. Here are some of the notable ones that came up in court:
January 1
- Time stamped at 4:52 a.m. ET, Walshe searched “best way to dispose of a body.”
- At 4:54 a.m. Walshe clicked on an article titled “10 ways to dispose of a dead body (if you really needed to),” Massachusetts State Police Trooper Nicholas Guarino testified.
- One minute later, at 4:55 a.m., Walshe searched, “How long before a body starts to smell.”
- Walshe searched at 11:50 a.m.: “Can I used bleach to clean my wood floors from blood stains.” He also clicked on a Discover Magazine article titled, “Want to get away with murder? use a special detergent.”
January 2
- At 12:27 p.m. he typed in, “how to saw a body” and “hack saw the best tool for dismembering a body” at 12:33 p.m.
- At 12:47 p.m. Walshe searched, “Can you be charge with murder without a body.” He then clicked on a wikipedia page titled “murder conviction without a body.”
- At 2:01 p.m. Walshe searched, “How to remove a hard drive from apple laptop.”
January 3
- At 5:02 a.m. Walshe searched an article called, “cleaning up blood without leaving a trace - 5 tips” from the website “Aftermath Services.”
- At 1:12 p.m. he searched: “can a body decompose in a plastic bag.”
These are the witnesses who have taken the stand so far
- Cohasset Police Department Sgt. Harrison Schmidt testified about the interviews he conducted with Walshe. The jury heard parts of the recordings.
- Massachusetts State Police Trooper Nicholas Guarino told the jury about information extracted from Brian Walshe’s computer and other electronic devices.
- Cohasset Police K9 Handler Sgt. Patrick Reardon said he didn’t find anything when he searched around the Walshe home on January 5.
- William Foley, a records custodian for US Customs and Border Patrol, testified Ana Walshe was out of the country from November 23 to December 7. This was when she was in Dublin with William Fastow before visiting her mother in Serbia.
- Thomas Menino, a records custodian for JetBlue, testified to several of Ana Walshe’s flight reservations for December 2022 and January 2023. Seth Fox, a records custodian for Lyft, and Alissa Wimmer, a regional public safety liaison for Uber, testified Ana did not take any rides on January 1.
- Cohasset Police Officer Gregory Lowrance first responded to the Walshe home on the morning of January 4, 2023, after Ana Walshe’s employer reported her missing.
- Massachusetts State Trooper Amy Waterman said she searched Ana Walshe’s townhome in DC on January 7, 2023.
- Davis Gould, a forensic scientist with the Massachusetts state crime lab, processed Walshe’s Volvo at his home on January 9 and trash from the dumpsters.
- The Walshe’s landlord Peter Capozzoli said Brian Walshe called him and said his wife went missing and he wanted to know if there were security cameras on or around the property.
- Swampscott Police Officer Michael Kenyon said he led law enforcement to transport a compactor and dumpster from Brian Walshe’s mother’s apartment complex to a trash processing site.
- Mark Selvaggi testified that he sold Ana Walshe a $1 million term life insurance policy and a $250,000 whole life insurance policy in 2021. Brian Walshe was the beneficiary of both policies.
Catch up on what happened in court yesterday
Court is back in session in Brian Walshe’s murder trial today. William Fastow, who prosecutors say was having an affair with Ana Walshe, is expected to take the stand.
But first, here’s a recap of what happened yesterday:
Bloody evidence: The jury saw a collection of evidence, including photos of items that were recovered from dumpsters near an apartment complex where Brian Walshe’s mother lived. Several items were covered in what appeared to be blood, according to photos — though forensic scientist Davis Gould, who was on the stand, only referred to “red-brown stains.”
The jury saw photos of a black jacket, white towels and a white robe that were covered in these stains. A pair of gray slippers showed similar smears and a clump of what appeared to be hair on the bottom of one shoe. Another evidence photo showed several tools recovered from the trash, including a hatchet with similar “red-brown stains” and a hacksaw.
Travel testimony: Prosecutors also called a series of record keepers whose brief testimony bolstered their claim that there is no evidence Ana Walshe left on her own from the family’s Massachusetts home after January 1, 2023, when she was last seen alive celebrating the New Year.
