Collier Landry, who was 11 when she heard her father kill her mother on New Year’s Eve 1989, said Ana Walshe’s three young children cannot be controlled by their trauma.
“It’s what you do with it that defines you,” he said of the children, whose father, Brian Walshe, has been accused of murdering their mother. “I just hope they can find peace.”
Landry expressed concern that the children, ages two, four and six, could live “under this black veil” their entire lives. They were at his Cohasset, Massachusetts, home in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day when Brian Walshe allegedly bludgeoned his wife to death, according to court documents.
Landry’s traumatic experience occurred 23 years ago, when she heard two loud bangs during the night and woke up the next morning without her mom. His father told him, “Mommy took a little vacation.”
SCHEDULE OF THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ANA WALSHE AND THE ARREST OF BRIAN WALSHE
Ana Walshe holds her three children in an Instagram post from October 2022.
(Anna Walshe/Instagram)
“I know how this movie ends. I’ve seen this before,” Landry told Fox News Digital. “It’s a little bit different, but the plot is still the same. The protagonist, the antagonist are still the same. The hero is still the same with the kids. And I know what that journey is going to be.”
Collier Landry with his mom Noreen
(Collier Landry MPM)
It could be lifelong trauma and grief that comes “in waves” as they get older, he said. It might affect them differently as teenagers than as teenagers and that might be different than when they’re in their 20s and 30s, she said.
“As you get older, you start to think, if my father did this, am I capable of such things?” Landry said. “Not only do you think that internally, but the rest of the world looking at you thinks the same thing… I kind of understand that you love this guy, daughter, but be careful because his father murdered his mother, and I understand it, but that’s the way it is.” a hard pill to swallow.”
The three children are in the custody of the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DCF), which said it took them when Brian Walshe was arrested on January 8 for allegedly lying to police while investigating Ana’s disappearance.
BRIAN WALSHE SEARCHED ON GOOGLE HOW TO ‘DISPERSE OF A BODY’ AFTER FATALLY BEATING HIS WIFE ANA WALSHE: PROSECUTOR
Ana Walshe takes a selfie with one of her children in an Instagram post from September 2022.
(Anna Walshe/Instagram)
To protect children’s privacy, DCF told Fox News Digital in an email that it “cannot provide information that could lead to the identification of sensitive information about an individual child or family.”
In general, when DCF takes custody of children in a situation like this, it tries to find relatives or a trusted adult the children already know to act as their foster parents.
Brian Walshe, center, listens during his arraignment Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023, at Quincy District Court, in Quincy, Massachusetts, on the charge of murdering his wife Ana Walshe. Pleas of not guilty were entered on behalf of the 47-year-old Walshe. Ana Walshe was reported missing on January 4, 2023 by her employer in Washington, where the couple have a home.
(Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe via AP, Pool)
“When a child is removed from their home, DCF must immediately file an affidavit in writing with the juvenile court stating the reason for the removal,” DCF said in an email.
“The court may issue the Department an emergency custody order and schedule a 72-hour hearing, where the court will determine whether or not temporary custody should remain with DCF. The court ultimately determines custody of the children.”
Ana’s mother lives in Serbia and her sister lives in Canada.
ANA WALSHE MURDER HAS LAWYERS ASKING QUESTIONS, PUNCHING HOLES IN CASE AGAINST HUSBAND
Brian Walshe’s mother, Diana Walshe, lives in Swampscott, Massachusetts, which is about 35 miles from the Walshe home.
A woman who appears to be Diana Walshe in a red Volkswagen.
(David McGlynn for Fox News Digital)
It is unclear if any of the family members will gain custody or have filed paperwork to gain custody of the children.
When asked, DCF said that it “cannot provide information that could lead to the identification of sensitive information about a particular child or family.”
Ana Walshe’s friends told Fox News Digital in a previous interview that they believe the children could be placed in foster care and possibly separated.
BRIAN WALSHE’S DNA FOUND ON TYVEK SUIT FOUND IN TRASH INCLUDING SAW AND HATCHET: PROSECUTORS
Ana and Brian Walshe blow out the candles on a birthday cake with their children in an April 2020 Instagram post.
(Anna Walshe/Instagram)
That’s troubling for Landry, who went through the foster care system in Mansfield, Ohio, after his father was arrested.
“What people don’t realize is that they don’t give a damn in foster care. Let me be very clear. It’s the worst thing in the world,” he said. “I had a horrible time. There’s abuse, there’s neglect, there’s verbal abuse that happens or sexual abuse that happens… You’re just a number.”
That’s how so many children slip under the radar, he said.
Brian and Ana Walshe on their wedding day at Emmanuel Episcopal Church on Newbury St., Boston, Massachusetts, Monday, December 21, 2015.
(Obtained by Fox News Digital)
He used art and film as a means of escape and created the film “A Murder in Mansfield” which details his mother’s murder, how he convinced a detective to pursue his mother’s missing person case as a murder, his testimony that he locked up his father and how he has dealt with the consequences.
BRIAN WALSHE ALLEGEDLY SEARCHED GOOGLE 21 TIMES BEFORE AFTER HIS WIFE ANA WALSHE WAS KILLED
What’s really concerning, Landry said, is that the children will likely never be able to say goodbye to their mother.
To date, Ana’s body has not been found, presenting a hurdle for prosecutors in the Brian Walshe murder case.
Landry said he was not allowed to go to his mother’s funeral after her body was found in a Pennsylvania home belonging to his father and his father’s mistress because he was the driving force that landed his father in prison.
Ana Walshe pictured in front of a Ritz Carlton hotel sign in August 2022.
(Anna Walshe/Instagram)
During an emotional moment in the interview, Landry said his mother’s funeral prayer card fell out of his notebook at the same theater in Mansfield, Ohio, where she used to take him as a child.
“I hadn’t seen this in over a decade, and obviously I got really excited because it was like a sign,” he said. “This was the theater my mom took me to when I was a kid… And here we are back in this theater that she loved so much. This moment, this moment, this is for me. This is me putting an end to this. But these kids are not going to get that.”
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Brian Walshe pleaded not guilty to all charges of murder, improper transportation of a body and deception in a police investigation during arraignment this week in Quincy District Court.
He was ordered held without bail and has another court appearance on February 9.
