‘Whose story does the evidence support?’: Jury resumes deliberations in ‘au pair affair’ murders trial
Jurors will resume deliberations Monday morning in the aggravated murders trial of Brendan Banfield, charged in the 2023 deaths of his wife, and another man, in his Herndon, Virginia, home.
During the two week trial, Fairfax County prosecutors have argued that Banfield had an affair with the family’s Brazilian au pair, Juliana Peres Magalhaes, and staged an elaborate scheme to lure Joseph Ryan to the home to get rid of his wife and blame her killing on someone else.
The former IRS law enforcement officer has pleaded not guilty and faces life in prison with no chance of parole if convicted of one of two aggravated murder charges. He’s also charged with use of a firearm in the commission of a felony and child endangerment, as his 4-year-old child was home during the killings, on Feb. 24, 2023.
Jurors began deliberating midday Friday, and will resume their closed door discussions, Monday at 10 a.m.
The panel of 12 heard drastically different stories in closing arguments of what happened before, during, and after the killings of Christine Banfield and Ryan.
Prosecutor Jenna Sands said Brendan Banfield was in love with Magalhaes, and came up with the plan to kill his wife. After initially being charged with Ryan’s murder, Magalhaes testified for the prosecution, after pleading guilty to a reduced charge of manslaughter, and a promise that she would be sentenced to time served.
Prosecutors and Magalhaes told jurors Banfield created fake accounts to pose as his wife on a fetish website to lure a man to the home, for what Joseph Ryan believed would be a consensual but violent sexual encounter with Christine Banfield.
“They got Joe Ryan into the house, and then they shot him,” said Sands, in closing arguments. “Brendan stabbed Christine, let her bleed out on the floor, and then dripped, smeared and wiped her blood on Joseph Ryan’s body to make it look like he had attacked Christine. Then they called the police.”
During trial, Magalhaes testified that Banfield shot Ryan in the head, and the au pair shot Ryan in the chest.
However, defense attorney John Carroll said prosecutors failed to produce evidence that corroborated their “catfishing” theory.
“Juliana made it up,” said Carroll, during his Friday closing argument. “She told the Commonwealth what they wanted to hear and without question they just took it as their story.”
“She was a pawn in trying to get to my client,” said Carroll. “Her entire story has been bought and paid for.”
Carroll reminded jurors that Brendan Banfield’s DNA was not discovered on the knife that was used to kill Christine Banfield. “The guy who brought the knife to the house is the stabber,” said Carroll.
Carroll pointed out that prosecutors didn’t call investigators from Fairfax County Police Department to testify about blood or digital evidence, because their findings contradicted the prosecution’s catfishing theory.
“When they lie and manipulate to get someone to make a statement, that’s not discovering the truth, that’s planting the truth,” Carroll concluded, when asking jurors to find his client not guilty of all charges.
In her rebuttal closing, Sands questioned whether Magalhaes would have pleaded guilty to manslaughter if Banfield’s version of interrupting a home invasion were truthful. “If this version is correct, coming from Mr. Banfield, then she would be set free — she would be as ‘not guilty’ as he would be.”
“Whose story is more credible here, Juliana’s or Mr. Banfield’s,” Sands asked. “Whose story does the evidence support?”
On Friday, prosecutors and the defense agreed not to offer the jury less severe homicide charges to consider against Banfield, creating an all-or-nothing decision on each aggravated murder count.
One aggravated murder count alleges that Banfield killed Ryan and Christine Banfield as part of the same act. The other aggravated murder count charges Banfield with killing two people within a three-year period.
WTOP’s Jessica Kronzer contributed to this report.