Friend shares details of ‘joyful’ New Year’s Eve before Ana Walshe’s disappearance, death
When Gem Mutlu left Brian and Ana Walshe's home around 1 or 1:30 on the morning of Jan. 1, 2023, there was no indication that anything was awry.
Mutlu spent New Year's Eve with the couple in Cohasset, describing it as a joyful, happy atmosphere. That's why three days later, when Brian Walshe told Mutlu he hadn't heard from his wife in days, he was perplexed.
"I didn't understand how Ana could be missing and how we didn't know about this since the 1st of the year," Mutlu testified Wednesday morning in Walshe's murder trial.
Mutlu is the last person other than Brian Walshe to see Ana Walshe alive. Brian Walshe is accused of killing his wife in the hours after Mutlu departed the home, then dismembering her remains and disposing of her body at dumpsters across the state.
On the stand Wednesday, Mutlu told jurors he grew close to Brian and Ana Walshe after meeting Brian Walshe at a leadership academy in 2020. Eventually, he hired Ana Walshe to work for his company as a director of operations — a role he described as his right-hand.
Much of Mutlu's testimony on Wednesday centered on a phone conversation he had with Ana Walshe on Dec. 29, 2022. Both prosecutors and Walshe's defense conducted a brief voir dire of Mutlu Wednesday morning — questioning him about his recollection of that phone call without the jury present.
On direct examination from prosecutor Greg Connor, he said he recalled Ana Walshe told him she was "seeking counseling for all the issues in her life, including marital issues." He said the toll of travelling back and forth to Washington, D.C and not spending time with her children was wearing on Ana Walshe, and her husband's inability to leave Massachusetts was a "huge burden on her psyche."
Police continue looking for missing Cohasset woman Ana Walshe.
Judge Diane Freniere deemed those recollections admissible as evidence. But defense attorney Kelli Porges said she would object if Mutlu began describing marital issues between the couple.
That's exactly what played out with jurors in the room.
"I don't remember the specific words that were spoken after three years, I will tell you that she said that at the time they were having marital problems," Mutlu said. But at almost the same time he completed his answer, Porges stood to object and Freniere struck the response.
Connor tried a different approach.
"What did she tell you as far as travelling back and forth?" he asked. "That it was taking a toll on her, that ... as a mother not seeing her children" Mutlu began to answer. But Porges again rose to object and asked to be heard at sidebar.
"Sir, what did she say about not seeing the children?" connor asked after the conversation away from the jury. Mutlu said it was difficult for her.
That answer wasn't objected to.
Brian Walshe attends his trial in connection with the death of his wife Ana, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (Matt Stone/The Boston Herald via AP, Pool)AP
The questions eventually turned to New Year's Eve.
Mutlu said he arrived in Cohasset around 8:30 p.m. He appeared to become emotional as he recounted Ana Walshe coming running out of the home to greet him.
The trio settled into the kitchen, with Brian Walshe cooking and Mutlu seated next to Ana Walshe at the kitchen island. He described the mood as festive, adding Ana Walshe was "very happy to see me."
Eventually, the Walshes' oldest son, who was 6 at the time, came downstairs. Mutlu again became emotional as he described the boy running up to him and telling him he had missed him. The boy gave Mutlu a necklace that night.
Around the same time, Ana Walshe suggested she and Mutlu take a photo to send to a mutual friend — William Fastow. Ana Walshe was having an affair with Fastow at the time, but Mutlu said he didn't know the extent of their relationship.
William Fastow, Ana Walshe's boyfriend, is questioned by the prosecution during Brian Walshe's trial for murdering his wife Ana, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (Matt Stone/The Boston Herald via AP, Pool)AP
The trio drank wine and champagne throughout the night, each signing the box the champage came in. Jurors got to see the messages left on the box — Ana Walshe wrote, "let's make 2023 the best [year] yet. We are the authors of our lives. Courage, love, perseverance and joy."
Her husband's messgae was shorter, writing, "Gem Ana Brian NYE 2023! To the best triumvirate ever. Love, Brian."
Mutlu added, "no place I'd rather be but here, new year's eve 2022."
Mutlu eventually left the home around 1 ot 1:30 a.m. At the time, there was no mention of a work emergency for Ana Walshe that would have required her to go back to Washington, D.C., he said.
In the following days, Mutlu texted with Brian Walshe, thanking him for the dinner and sharing a photo of him wearing the necklace. It wasn't until Jan. 4 that Brian Walshe called Mutlu to ask if he had heard from Ana Walshe.
Mutlu recalled being on the beach in Nahant around mid-morning when he got the call from Brian Walshe, who he described as even-keeled.
"His tone was not panicked," Mutlu said.
On cross-examination, Porges, the defense lawyer, drilled down into the nature of Multu's relationship to Ana Walshe.
The pair became close quickly, with Ana Walshe regularly spending time at Mutlu's South End home. During that time, Multu testified, Brian Walshe never complained about how much time they were spending together.
"He supported her career," Porges suggested. "He was proud of her?" Multu agreed.
At one point, Porges suggested to Mutlu, Ana Walshe confessed to him that she had developed a crush on him.
Mutlu disputed the characterization, saying, "I don't recall Ana telling me she had a crush on me."
Still, he described her as a "confidante" and "one of the sisters I never had."
"She was an exceptional human being," he said.
Porges pressed Mutlu on what he knew about the state of the couple's marriage. She emphasized that Mutlu had separate relationships with both Brian and Ana Walshe.
Mutlu agreed that he never saw them argue, adding he "always thought there was a lot of love between them and that she was very much in love with Brian."
Police continue looking for missing Cohasset woman Ana Walshe. Walshe and her husband, Brian, pose for a photo.
Testimony in the case continued Wednesday afternoon with Alissa Kirby, a friend of Ana Walshe's from Washington, D.C. Then prosecutors rested their case .
The case now moves to Walshe's defense. His attorneys listed just eight people as potential witnesses before the trial began, making it unlikely their presentation will go as long as the government's.
Still, it appears as though Walshe may take the stand in his own defense.
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