BOSTON (AP) — A judge has set a date of Oct. 20, 2025, for the trial of a Massachusetts man charged with killing his wife.
Brian Walshe faces first-degree murder, misleading a police investigation and other charges in the death of his wife, Ana Walshe, whose body has never been recovered. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
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Defense attorney Kelli Porges makes a motion for cell phone and text messages between police officers during the Brian Walshe trial at the Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Mass. Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP)
Prosecutor Greg Connor speaks during the Brian Walshe trial at the Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Mass. Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP)
Newly appointed to the case, Judge Diane Freniere listens to motions during the Brian Walshe trial at the Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Mass. Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP)
Brian Walshe and one of his lawyers Kelli Porges arrives at the Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Mass. Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP)
Brian Walshe sits at the defense table during his trial at the Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Mass. Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP)
FILE - Brian Walshe, accused of killing wife Anna who disappeared on New Years Day 2023, enters the courtroom for his arraignment, Thursday April 27, 2023, in Dedham, Mass. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool, File)
Brian Walshe arrives in court for his trial at the Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Mass. Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP)
Defense attorney Larry Tipton makes a motion for cell phone and text messages between Cohasset police officers and State Police Detective Michael Proctor during the Brian Walshe trial at the Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Mass. Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP)
Walshe, dressed in a suit and his wrists in handcuffs, appeared Monday in Norfolk Superior Court before Judge Diane Freniere, who recently took over the case.
Walshe's defense team is seeking documents related to the handling of two other cases by Norfolk County investigators — including the Karen Read murder trial and the alleged killing of Sandra Birchmore by a Stoughton, Massachusetts, detective Matthew Farwell.
Freniere didn't rule Monday.
Defense attorneys are specifically seeking emails and text messages from the lead investigator on the Karen Read case, Trooper Michael Proctor, who helped lead the investigations that resulted in the arrests of both Walshe and Read.
Proctor, who was relieved of duty, revealed he’d sent vulgar texts to colleagues and family, calling Read a “whack job” and telling his sister he wished Read would “kill herself.” He said his emotions had gotten the better of him.
Prosecutors have said some of the information sought by defense attorneys is privileged or exempt because of a pending federal prosecution.
Ana Walshe, who is originally from Serbia, was last seen early on Jan. 1, 2023 following a New Year’s Eve dinner at her Massachusetts home with her husband and a family friend, prosecutors said.
Brian Walshe said she was called back to Washington, D.C., on New Year’s Day for a work emergency. He didn’t contact her employer until Jan. 4. The company — the first to notify police that Ana Walshe was missing — said there was no emergency, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors have said that starting Jan. 1 and for several days after, Brian Walshe made multiple online searches for “dismemberment and best ways to dispose of a body,” “how long before a body starts to smell” and “hacksaw best tool to dismember.”
Prosecutors have also said that Ana Walshe had taken out $2.7 million in life insurance naming her husband as the sole beneficiary.
Walshe was also sentenced earlier this year to more than three years behind bars over an unrelated art fraud case involving the sale of two fake Andy Warhol paintings. He was ordered to pay $475,000 in restitution.
Walshe’s scheme, prosecutors said, started with his selling the two original Warhol paintings in 2011 to a gallery. From there, he obtained replicas of the paintings in 2015 and sold those to a buyer in France before trying to sell the two fake abstracts on eBay.
Defense attorney Kelli Porges makes a motion for cell phone and text messages between police officers during the Brian Walshe trial at the Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Mass. Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP)
Prosecutor Greg Connor speaks during the Brian Walshe trial at the Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Mass. Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP)
Newly appointed to the case, Judge Diane Freniere listens to motions during the Brian Walshe trial at the Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Mass. Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP)
Brian Walshe and one of his lawyers Kelli Porges arrives at the Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Mass. Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP)
Brian Walshe sits at the defense table during his trial at the Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Mass. Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP)
FILE - Brian Walshe, accused of killing wife Anna who disappeared on New Years Day 2023, enters the courtroom for his arraignment, Thursday April 27, 2023, in Dedham, Mass. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool, File)
Brian Walshe arrives in court for his trial at the Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Mass. Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP)
Defense attorney Larry Tipton makes a motion for cell phone and text messages between Cohasset police officers and State Police Detective Michael Proctor during the Brian Walshe trial at the Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Mass. Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP)
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AP) — People gathered in prayer and visited mass graves in Indonesia’s Aceh province on Thursday to mark 20 years since the massive Indian Ocean tsunami hit the region in one of modern history’s worst natural disasters.
Many wept as they placed flowers at a mass grave in Ulee Lheue village, where more than 14,000 unidentified tsunami victims are buried. It is one of several mass graves in Banda Aceh, the capital of Indonesia’s northernmost province, which was one of the areas worst hit by a magnitude 9.1 earthquake and the massive tsunami it triggered.
“We miss them and we still don’t know where they are. All we know is that every year we visit the mass grave in Ulee Lhue and Siron,” said Muhamad Amirudin, who lost two of his children 20 years ago and has never found their bodies.
"This life is only temporary, so we do our best to be useful to others,” Amirudin, visiting the grave with his wife, said.
The powerful earthquake off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra on Dec. 26, 2004, triggered a tsunami that killed around 230,000 people across a dozen countries, reaching as far as East Africa. Some 1.7 million people were displaced, mostly in the four worst-affected countries: Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand.
More than 170,000 people died in Indonesia alone.
Even though 20 years have passed, survivors in Indonesia are still grieving the loved ones they lost to the giant wave that flattened buildings all the way to the provincial capital of Banda Aceh.
Hundreds of people gathered to pray at the Baiturrahman Mosque in downtown Banda Aceh. Sirens sounded across the city for three minutes to mark the time of the earthquake.
Infrastructure in Aceh has been rebuilt and is now more resilient than before the tsunami struck. Early warning systems have been installed in coastal areas to alert residents of incoming tsunamis, providing crucial time to seek safety.
The rebuilding efforts were made possible by the support of international donors and organizations, which contributed significant funds to help the region recover. Schools, hospitals, and essential infrastructure destroyed by the disaster have been reconstructed.
In Thailand, people gathered at a memorial ceremony in Ban Nam Khem, a small fishing village in Phang Nga province that bore the brunt of the devastating wave in the country.
The tsunami claimed the lives of over 8,000 people in Thailand, including many who remain missing, leaving a deep scar in the nation’s history. Nearly 400 bodies remain unclaimed.
Mourners shed tears and comforted each other as they laid flowers at the village’s tsunami memorial. Around 300 people joined a modest ceremony with Muslim, Christian and Buddhist prayers.
Urai Sirisuk said she avoids the seaside memorial park the rest of the year because the loss of her 4-year-old daughter still cuts deep every time she's reminded of it.
“I have this feeling that the sea has taken my child. I’m very angry with it. I can’t even put my foot in the water,” she said.
But, she said, “I still hear her voice in my ears, that she’s calling for me. I can’t abandon her. So I have to be here, for my child.”
In India, hundreds gathered at Marina beach in the southern city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu state. They poured milk into the sea to propitiate gods and offered flowers and prayers for the dead as drums beat in the background.
According to official data, 10,749 people were killed in India, including nearly 7,000 people in Tamil Nadu alone.
“It has been 20 years since the tsunami,” said 69-year-old Sadayammal, who uses one name. “We are here to pay respects to the people who lost their lives.”
In Sri Lanka, survivors and relatives of tsunami victims gathered at the coastal village of Pereliya and laid flowers at a memorial that commemorates nearly 2,000 passengers who died when their train, the Queen of the Sea, was hit by the wave. Only a few dozen people are believed to have survived.
Anura Ranjith joined the mourners to pay respects to his younger sister, Anula Ranjani, and her 9-year-old daughter who were passengers on the train. Ranjith never heard from them after that day.
“I looked for them everywhere for years and still, no information about them. Their loss is a great sorrow and pain for me. I am still grieving,” he said.
Overall, more than 35,000 people died in Sri Lanka in the tsunami. People across the country observed two minutes of silence on Thursday in memory of those who lost their lives.
Tarigan reported from Jakarta, Indonesia. Associated Press journalists Tian Macleod Ji in Phang Nga, Thailand, Jintamas Saksornchai in Bangkok, Aijaz Hussain in New Delhi, Bharatha Mallawarachi in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and Eranga Jayawardena in Pereliya, Sri Lanka, contributed to this report.
Indians offer tributes in remembrance of victims of the 2004 tsunami on the 20th anniversary of the tragedy, at Marina Beach in Chennai, India, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)
Indians offer tributes in remembrance of victims of the 2004 tsunami on the 20th anniversary of the tragedy, at Marina Beach in Chennai, India, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)
A woman weeps during a prayer marking 20 years of the massive Indian Ocean tsunami, in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Reza Saifullah)
Relatives of tsunami victims offer floral tributes at a memorial built in memory of those who died during 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami as they mark the 20th anniversary in Peraliya, Sri Lanka, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
A relative of a victim of a 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami offers flowers during its 20th anniversary at Tsunami Memorial Park at Ban Nam Khem, Takuapa district of Phang Nga province, southern Thailand, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)
Relatives pray for their dead relatives in 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, standing by a mass grave during a memorial of the 20th anniversary of the calamity in Peraliya, Sri Lanka, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
Relatives of a victim of a 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami hug each other during its 20th anniversary at Tsunami Memorial Park at Ban Nam Khem, Takuapa district of Phang Nga province, southern Thailand, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)
A man carries flowers to offer at a memorial built in memory of those who died during 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, on the 20th anniversary of the calamity in Peraliya, Sri Lanka, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
Dayaratne Halambage shows a portrait of his daughter who died during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami at a memorial of the 20th anniversary of the calamity in Peraliya, Sri Lanka, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
Railway workers and locomotive drivers carry flowers to offer at a memorial built in memory of those who died during 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami as they mark the 20th anniversary in Peraliya, Sri Lanka, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
A woman weeps during a prayer marking 20 years of the massive Indian Ocean tsunami, in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Reza Saifullah)
Tsunami survivor Kumudu Priyantha holds photographs of his three daughters and wife who died during 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami during its 20th anniversary in Peraliya, Sri Lanka, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
A relative of a victim of a 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami participates in its 20th anniversary at Tsunami Memorial Park at Ban Nam Khem, Takuapa district of Phang Nga province, southern Thailand, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)
People pray at a mass grave of victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami during the commemoration of the 20th year since the disaster in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Reza Saifullah)
Relatives of a victim of a 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami pray during its 20th anniversary at Tsunami Memorial Park at Ban Nam Khem, Takuapa district of Phang Nga province, southern Thailand, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)
Relatives of a victim of a 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami hug each other during its 20th anniversary at Tsunami Memorial Park at Ban Nam Khem, Takuapa district of Phang Nga province, southern Thailand, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)
Relatives of a victim of a 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami participate in its 20th anniversary at Tsunami Memorial Park at Ban Nam Khem, Takuapa district of Phang Nga province, southern Thailand, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Wason Wannichakorn)
A relative of a victim of a 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami shows an expression during its 20th anniversary at Tsunami Memorial Park at Ban Nam Khem, Takuapa district of Phang Nga province, southern Thailand, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)
Relatives of a victim of a 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami hug each other during its 20th anniversary at Tsunami Memorial Park at Ban Nam Khem, Takuapa district of Phang Nga province, southern Thailand, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)
A relative of a victim of a 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami cries during its 20th anniversary at Tsunami Memorial Park at Ban Nam Khem, Takuapa district of Phang Nga province, southern Thailand, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)
A relative of victim of a 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami stands at Ban Nam Khem beach, Takuapa district of Phang Nga province, southern Thailand, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)
A relative of a victim of a 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami participates in its 20th anniversary at Tsunami Memorial Park at Ban Nam Khem, Takuapa district of Phang Nga province, southern Thailand, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)
A relative of victim of a 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami participates in its 20th anniversary at Tsunami Memorial Park at Ban Nam Khem, Takuapa district of Phang Nga province, southern Thailand, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)
People pray at a mass grave of victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Reza Saifullah)
Women comfort each other as they visit a mass grave of victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami during the commemoration of the 20th year since the disaster, in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Reza Saifullah)
A woman sprinkles water on a stone marking a mass grave of victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Reza Saifullah)
People pray at a mass grave of victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Reza Saifullah)
A man prays at a mass grave of victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Reza Saifullah)
A woman weeps as she prays at a mass grave at victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Reza Saifullah)
An elephant which belongs to forest ministry removes debris Monday Jan. 10, 2005 in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)
A survivor rummages through the debris at the commercial area of Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh province in northwest Indonesia, Dec. 31, 2004.(AP Photo/Bullit Marquez, File)
Destroyed houses are seen in this aerial view of the town of Meulaboh in Aceh province, Indonesia, which was flattened by tidal waves, on Saturday, Jan. 1, 2005. (AP Photo/Dudi Anung, File)
Islets are formed of what used to be part of Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh province in northwest of Indonesia, as seen from a commercial plane on Thursday Dec. 30, 2004 following Sunday's earthquake-triggered tsunami. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)
