Brian Walshe Pleads Guilty to Lesser Counts in Missing Wife's Murder Trial

Brian Walshe -- the man accused of brutally murdering and dismembering his wife in Massachusetts -- has changed his plea from not guilty to guilty on 2 charges, TMZ has learned.

Released video of the trial shows Walshe has pleaded guilty to misleading a police investigation and unlawfully conveying a body. He's pleaded not guilty to a first-degree murder charge. Jury selection in the murder trial was set to begin today.

If you don't remember the details of this case, it's gruesome ... The Norfolk District Attorney alleges Walshe killed his wife 39-year-old Ana early on New Year's Day 2023 and chopped up her body before disposing of it. Police recovered a bloody knife from the basement of their home, but her body has never been found.

The iPad of the couple's oldest child showed searches for how to dispose of a human body between of 4:50 AM and 6:30 AM New Year's Day, MassLive reports.

Speculation about a possible motive began when it was revealed Ana had left a real estate portfolio worth $2.7 million. Prosecutors say Walshe performed Google searches on ways to obtain money from people who have disappeared, typing into the search bar, "how long for someone to be missing to inherit."

Ana was connected to eight properties in D.C., Maryland, and Massachusetts while she was a general manager for Tishman Speyer, a commercial real estate firm.

Since 2018, Ana had sold four properties, but still owned another four -- valued at nearly $3 million -- at the time she vanished.

Walshe originally pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and improper handling and transport of human remains. He was arrested Jan. 8, 2023 after misleading investigators and has been held without bail ever since.