Picture a luxurious home in the affluent coastal town of Cohasset, Massachusetts, where fireworks lit the sky on New Year’s Eve 2022. Inside, Brian Walshe, his elegant wife Ana, and a close friend toasted to the future. Laughter filled the air as they celebrated with their three young sons asleep upstairs. By morning, Ana—a successful real estate executive, devoted mother, and immigrant who had built a thriving life in America—was gone. Her husband claimed she left early for a work emergency in Washington, D.C. But as days passed with no sign of her, a digital breadcrumb trail emerged from Brian’s devices. Searches not for a missing loved one, but for how to dismember a body, clean blood, and evade detection. These chilling queries, made in the hours after Ana was last seen, formed the backbone of a prosecution that painted Brian as a calculating killer. In December 2025, after a gripping trial, a jury convicted him of first-degree murder, sentencing him to life without parole. Ana’s body has never been found, but the Google searches spoke volumes. This is the story of a marriage unraveling into murder.

Ana Ljubičić Walshe was born in Serbia and immigrated to the U.S. in 2005, becoming a dual citizen. Ambitious and charismatic, she rose through the hospitality industry, working at prestigious venues before joining Tishman Speyer as a regional general manager in 2022. She split time between D.C. and Cohasset, commuting for her family. Ana met Brian around 2008 at the Wheatleigh Hotel in Lenox, Massachusetts. They married in 2016, welcoming three sons aged 2, 4, and 6 by 2023.

Brian, heir to a wealthy family, presented as charming but harbored a darker history. In 2021, he pleaded guilty to federal fraud for selling counterfeit Andy Warhol paintings, facing sentencing and massive restitution. Under house arrest with an ankle monitor, he cared for the children while Ana worked. Friends described a loving couple planning a D.C. move, but tensions simmered. Ana’s long absences, Brian’s legal woes, and whispers of infidelity created strain. Prosecutors later revealed Ana’s affair with D.C. realtor William Fastow, starting in 2022. She discussed confiding in Brian, fearing his reaction amid financial desperation. He was the sole beneficiary of her nearly $3 million life insurance policy. Brian’s pre-disappearance searches included Fastow’s name and divorce-related queries, hinting at growing suspicion.

December 31, 2022, seemed joyful. Family friend Gem Mutlu joined for dinner. Testimony described a festive atmosphere with toasts and hugs. Mutlu left around 1:30 a.m. Ana called her mother and sister unsuccessfully in the early hours of 2023. She was last seen alive around 4 a.m.

Brian claimed he slept late, took their son for ice cream, and visited his mother in Swampscott. He said Ana left at 6 a.m. for a D.C. flight. But no records showed rideshare, flight, or airport activity. Her employer reported her missing January 4 after no contact. Brian called the same day, claiming ignorance.

Ana’s disappearance baffled initially. A missing persons poster circulated, and searches focused on D.C. But Brian’s story unraveled quickly. Surveillance contradicted his January 1 errands. He bought $450 in cleaning supplies—mops, bleach, tarps, a Tyvek suit—at Home Depot and Lowe’s. He visited dumpsters near his mother’s apartment, dumping heavy bags.

A January 8 basement search found blood and a damaged, bloody knife. Trash facilities yielded horrors. A hacksaw, hatchet, rug pieces with Ana’s blood and a necklace fragment, her vaccination card, boots, and Prada bag—all linked by DNA to her.

The most damning evidence came from internet history on Brian’s MacBook and his son’s iPad. Starting at 4:55 a.m. January 1—hours after Ana’s last sighting—the searches began. “How long before a body starts to smell.” “10 ways to dispose of a dead body if you really need to.” “Hacksaw best tool to dismember.” “Dismemberment and the best ways to dispose of a body.” “Can you be charged with murder without a body.” “How long for someone to be missing to inherit.” “Can you throw away body parts.” “Best way to clean blood from wooden floor.” “Can bleach clean blood.” “How long does DNA last.”

Prosecutors argued these queries aligned perfectly with premeditation and cover-up. The defense claimed Brian found Ana dead naturally, panicked due to his fraud record, and searched in desperation. They noted no premeditation searches existed beforehand.

Trial testimony from forensic analysts detailed dozens of queries, horrifying jurors. One trooper noted pornography searches on “cheating wife” from December 27.

Brian was arrested January 8 for misleading police. He was charged January 18 with murder and disinterring a body. Indicted in March 2023. In November 2025, before jury selection, he pleaded guilty to misleading the investigation and improper conveyance of a body, while maintaining innocence on murder.

The trial began December 1, 2025, in Dedham. Prosecutors called 50 witnesses. Friends testified on marriage strains. Fastow detailed the affair. Analysts explained searches and DNA. Surveillance experts mapped movements. The defense argued a sudden death, panic disposal—no proof of murder, no body, no cause of death.

In closings, Prosecutor Anne Yas called it methodical. Brian needed Ana dead over the affair and money. Defense attorney Larry Tipton described a sudden unexplained death, with searches stemming from disbelief.

The jury deliberated six hours over two days, convicting on first-degree murder December 15—finding premeditation.

On December 18, Judge Diane Freniere sentenced him to life without parole, the mandatory term, plus consecutive sentences on lesser charges. She called his acts barbaric. Ana’s sister spoke of unbearable emptiness.

Brian showed no emotion and made no statement. DA Michael Morrissey declared justice served.

Ana Walshe’s case became one of the rare no-body murders convicted on circumstantial evidence alone. It highlighted the power of digital trails. The searches proved intent and cover-up, overriding the defense narrative.

The case exposed deep marital strains. Financial desperation, infidelity suspicions, and house arrest isolation all converged. Brian’s fraud history portrayed him as habitually deceptive.

For Ana’s family in Serbia and the U.S., closure remained bittersweet. No remains meant no burial. Her mother struggled with the gruesomeness of the searches.

As Brian begins his life sentence, questions linger. What was the exact method of killing? What was the full motive beyond the obvious? But the searches told a story no denial could erase—a husband researching murder as his wife vanished into thin air.

This tragedy serves as a stark warning about hidden darkness in seemingly perfect lives. It shows how technology can capture truths that words attempt to hide. Ana Walshe—vibrant, loving mother—deserved far better. Her legacy endures as a reminder that justice, though delayed, can prevail through unflinching evidence.