Judge Beverly Cannone will not oversee Brian Walshe murder trial

The judge presiding over Karen Read’s upcoming trial will no longer oversee another high profile murder case involving a Cohasset man accused of killing and dismembering his wife.

Judge Beverly Cannone, an associate justice of the Superior Court, was removed from Brian Walshe’s murder case, according to an order filed Wednesday by Chief Justice Michael Ricciuti. Judge Diane Freniere will replace Cannone.

Cannone oversaw Read’s initial trial, which ended with a hung jury in July. She is set to preside over a retrial, which is currently set for January. Cannone hasn’t replied to a request from the prosecution and defense to delay the retrial to April.

Walshe pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder, misleading police, and improper conveyance of a human body last April. He’s accused of murdering his wife, Ana Walshe, in the early morning on Jan. 1, 2023. 

Walshe allegedly purchased a significant amount of cleaning supplies, and investigators found blood-stained items including his wife’s personal belongings, rugs, a hacksaw, and a hatchet in a Swampscott dumpster outside Walshe’s mother’s apartment.

“Rather than divorce, it is believed that Brian Walshe dismembered Ana Walshe and discarded her body,” prosecutors said in Quincy District Court last year.

Walshe allegedly made a series of Google searches, including “Can you be charged with murder without a body?” and “how long before a body starts to smell.” Ana Walshe’s body still hasn’t been found.

Walshe is currently serving time on federal charges connected to selling counterfeit Andy Warhol paintings. He is set to appear for a hearing on the murder case in December.

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Molly Farrar is a general assignment reporter for Boston.com, focusing on education, politics, crime, and more.

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