A man from Cohasset, Massachusetts, named Brian Walshe, was indicted for the murder of his wife, Ana Walshe, in January. Court documents released on Thursday revealed that Brian suspected his wife was having an affair. He allegedly accessed the Instagram page of one of Ana’s male friends from Washington, D.C. multiple times. Prosecutors claimed during Brian’s arraignment that he and his mother hired a private investigator to surveil Ana for the purpose of proving infidelity.

Newly released court documents also show that Ana had a meeting with a friend on December 28, during which she became emotional and prepared to leave her husband because she believed he was going to be incarcerated for federal fraud charges. Brian’s attorney, Tracy Miner, denied that her client suspected his wife of infidelity and that his mother hired a private investigator.

Ana was last seen alive by someone outside the family on New Year’s Day when a friend attended a dinner with the couple at their home. Although her body has not been found, personal items and DNA evidence located at a transfer station in Peabody indicate that Brian killed, dismembered, and discarded her body parts.

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Prosecutors allege that Brian disposed of Ana’s belongings in a dumpster, which included a Hermes watch and rugs consistent with those that had been in the couple’s home. Two knives and eight red and brown stains that initially tested positive for the presence of blood were also found in the couple’s basement. Blood was also discovered in Brian’s SUV.

During Brian’s initial court appearance, prosecutors revealed that he made grisly internet searches on his son’s iPad, including: “Can you be charged with murder without a body?”; “How to stop a body from decomposing”; “Can you identify a body with broken teeth?”; and “Hacksaw best tool to dismember?” The defense stated that the prosecution has not found a murder weapon or indicated how Ana died.

Brian entered not guilty pleas and was held without bail. Ana, a 39-year-old mother of three, was reported missing by her employer on January 4. Brian told investigators he hadn’t seen his wife since she left for Logan International Airport on January 1. A conviction of murder in the first degree carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole in Massachusetts.

Also read | Did Brian Walshe dismember wife Ana Walshe’s body after murder?

Apart from this case, Brian Walshe was in court last week for a separate issue related to his deceased father’s will and estate. The case has received international attention since Ana’s disappearance, and the prosecution is expected to present more evidence at the upcoming trial.