Brian Walshe, man accused of killing wife in Cohasset, appeals sentence in federal art fraud case

Boston25News.com Staff
·2 min read

Brian Walshe, the Cohasset man accused of killing his wife, dismembering her body with a hacksaw, and then discarding her remains at trash transfer stations across the region, is appealing his recent sentence in his federal art fraud case.

Walshe’s attorney, Tracy A. Miner, filed a notice of appeal on Monday with the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit over a 37-month sentence he was handed by a federal court judge in late February for selling two counterfeit Andy Warhol paintings in an international art fraud scheme.

Walshe, 48, previously pleaded guilty in 2021 to wire fraud, interstate transportation for scheme to defraud, and money laundering, in connection with a scheme to sell counterfeit Andy Warhol paintings.

FILE - Brian Walshe enters the courtroom for his arraignment, April 27, 2023, in Dedham, Mass. Walshe, a Massachusetts man charged with killing his wife, was sentenced Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024, to more than three years in jail over an unrelated art fraud case involving the sale of two fake Andy Warhol paintings. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool, File)

“These crimes were dangerous, bold, and harmful, both to the victims and the public as a whole,” the government stated in a sentencing memorandum. “A sentence of imprisonment is necessary to punish the defendant for his crimes and to deter others from engaging in art fraud, an especially difficult crime to detect, investigate, and prosecute.”

In nearly 175 pages of filings in the art fraud case, prosecutors said Walshe “orchestrated a scheme” that encompassed “repeated falsehoods.”

Brian Walshe was also ordered to pay $475,000 in restitution to his three victims and has already paid $95,000 towards that.

25 Investigates: Brian Walshe’s damaging digital footprint, according to prosecutors

Brian Walshe, left, is facing murder and other charges following the disappearance of his wife, Ana Walshe, left, on Jan. 1, 2023.
Brian Walshe, left, is facing murder and other charges following the disappearance of his wife, Ana Walshe, left, on Jan. 1, 2023.

In a separate case, investigators say Walshe killed his wife, Ana Walshe, last year. The 39-year-old mother-of-three, a real estate professional who worked in Washington D.C., went missing on New Year’s Day 2023, authorities said. Her body has never been found.

He was slated to return to court Monday for another hearing in his murder case but his attorney and the prosecutors agreed to postpone the proceeding until the spring.

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