Ana Walshe update: Brian Walshe’s lawyer says they have not received ‘basic’ discovery items in murder case

Brian Walshe’s lawyer said they still have not received “basic” discovery materials, including search warrants for his car, “that we should’ve had immediately” during Thursday’s court appearance.

Walshe, 47, wearing an orange jumpsuit in jail, appeared in Quincy District Court via Zoom for allegedly beating his wife, Ana Walshe, to death in their Cohasset home on New Year’s Day and disposing her body. 

Ana, 39, is presumed to be dead, but her body still has not been found. 

Walshe pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and improper disposal of a body as well as a previous charge of impeding a police investigation. 

TIMELINE OF ANA WALSHE’S DISAPPEARANCE AND BRIAN WALSHE’S ARREST

His lawyer, Tracy Miner, said during Thursday’s court appearance, “We’ve received very little discovery to date, so I’m hoping discovery will be wholesome. We’ve received basically nothing.”

“If we haven’t even received the search warrants for my client’s car, the inventories for search warrants, the basic stuff we should’ve had immediately we don’t have,” she said. “I’m a little bit skeptical that the discovery is going to be wholesome or contain everything I need.”

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Assistant District Attorney Greg Connor took over the case, and said a grand jury is reviewing it and is hoping to have an indictment by mid- to late-March. 

 The judge set a status hearing for March 1.

Thursday was Walshe’s first court appearance since last month’s arraignment, when prosecutors detailed disturbing allegations, including 21 alleged Google searches that he allegedly made on his son’s iPad before and after he allegedly killed his wife.

Those searches allegedly included “Ten ways to … dispose of a dead body if you really need to” and “can you be charged with murder without a body?” among several others, according to prosecutors. 

MURDER OF ANA WALSHE HAS LAWYERS RAISING QUESTIONS, POKING HOLES IN CASE AGAINST BRIAN 

Miner expressed skepticism and frustration after the Jan. 18 arraignment. 

“In my experience, where, as here, the prosecution leaks so called evidence to the press before they provide it to me, their case isn’t that strong,” Miner said after the arraignment. “When they have a strong case, they give me everything as soon as possible.”

WATCH THE ARRAIGNMENT: 

Experts have expressed different opinions about how strong the state’s case against Walshe is. 

Iris Eytan, a high-profile Massachusetts criminal defense attorney, questioned the strength of the evidence presented court. 

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“I’m not saying that he’s innocent, and he’s not responsible, but I’m saying hold off on making any rash judgments,” Eytan, who helped clear her client Barry Morphew of murder charges, told Fox News Digital in a previous interview.

“When they rush in, and they charge somebody with murder two weeks after the date of someone’s disappearance, that’s quick without having a body.”

Ana’s mysterious disappearance was originally investigated as a “non-suspicious” missing person case, until Brian’s comments to police couldn’t be corroborated, and he was arrested for misleading a police investigation.

Walshe was on house arrest and pre-sentencing probation for selling fake Andy Warhol paintings, and was being investigated for allegedly destroying his father’s will and stealing from it. 

While he was being held in jail, police gathered evidence and scoured through security footage before bringing the case to court and charging him with Ana’s murder and disposing of her body. 

Authorities believe Ana’s body may have been incinerated. But prosecuting a murder without a body is difficult but not impossible, experts told Fox News Digital in previous interviews. 

Massachusetts criminal defense attorney Nate Amendola stressed that there is “no direct link” between Brian Walshe and the death of his wife. 

“This is a pure circumstantial case,” he told Fox News Digital. “There is no direct evidence because nobody saw her being killed. And there’s no physical body. And there’s really no physical evidence, other than some blood and some personal items.”