Bone fragment in hacksaw key clue against accused wife killer Brian Walshe

A “small bone fragment” discovered when police took aside a hacksaw bought by accused killer Brian Walshe might be sufficient to convict him of slaying his spouse if there’s a DNA match, specialists inform the Herald.

What a part of the physique the bone got here from and if it accommodates any traces of marrow might be the so-called smoking gun in a homicide case that has no physique, former FBI brokers and a forensic specialist say.

“If there’s a positive DNA match, that would be enough for a lot of juries,” stated retired FBI supervisory particular agent Todd Hulsey. “You don’t need a body. But, you can never predict what a jury will do.”

The discovery of a tainted hacksaw is a part of a trove of proof listed in court docket paperwork now being launched within the case.

Those paperwork additionally state Brian Walshe, the Cohasset man accused of dismembering his spouse within the first hours of the New Year, confirmed Ana Walshe was having an affair, the Herald has reported.

The entry for the hacksaw, first reported by the Herald final week, states Brian Walshe had bought it throughout a post-New Year’s shopping for spree at Lowes and Home Depot. It was found Jan. 8 in a dumpster in Swampscott, police stated. It had red-brown staining and “a small bone fragment,” objects which are being examined for DNA, paperwork state.

A forensic professional schooled in legal circumstances stated investigators will want a toothbrush or hairbrush to make use of to match the DNA of the blood and bone to Ana Walshe. DNA is also obtained elsewhere and even from one in every of her three younger kids.

“Bone fragments on a hacksaw become more about the hacksaw,” added Frank Figliuzzi, the FBI’s former assistant director for counterintelligence. “Are his fingerprints on it? When did he buy it?”

Even although it’s all circumstantial proof, Figliuzzi stated “95% of criminal cases are successful on circumstantial evidence.”

The reality prosecutors can argue the hacksaw was new means it places it nearer to the palms of the accused spouse killer, all of the specialists agreed.

If the bone has any traces of marrow, one other professional stated, it is going to be even harsher proof in opposition to the accused husband. Traces of marrow places it on the middle of a bone — a deep reduce that means it was deadly.

Brian Walshe, 48, was indicted in March for the homicide of his 39-year-old spouse Ana Walshe within the early hours of Jan. 1. He has pleaded not responsible however is being denied bail.

This shouldn’t be the primary time a conviction has been sought with no physique.

In the case dubbed “Missing Beauty,” the slaying of Robin Benedict in 1983 by obsessed Tufts University anatomy professor William Douglas ended with him admitting to manslaughter simply because the jury was seated in his homicide trial.

Benedict, who labored Boston’s Combat Zone red-light district underneath the identify “Nadine,” vanished from professor Douglas’ dwelling on March 5, 1983. Her physique was by no means discovered.

A State Police report stated he would name her a number of occasions a day, write love letters and take her to performs and live shows — all on the clock, and on the dime of tens of 1000’s of misused college grants, for which he was fired.

Benedict, a graphic artist with a love of oil portray had massive plans, she had instructed one other John. She had just lately purchased her personal home in Malden and had deliberate to work the streets for less than a pair years to construct up a nest egg, then make investments and retire.

Those desires got here to a violent finish on March 5, 1983, when Douglas, then 41, lured her to his Sharon dwelling and bludgeoned her to demise with a sledgehammer after which stashed her physique in a dumpster at a Providence mall. She was solely 21 years outdated.

Douglas pled all the way down to manslaughter on April 27, 1984.