Brian Walshe, the Massachusetts man charged with killing and dismembering his wife, was assaulted inside a correctional facility Thursday evening, officials said, weeks before his scheduled murder trial.
The incident occurred just before 10 p.m. at a housing unit in the Norfolk County correctional center in Dedham, the sheriff’s office said. The office did not identify the victim by name in its initial statement, but Walshe’s attorney, Larry Tipton, confirmed to MassLive that Walshe had been stabbed. He was taken to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston for treatment and was returned to the jail overnight, the sheriff’s office said. "The other individual involved was subdued by officers, and a makeshift blunt instrument was recovered," the statement added. The assault is under investigation.
Walshe, 49, is accused of killing his wife, Ana Walshe, who vanished on New Year’s Day 2023 and whose body has not been recovered. Prosecutors allege he dismembered her to conceal the crime; he is scheduled to stand trial in October on murder charges. Ana Walshe, a mother of three and a real estate professional who worked in Washington, D.C., was reported missing a few days after she was last seen, authorities have said.
Court filings and prosecutors’ statements have said investigators found surveillance footage showing Walshe buying items at a Home Depot, including mops and brushes, splash-resistant goggles and a utility knife. Authorities also reported finding a hacksaw with what they described as a "small bone fragment" in a dumpster near Walshe’s mother’s house. Prosecutors have said Walshe used a family iPad to search more than a dozen times for how to dispose of a body in the days after his wife disappeared.
Those allegations are part of a broader case that also noted Walshe’s prior legal troubles. Prosecutors say he had been under house arrest as part of pre-sentencing probation in an art fraud case involving forged Andy Warhol works. Defense attorneys have disputed aspects of the prosecution’s narrative and have sought to challenge the evidence ahead of trial.
The Norfolk County sheriff’s office said corrections officers subdued the other inmate involved in the altercation and recovered a makeshift blunt instrument. The office said the matter is being investigated but did not provide further details about the alleged assailant or possible charges. Tipton, Walshe’s lawyer, confirmed the stabbing to local media and did not immediately respond to additional requests for comment from national outlets.
Walshe has been held in the Norfolk County correctional center since his arrest. The attack comes as the case continues to draw attention in Massachusetts and nationally because of the nature of the allegations and the absence of a recovered body. Prosecutors have said they will proceed to trial in October; defense attorneys have pursued various pretrial motions.
Officials said they are investigating the jail assault and will release more information as inquiries proceed. The pending murder trial and the ongoing investigation into the jail incident are separate but related legal matters that will move through Massachusetts courts in the coming months.