Brian Walshe, the Massachusetts man charged in the disappearance and alleged dismemberment of his wife, was stabbed inside a correctional facility in Dedham on Thursday night, officials and his attorney said.
The assault occurred just before 10 p.m. in a housing unit at the Norfolk County correctional center, the sheriff’s office said in a statement. The office did not identify the victim in its release; Walshe’s lawyer, Larry Tipton, told MassLive that Walshe was stabbed. Walshe 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 incident is being investigated.
In its statement to Fox News Digital, the Norfolk County sheriff’s office said the other individual involved was subdued by officers and that a makeshift blunt instrument was recovered. Officials did not release additional details about the assailant, the weapon or the nature of Walshe’s injuries.
Walshe is scheduled to stand trial in October on charges that he killed and dismembered his wife, Ana Walshe, who disappeared on New Year’s Day 2023. Ana Walshe, a mother of three and a Washington, D.C., real estate professional, was reported missing days after she did not return home. Her body has not been recovered.
Prosecutors allege investigators found evidence linking Walshe to the disposal of his wife’s body, including Home Depot surveillance footage showing purchases of cleaning tools and a utility knife. Detectives recovered a hacksaw from a dumpster across the street from the home of Walshe’s mother; the saw reportedly contained a small bone fragment, according to prosecutors. Court filings also say Walshe used his son’s iPad to run multiple Google searches about how to discard a body in the days after Ana Walshe vanished.
Before Ana Walshe’s disappearance, prosecutors say the couple’s marriage was strained and that Walshe had been under house arrest in connection with a separate case involving the sale of counterfeit Andy Warhol paintings. Walshe was awaiting sentencing for that matter while on pre-sentencing probation, records show.
Walshe was charged in connection with his wife’s disappearance in 2023 and has pleaded not guilty. As the October trial approaches, the jail assault raises questions about security and inmate safety as defendants in high-profile cases are held pending trial. Authorities said the matter is under investigation by the sheriff’s office and will be handled through the appropriate criminal and corrections channels.
The stabbing adds a new development to a case that has drawn widespread public attention. Prosecutors have outlined a timeline of alleged actions they say point to Walshe’s involvement in his wife’s disappearance, and defense lawyers have contested aspects of the evidence in pretrial filings. Court schedules indicate the trial is expected to proceed in October unless a pretrial resolution or scheduling change occurs.
The Norfolk County sheriff’s office and Walshe’s attorney did not immediately provide additional comment beyond their initial statements. The investigation into the jail assault and any criminal charges that may follow will be conducted separately from the ongoing murder prosecution.