Accused wife killer Brian Walshe has been deemed competent to stand trial for the murder and dismemberment of his wife, Ana Walshe, and will not get his trial moved out of Norfolk County as he requested.

A Bridgewater State Hospital psychiatrist found Walshe to be “competent and ready to stand trial,” Judge Diane Freniere said. She said she accepted that finding. Walshe will next appear in court Monday at 9 a.m. and his trial is scheduled to begin with jury selection on Tuesday.

Freniere also found that Walshe has not made a compelling argument that his case has been tainted by a “presumption of prejudice” among the populace and potential jury pool in Norfolk County.

Freniere said that media coverage of the case peaked in January 2023, when Walshe is accused of slaying and dismembering his wife Ana Walshe in their Cohasset home, and has declined ever since.

She said that more recent coverage has focused on court filings and case status and not on more sensational aspects of the case — like when prosecutors read off a grisly series of Google searches Walshe is alleged to have made in the hours and days after his wife disappeared.

Further, Walshe’s argument hinges largely on negative social media posts that pre-judge him as guilty for his wife’s murder but Freniere said that there is no evidence that a significant number of potential jurors had seen such postings.

Defense attorney Larry Tipton vocally objected to Freniere’s decision and the parties went into a sidebar before the competency hearing begins in earnest later today.

Walshe, 49, of Cohasset, was scheduled to go to trial on the murder charge last month but that was rescheduled due to competency concerns. He is fresh off a 20-day stint at Bridgewater State Hospital in which psychiatric staff monitored him for competency to stand trial for the murder of Ana Walshe in the early hours of Jan. 1, 2023. Walshe has pleaded not guilty.

Walshe has also been convicted and sentenced in federal court to an international art fraud scheme.

This is a developing story.