Brian Walshe thought wife Ana was having an affair and had hired a PI to follow her

An attorney for Brian Walshe, the Massachusetts husband charged with murdering his wife Ana on New Year's Day, admitted in court today that Google searches for 'how to dispose of a body' were 'problematic' for him - but still protested his innocence. 

Walshe appeared in court this morning in Boston, Massachusetts, on first degree murder charges. He was seen arriving clean-shaven, with a new haircut and in a smart shirt and sweater - a stark contrast from his scruffy appearance during past hearings.  

Police say he killed Ana in their Cohasset home in the early hours of New Year's Day, beating her to death then later hacking her bones apart with a hatchet and hacksaw. 

Investigators found a multitude of Google searches for how to dispose of a body, how long it takes before a corpse starts to smell and how to clean up blood on their son's iPad in the immediate aftermath of Ana's presumed time of death. 

That evidence was unveiled earlier this year.

Today, Walshe's attorney Tracy Miner said they were indeed 'problematic' for him, before suggesting that Ana had 'disappeared'. 

A clean-shaven Brian Walshe in Norfolk Superior Court on Thursday. He pleaded not guilty to murdering his wife, missing Massachusetts mom Ana Walshe, on January 1  

Police say he killed Ana in their Cohasset home in the early hours of New Year's Day then disposed of her body in a garbage dumpster

She also claimed that Ana had been having an affair in Washington DC, where she lived and worked during the week.  

When she vanished, Brian stood to gain $2.7million in life insurance payouts and was fearful that his wife was going to leave him.  

They say he had hired an investigator to follow Ana in the months before her death, though it's unclear what that investigator discovered. 

Walshe denied those allegations through his attorney Tracy Miner. 

She admitted his mother had hired a private investigator, but claimed she did so independently. 

Ana Walshe had moved to Washington DC during the week to work 

'He told her she was crazy and that Ana was a good girl. 

'He only discovered the affair as part of the discovery of this case,' his attorney said. 

They did not name the man he believes his wife was cheating on him with, or how he came to discover the alleged affair. 

Miner also said he has 'no need' for money, despite not working for years following his fraud indictment.  

Prosecutors say he had been obsessively looking at the Instagram page of a 'male friend'. 

Ana was particularly close with Abdulla Almutairi - a married colleague who frequently refers to her as his best friend. 

Neither Mr. Almutairi nor his wife have yet responded to Brian's suggestion that Ana was cheating on him. 

Today, a judge denied Walshe's bail and ordered him to return to court in August for a pre-trial conference.

Walshe being led into court today. He shook his head as the charges were read aloud 

Today, Brian's attorney suggested that she was killed either by someone else, or that she chose to disappear. 'It has been four months since she was last seen. As your honor knows, a person is not presumed dead because they're missing for seven years, because it is easy for a single person to disappear if they want to disappear. 'There has been no body found. There's been no indication of if she died, how she died. There's been no murder weapon. There's no motive.'

Ana with the couple's three young sons

Prosecutors laid out again why they believe he killed his wife, pointing to surveillance footage that showed him buying gallon-cylinders, hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, plastic sheets and weapons at various stores after her death, and Google searches about how to remove blood from concrete floors. 

His attorney conceded that the Google searches, which were conducted on their son's iPad, were 'problematic', but claimed they didn't prove murder.

She also claims another person's DNA was found on an HVAC suit along with Ana's. 

On January 1, after she was last seen alive, a $2.2million life insurance policy was taken out in Ana's name, listing Brian as the sole beneficiary. 

Coupled with her $400,000 Tishman Speyer life insurance policy, Brian stood to gain $2.7million in total if his wife died while they were still married. 

Prosecutors say Ana was considering a divorce when she vanished suddenly in January. 

Walshe had previously been indicted on fraud charges for allegedly selling counterfeit paintings. He was on bail, and was unable to leave the state of Massachusetts.   

Happier times: Brian and Ana tied the knot in 2015 in Serbia 

To keep the family afloat, Ana moved to Washington DC full-time to focus on her real estate career.  She spent the working week there, returning home to Massachusetts on the weekends to spend time with her husband and their three young kids. 

According to prosecutors today, days before she was last seen alive, Ana broke down during a dinner with a friend in DC. 

'She became uncharacteristically upset and told her friend he was going to be incarcerated... she was prepared to leave him and take the kids to Washington DC,' Connor said. 

Brian Walshe's attorney today rejected the notion that the life insurance policies were motive for him to kill. 

'He doesn't have a need for money,' they said, pointing to his mother's wealth and the fact she had 'given Ana tens of thousands of dollars' in the past.  

Ana's remains have never been found - police believe they were collected by trash services and incinerated before they got to them - but traces of her blood were found in a dumpster along with the clothes she was last seen wearing. 

Today, Brian's attorney suggested that she was killed either by someone else, or that she chose to disappear. 

'It has been four months since she was last seen. As your honor knows, a person is not presumed dead because they're missing for seven years, because it is easy for a single person to disappear if they want to disappear.

'There has been no body found. There's been no indication of if she died, how she died. There's been no murder weapon. There's no motive.'

Walshe will return to court in August for a pretrial conference but was ordered to remain in custody until then.