Medical Examiner Reveals Victim Was Alive During Stabbing and Breathing Her Own Blood

Blood in her lungs. Blood in her stomach. Christine Banfield was alive and breathing when someone stabbed her in the neck over and over.

Dr. Megan Kesler, the forensic pathologist who performed both autopsies, told the jury exactly how Christine died. Multiple stab wounds to the neck, some 2.5 inches deep, severing her carotid artery and jugular vein. The medical evidence proves she didn't die instantly. She was breathing blood into her lungs and swallowing it into her stomach. Seconds to minutes, the doctor said. That's how long "rapidly fatal" means.

The defense scored one point on cross: Joseph Ryan, the man prosecutors say was lured to the house, had a knife wound on his own thumb. Was he fighting back? Or was he holding the blade? The medical examiner couldn't say for certain. Ryan also had marijuana in his system. The questions pile up, but the wounds tell their own story.

⏰ KEY MOMENTS

00:00 - Medical examiner qualified as expert
09:26 - Joseph Ryan autopsy findings begin
28:28 - 1.2 liters of blood in Ryan's chest (heart was still pumping)
30:18 - Christine Banfield autopsy findings begin
44:32 - Murder weapon shown to jury
55:04 - Proof victim was alive during attack
57:06 - Cross-examination begins

📖 From The Desk of Justice:
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CASE BACKGROUND REPORT:
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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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This channel continues the work of Steven M. Askin, a criminal defense attorney disbarred in 1998 for refusing to violate attorney-client privilege, then criminally convicted in 2010 for teaching people their constitutional rights from a coffee shop in West Virginia. He passed away in February 2024, but not before we started this channel together.

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