The terrifying, gruesome, incriminating web searches of Brian Walshe
Trigger warning: this post is full of gruesome stuff.
The police have charged Brian Walshe of Cohasset, Massachusetts with murdering his wife Ana. They have physical evidence including blood stained items, towels, rags, a Tyvek suit, Ana’s vaccine card, a hacksaw, and cutting shears, but no body.
But the Google searches on his son’s iPad are pretty telling.
Walshe Google search log
These start at the end of December and continue at the start of January, and are in chronological order.
“What’s the best state to divorce from there?”
“How long before a body starts to smell”
“How to stop a body from decomposing”
“How to embalm a body”
“10 ways to dispose of a dead body if you really need to”
“How long for someone to be missing to inherit”
“Can you throw away body parts”
“What does formaldehyde do”
“How long does DNA last”
“Can identification be made on partial remains”
“Dismemberment and the best ways to dispose of a body”
“How to clean blood from wooden floor”
“Luminol to detect blood”
“What happens when you put body parts in ammonia”
“Is it better to throw crime scene clothes away or wash them”
“Hacksaw best tool to dismember”
“Can you be charged with murder without a body”
“Can you identify a body with broken teeth”
“What happens to hair on a dead body”
“What is the rate of decomposition of a body found in a plastic bag compared to on a surface in the woods”
“Can baking soda make a body smell good”
Just after this, there’s video footage of him getting out of a car, carrying a heavy garbage bag, and hefting it into a dumpster.
The innocent explanation
What an incredible story told with just a search log. I wonder, could you write a whole book out of Web search queries?
You may think that, in addition to being an alleged murderer, Brian Walshe was quite stupid to ask his questions without using Incognito Mode, and to leave his search history intact.
Good point.
But perhaps he would have gotten better answers from ChatGPT. Particularly this one:
“Can you be charged with murder without a body”
It is possible to be charged with murder even if a body has not been found, but it can be more difficult to prove the crime without physical evidence. Prosecutors will have to rely on circumstantial evidence to prove that a murder occurred and that the accused is responsible. This can include things like witnesses, forensic evidence, and a motive for the crime.
In some jurisdictions, laws and terminology may differ but generally the term “no body murder” or “murder without a corpse” is used for cases in which the victim’s body is not found but murder is proved. The prosecution must prove the death of the victim, but it’s not necessary to prove the location of the body.
It is important to note that this can be a complex legal matter and the specifics of how a murder case is handled can vary depending on the jurisdiction and the specific facts of the case. It’s also important to understand that it’s not appropriate to discuss such topics in a casual manner and if you are facing such charges you should seek professional help from a lawyer.