30 January 2023 , 16:36
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A criminal psychology professor claims there could be a grim reason behind a murder suspect allegedly dismembering his wife's body.
Brian Walshe, 47, is being held in custody after being charged with murder in relation to his wife, Ana Walshe's disappearance. Ana, a mother of three, was last seen on January 1. She is presumed dead but her body hasn't been found.
Investigators say Walshe made multiple online searches relating to disposing of a body using an iPad belonging to one of his sons.
He used terms such as “dismemberment and best ways to dispose of a body”; “how long before a body starts to smell”; “hacksaw best tool to dismember” and “10 ways to dispose of a dead body if you really need to,” according to a prosecutor.
Missing Ana Walshe, a mother of three, is presumed dead but her body hasn't been found (Facebook)Commenting on the grim details, a professor of psychology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice says dismembering a body does not mean a suspect is psychotic.
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He said the gruesome act is done for the practical reason of disposing a body and concealing evidence.
Dr Louis B Schlesinger told the Sun: "Usually this occurs when the murder happened at someone’s home. Because you kill your wife, for example, how do you get the body out of the house?
Ana's husband was seen on surveillance video buying cleaning supplies and then disposing of large bags (Facebook)"That’s very difficult, bodies are large, it’s very heavy when they’re dead. So what they’ll do is dismember the body in order to dispose of it."
Dr Schlesinger added that if the victim is killed miles away, such as in the woods, most offenders would just leave the body there.
He said: "I don’t know the living situation of Brian Walshe but in his mind, he couldn’t just drag the body out and dump it in the car. You know, you’re gonna get caught that way. People are gonna see you. It’s a lot harder than you think."
Brian Walshe has pleaded not guilty to all charges (Craig F Walker/AP/REX/Shutterstock)The alleged murderer was also seen on surveillance video buying $450 (£362) worth of cleaning supplies, including mops, buckets, tarps, tape and other items, at a home improvement store on the day after his wife was last seen.
Then, footage of a man showed him throwing what appeared to be heavy trash bags into a dumpster at an apartment complex in Abington, Massachusetts.
Items belonging to the missing woman, with her DNA on them, were found at a trash processing facility.
Items with Ana's DNA were found at a trash processing facility (Facebook)Ana, 39, was last seen leaving the family's home in Cohasset, south of Boston, in the early morning hours of New Year's Day.
She was on her way to the airport for a flight to Washington, where she worked for a real estate company, authorities said. She was reported missing by her employer on January 4.
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Walshe's defence is likely to bring in an expert to attack the reliability of the Google search evidence at trial a Los Angeles-based defence attorney told the Associated Press.