Brian Walshe, the Massachusetts man accused of killing his wife Ana and dismembering her body, is due in court for a competency hearing today that has delayed the start of his upcoming murder trial.

Last month, Judge Diane Freniere ordered Walshe to be hospitalized for 20 days at Bridgewater State Hospital to determine if he is competent to stand trial. If Walshe is found to be competent, jury selection in his trial could start next week.

You can stream the court hearing live from Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham when it begins Friday morning on CBS News Boston or in the video player above.

The Ana Walshe case

Ana Walshe, 39, was last seen early on the morning of Jan. 1, 2023, after the couple hosted a friend at their Cohasset home for a New Year’s Eve dinner.

Brian Walshe told police that she left the house early in the morning to get a ride to the airport and fly to Washington, D.C. for a work emergency, but there’s no record of her being picked up by a car or boarding a plane.

Investigators allege that Brian Walshe made gruesome internet searches on his son’s iPad around the time of her disappearance, including “10 ways to dispose of a dead body if you really need to.” Prosecutors also say surveillance video from Home Depot in Rockland shows him buying large amounts of cleaning supplies including mops, a bucket, tarps and drop cloths.

Walshe was arrested after detectives found blood as well as a bloody and damaged knife in the basement of their home. Her body has not been found. 

Brian Walshe defense

Brian Walshe has suffered from fear and anxiety since he was stabbed in jail in September, his lawyers previously said. 

“The defendant is not functioning at the level he was functioning prior to the violent assault and importantly, not functioning in a manner required of any defendant facing a complex trial,” the defense wrote in a filing. 

The defense has asked for a change of venue outside Norfolk County, or for jurors to be selected from outside the county. They claim he can’t get a fair trial in the area because of pretrial publicity and media coverage. 

Walshe’s lawyers have argued that the government obtained the alleged Google searches illegally. They’ve also sought texts and emails from former Massachusetts State Trooper Michael Proctor, the lead investigator who was fired for his handling of the Karen Read case.

Walshe was sentenced last year to three years in prison in a separate case after pleading guilty to art fraud charges.

A Bay State fire chief is in the hot seat after his private company received more than $5 million from town contracts, according to the State Ethics Commission.

Townsend Fire Chief Gary Shepherd is accused of violating the state’s conflict of interest law, the Massachusetts commission said on Thursday.

The fire chief allegedly violated state law when he represented his private company in business with the town, and had financial interests in town contracts.

Shepherd, who operates the private company Shepco, Inc., first entered into a $754,333 contract with the town for a bridge replacement project. Then, his company agreed to a $4.7 million contract with the town for a water main project — for a total of about $5.4 million.

The fire chief was reportedly warned by the state before he did business with the town.

“Shepherd entered into the contracts despite having been issued a letter from the Commission’s Enforcement Division raising conflict of interest law concerns,” the Ethics Commission wrote.

Back on Nov. 30, 2022, the Ethics Commission in a letter from the Enforcement Division warned Shepherd that he needed a conflict of interest law exemption to contract with the town. The Commission also and told him how to comply with the law.

Shepherd was also told to contact the Commission’s Legal Division whenever he considered contracting with the town. The Enforcement Division alleges that Shepherd did not take any action in response to the letter.

The first contract was in December 2022, and the second project was in March 2023.