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Cohasset homeowner is suing Brian Walshe’s mother
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Cohasset homeowner is suing Brian Walshe’s mother


Local news

Ana Walshe’s alleged murder and subsequent police investigation damaged and “psychologically impacted” the Cohasset property, the owner claims.

Cohasset homeowner is suing Brian Walshe’s mother

Brian Walshe entered the courtroom in April 2023 for his arraignment in Dedham Superior Court in the death of his wife, Ana. Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger, Pool, File

The owner of the Cohasset house where Brian Walshe is said to be he killed and dismembered his wifeAna, is suing Walshe’s mother for $400,000, claiming the alleged murder and subsequent police investigation damaged and “psychologically impacted” the property.

Owner Peter Capozzoli filed a lawsuit against Diana Walshe last year in Norfolk Superior Court because The Patriot Register first reported. He is also suing the Massachusetts Property Insurance Association for $400,000, claiming it wrongfully denied him coverage.

According to Capozzoli’s complaint, Diana Walshe — a Swampscott resident — signed a six-month lease on the Chief Justice Cushing Highway property in March 2022 and later extended the lease through February 2023. Walshe allegedly told Capozzoli said she planned to live there with her son Brian, daughter-in-law Ana, and their three children while she recovered from an illness.

Cut to January 2023, when it’s Ana Walshe ENDANGERED made national headlines after she was last seen alive on New Year’s Day. Authorities soon charged Brian Walshe with foul play, citing a long list of suspicious searches on Google he allegedly did in the hours after his wife disappeared.

Brian Walshe also allegedly bought hundreds of dollars cleaning products and hardware supplies in the days that followed, including a saw and a hatchet. Investigators would have located some of Ana Walshe’s stuff in a Swampscott dumpster and found blood and a bloody and damaged knife in the basement of the Cohasset house.

The alleged murder “caused the residence to be contaminated with blood and other human remains, including the Walsh family’s bedroom, ((()where the murder allegedly took place) and the basement (where the dismemberment and disposal allegedly took place),” the lawsuit alleges Capozzoli.

The owner said he had to bring in a specialist crime and crime scene decontamination company, “at substantial expense.” He also claims the criminal investigation further damaged the property, with investigators’ use of the blood-detecting chemical luminol allegedly staining walls, mattresses, furniture, toilets, sinks and showers.

“In addition to this tangible damage to the property, due to the highly publicized crime committed at the property by (Diana) Walshe’s son, the property has now been psychologically damaged, which has substantially reduced its potential rental and sale values,” Capozzoli said. .

Months after Ana Walshe’s disappearance, Capozzoli said he could not rent the property and that anticipated repairs and renovations would leave the home “dormant and unoccupied” for even longer, according to the lawsuit.

Cohasset police block the driveway to the Walsh family home in Cohasset in January 2023. – Matthew J. Lee/Boston Globe Staff, File

In her response, Diana Walshe denied ever living at the Cohasset property and said she was not listed as a guarantor. If Capozzoli suffered the damages alleged in her complaint, “those damages were caused by acts over which (Diana Walshe) had neither control nor reason to anticipate or foresee,” her response states.

Walshe also filed a counterclaim, alleging the property did not comply with the Massachusetts Sanitary Code and was “full of mold” when her family moved in. Meanwhile, the Massachusetts Property Insurance Association filed a response claiming it acted in good faith and its policy statement excludes “government action.”

An MPIUA attorney declined to comment on the case, and attorneys for the other two parties did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday morning.

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Abby Patkin is a general assignment news reporter whose work covers public transportation, crime, health and everything in between.