Investigators searching for missing Ana Walshe will be focusing on allegations her husband, Brian Walshe, had "violent tendencies" and once threatened to kill her, an expert has suggested.
Former CIA and FBI agent Tracy Walder, who has been following the case closely but is not directly involved, said she fears Ana Walshe may have secretly been suffering from domestic violence at the hands of her husband during their relationship.
Her analysis comes after it emerged Ana Walshe once called the police in fear after Brian Walshe threatened to kill her and a friend.
A police report, dating back to 2014—before the Walshes were married—shows that Ana Walsh (then called Ana Knipp) told Washington D.C. officers that Brian Walshe said he was going "to kill [her] and her friend." However the case was later dropped when the victim refused to cooperate with prosecution, police sources said.
The couple went on to marry and lived together with their three children in Cohasset, Massachusetts, although Ana Walshe, 39, commuted to Washington D.C. for her job at a real estate company.
Court records from 2019, relating to a financial dispute over the will of Brian Walshe's father, revealed a witness had described him as "a sociopath but also a very angry and physically violent person."
Ana Walshe has been missing since New Year's Day, while her husband, 46, was arrested on January 8 on suspicion of misleading the police investigation; charges which he has denied. It later emerged he had a criminal history relating to fraud and was under house arrest at the time.
Former FBI agent Walder spoke to anchor Natasha Zouves of NewsNation about the latest developments amid claims the missing woman had once sought police protection. When asked if it looked like Ana Walshe had suffered from "a history of unreported domestic violence" in the relationship, Walder replied: "To me, yes. I think this revelation of the call that she had made regarding the violent threat that [Brian Walshe] had made to her and her friend is really what turns the corner of this to me.
"He obviously had been convicted of fraud and there were some money issues, but we didn't know much about his violent history which he apparently now does have. But unfortunately it looks like, you know, she perhaps had been the victim of domestic violence, perhaps more than one time, and just didn't go through with those police reports."
Walder was also asked about claims by one of Walshe's former tenants who claimed Ana Walshe had been liquidating some property holdings. Walder said she had arrived at two possible conclusions that could be drawn from that. She thought it could suggest Ana Walsh was making plans to flee her husband and prepare for her future without him, although it could also mean she was trying to keep the family afloat amid their financial woes.
Ultimately, she said the police will need to focus their attention on Brian Walshe's past. "I think the things that warrant further investigation are really his violent tendencies," she said. "Because it's been pretty well documented [about] the financial issues that he's had, and the financial crimes that he's committed. However, it hasn't been well documented [about] these violent tendencies; it's starting to come out from people that knew him, his family members, these 911 calls. And I think that's something that's going to be incredibly important."
Police have accused Brian Walshe of lying about his whereabouts when they asked him to account for his movements around the time of his wife's disappearance. Prosecutors, who went on to claim blood and a damaged knife had been found in the basement of the family home, alleged he was not where he had claimed to be but was instead seen on surveillance footage buying more than $400 worth of cleaning supplies from a local Home Depot on January 2. They also allege that an internet search carried out at the home queried how to dispose of a woman's body.
Police who had initially been searching for Ana Walshe in woodland near her home moved their hunt to a trash station facility where it was said they had discovered further evidence relating to the case last week.
Newsweek has contacted Cohasset Police for further information about the investigation.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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