LIVE: Au Pair Love Triangle Murder Trial — VA v. Brendan Banfield — Day Five

🏛️ LIVE: The Au Pair Affair Murder Trial — Virginia v. Brendan Banfield — Day Five

Brendan Banfield, a federal IRS special agent, stands trial for four counts of aggravated murder in the deaths of his wife Christine Banfield and Joseph Ryan. If convicted, he faces mandatory life without parole.

The State alleges Banfield orchestrated a plot to kill his wife so he could be with the family's 23-year-old Brazilian au pair. Prosecutors say he created a fake profile on a fetish website using Christine's name, lured Joseph Ryan to the house under the pretense of a sexual encounter, then shot Ryan and stabbed his wife to stage a home invasion.

The defense says the State's theory doesn't match what their own digital forensics expert found. That expert concluded Christine controlled her own accounts. He was transferred out of the unit after reaching that conclusion. The lead detective testified he faced pressure to adopt a theory he didn't believe the evidence supported.

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📖 CASE BACKGROUND

On February 24, 2023, Christine Banfield was stabbed to death in her Herndon, Virginia home. Joseph Ryan was found shot dead beside her. Brendan Banfield and au pair Juliana Peres Magalhães initially claimed self-defense, saying they discovered Ryan attacking Christine and fired to stop him.

That story held for 570 days.

Police found no forced entry. They found communications on FetLife between Ryan and an account in Christine's name, planning a sexual encounter involving a knife for the morning she was killed. They found a framed photo of Brendan and the au pair on his nightstand eight months later.

Magalhães was arrested in October 2023. She pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in October 2024. Under her deal, she gets time served if she testifies against Banfield, then deportation to Brazil. She's the State's star witness.

Banfield was indicted in September 2024 after an investigation marked by internal conflict. The digital forensics examiner concluded Christine controlled her own accounts and was transferred out of the unit. The lead detective testified he was pressured to support the catfishing theory and was moved after the arrest.

Christine Banfield was 37, a forensic nurse who spent her career helping sexual assault survivors. She left behind a four-year-old daughter who was in the house when her mother was killed.

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