The Burning Question Remaining After Brian Walshe Charged With Murder

Brian Walshe has been charged with murder in connection to his wife's high-profile disappearance, leaving at least one significant question lingering in the case.

A murder warrant was issued on Tuesday by Norfolk County District Attorney Michael W. Morrissey, charging Walshe with the death of his wife, Ana Walshe, who was last seen on New Year's Day at their shared home.

He was previously arrested on charges of misleading police in the investigation and was still in law enforcement custody when the new charge was issued.

At this stage in the investigation and the growing case against Walshe, one significant question remains: How can he be charged with murder if his wife's body has not yet been found?

Speaking with Fox News following the announcement of the warrant, Nathaniel Amendola, a criminal defense lawyer based in Massachusetts, explained that murder charges without bodies are "rare but not unheard of."

In order for one to be brought against Walshe at this time, he surmised, the prosecutors must be relying on other substantial evidence, besides a body, suggesting that Ana Walshe is dead.

"Think about a drug case," Amendola said. "They want to prosecute two kilos of cocaine traffic, but they don't have the coke, then it's like what are we doing here? Where's the evidence? That's the body of the crime."

Short of a body, Amendola explained that some of the evidence that could be used to build a case might include the broken knife found in the couple's basement, as well as blood that was positively identified as Ana Walshe's.

Walshe himself could have been pressured into making some sort of confession, or, on a more "macabre" note, Amendola said that investigators might be able to find parts of his wife's body, if not the whole thing.

"If the authorities can piece enough of this type of evidence together, they may be able to show, circumstantially, that Ana is dead," Amendola added.

Whatever the evidence, the attorney predicted a tough case for prosecutors without the body of Ana Walshe.

Following his initial arrest, Walshe claimed to investigators that he had been helping his mother with errands on January 1, the day his wife seemingly vanished, and had taken his child for ice cream the day after.

However, surveillance footage obtained by law enforcement found Walshe at Home Depot on January 2 buying hundreds of dollars worth of cleaning supplies. Ana Walshe's phone has also been turned off since the last day she was seen, and none of her credit or debit cards have been used.

Newsweek reached out to the Norfolk County district attorney's office for comment.

Update 1/17/23, 5:10 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.