Brian Walshe: Man accused of murdering wife Ana Walshe sentenced for selling fake Andy Warhol paintings
COHASSET, BOSTON: Brian Walshe, the Massachusetts art dealer, accused of killing his wife Ana Walshe on on New Year's Day 2023 and dismembering her body with a hacksaw, was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison for his involvement in a separate art fraud case.
This sentencing is linked to a complex art fraud scheme spanning several years, which centered around two allegedly fake Andy Warhol paintings. Additional details concerning the sentencing and charges against Brian Walshe have emerged after the trial.
Brian Walshe listed fake Andy Warhol paintings on eBay
Brian Walshe, aged 49, was sentenced by US Senior District Court Judge William G Young. He will spend 37 months in prison and three years under supervision after release. Additionally, Walshe has to pay $475,000 in restitution as per the US Attorney's Office.
Before murdering his wife, Walshe got involved in an art fraud case. He admitted to wire fraud and other federal charges related to fake Andy Warhol paintings. NBC10 Boston reported that Walshe took pictures of his friend's real Andy Warhol paintings and used them to sell fake ones on eBay.
Walshe wrote, “We are selling 2 Andy Warhol paintings from our private collection, We are parting with these pieces only because we need the money for renovations to our house. Our loss is your gain.”
The case began in 2016 when a buyer noticed two Andy Warhol paintings listed for sale on eBay. The listing showed photographs of authentication stamps.
The buyer agreed to purchase the paintings, part of the 'Shadow' series, for $80K. However, when the buyer's assistant examined the paintings, they found no authentication stamps. This discovery prompted an FBI investigation.
How did Brian Walshe gain access to Andy Warhol paintings?
Brian Walshe initially acquired the paintings from a friend who owned them legally. While visiting this friend in South Korea, Walshe proposed selling some of the artwork for a considerable profit, which the friend accepted.
Brian's friend informed investigators that after Brian took the art, they were unable to reach him. The artwork in question was worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Soon, Walshe was arrested in 2018 as part of that investigation. Eventually, he admitted to one count each of wire fraud, interstate transportation for a scheme to defraud, possession of converted goods, and unlawful monetary transactions.
The prosecutors wanted Walshe to get 37 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and pay restitution. They said he obstructed justice by giving false information in a financial statement to the probation office after he pleaded guilty.
Walshe's lawyer, Tracy Miner, asked for a sentence of time served, with three years of supervised release. She said a judge had decided this in 2021 before the financial issue the prosecutors mentioned.
The sentencing memos talked about Walshe's murder case. Prosecutors and defense both said that the federal court should not consider the state charges against him. Walshe's lawyer said he was trying to get information about the account he got from his father's estate when his wife went missing, and he got arrested.
Instead of asking for more time and legal steps to get the documents, Walshe's lawyer said he wouldn't give any more financial statements to the court, citing his Fifth Amendment right.
Brian Walshe charged with wife Ana Walshe’s murder
According to the Boston Herald, Brian Walshe's wife Ana Walshe went missing on January 1, 2023. Walshe initially seemed helpful to the police, but he wasn't the one who reported his wife missing. Her employer did. However, soon after, Brian was arrested for misleading the police and the case made it to national news.
Brian was charged with Ana Walshe's murder a few weeks later but he pleaded not guilty. His wife Ana Walshe's body was never found.
Brian's Google searches paint a sordid story as one of the things he looked up was, "Can you be charged with murder without a body?" He looked this up soon after Ana's employer reported her missing. Then he looked up more disturbing things like, "10 ways to dispose of a body if you really need to," "Can you throw away body parts?" and "What does formaldehyde do?" The searches got sordid.
In March 2023, a grand jury moved his case to Norfolk Superior Court. They charged him with Ana Walshe's murder, lying to the police, and mishandling a human body.
Brian Walshe's court hearing for the murder charges is scheduled for March 4. He's in jail without bail.
