A jury has reached a verdict within the double homicide trial of a Virginia man accused of killing his spouse and a stranger lured to their dwelling beneath false pretenses in an elaborate plot to do away with his partner so he might be along with his au pair, with whom he was having an affair.
Brendan Banfield, 40, is accused of stabbing his spouse to dying of their dwelling in Fairfax County and fatally taking pictures a person he allegedly “catfished” on a fetish web site. Prosecutors stated he pretended to be his spouse to lure the person to their dwelling for what was believed to be a consensual pretend rape situation so as to body that stranger for his spouse’s homicide.
The jury deliberated almost 9 hours over two days, beginning Friday, earlier than reaching a verdict Monday afternoon. The decision is anticipated to be learn in courtroom at 5 p.m. ET Monday.
Brendan Banfield testifies in his personal protection on Jan. 28, 2026, throughout his double homicide trial in Fairfax County, Virginia.
Pool/ABC Information
The previous IRS agent was charged with aggravated homicide in 2024 following a monthslong investigation into the deaths of his spouse, 37-year-old nurse Christine Banfield, and the person, 39-year-old Joseph Ryan.
Prosecutors accused Brendan Banfield of plotting the murders with the household’s au pair, 25-year-old Juliana Peres Magalhaes, who was initially charged with second-degree homicide in reference to the deaths.
Forward of the trial, Peres Magalhaes pleaded responsible to manslaughter. Below the plea settlement with prosecutors, she is going to obtain time served for testifying towards Brendan Banfield.
Throughout closing arguments on Friday, the prosecutor made the case that the murders have been premeditated.
“He was in love with Juliana. He can faux that this was a fling and affair — he’d had them earlier than, no large deal. He was in love with Juliana,” prosecutor Jenna Sands stated. “He was afraid of dropping her. He wanted to do away with his spouse in order that they might be collectively, in order that they may marry, in order that they may have these infants that he was selecting out names for.”
Sands stated there was no proof that Christine Banfield had beforehand used courting or fetish web sites, argued that there have been indicators that the crime scene had been “manipulated,” and reminded jurors that through the au pair’s testimony, Peres Magalhaes “advised us how the plan was crafted and the way it performed out.”
Christine Banfield is seen in an undated picture.
Obtained by ABC Information
Joseph Ryan is seen in an undated picture.
Obtained by ABC Information
The protection, in the meantime, pushed again on the catfishing principle, questioned the thoroughness of the investigation and argued that there have been conclusions made based mostly on affirmation bias. The legal professional, John Carroll, claimed that prosecutors pressured Peres Magalhaes to vary her story and that she “secured herself a deal that benefited her.” Carroll additionally stated Brendan Banfield did not must testify, however he did as they sought “to get the reality on the market.”
“Is it cheap, after a six- to eight-week affair, that somebody goes to attempt to do away with their companion of 19 years, spouse of 12 years? Is that cheap?” Carroll requested the jury. “You heard from my shopper: He thinks it is absurd.”
Throughout his testimony, Brendan Banfield known as the allegations “completely loopy” and stated his affair with Peres Magalhaes was simply that and nothing extra.
He stated he got here dwelling on Feb. 24, 2023, after the au pair known as to alert him a couple of stranger within the dwelling. He stated he went as much as his bed room along with his gun drawn and located his spouse bare with Ryan and that she known as out, “Brendan, he has a knife!”
“I used to be extraordinarily terrified,” Brendan Banfield advised the jury. “I do not suppose I’ve ever been extra panicked in my life.”
He stated he fired his government-issued firearm, hanging Ryan within the head, after the person appeared to stab his spouse.
Prosecutors stated Christine Banfield was stabbed seven instances within the neck.
Juliana Peres Magalhaes testifies through the double homicide trial of Brendan Banfield on Jan. 13, 2026, in Fairfax County, Virginia.
Tom Brenner/Pool through AP
Peres Magalhaes testified that Brendan Banfield expressed his want to “do away with” his spouse in October 2022, saying, “At first, I assumed he was joking.”
She testified that she had helped Brendan Banfield catfish Ryan on the fetish web site to lure Ryan to the house.
Peres Magalhaes advised the courtroom that Brendan Banfield advised her he needed to marry her and have youngsters along with her, and that he did not wish to divorce his spouse as a result of “she would have extra money than he would” and since he needed custody of the couple’s daughter.
Brendan Banfield’s dwelling in Fairfax County, Virginia.
WJLA
Brendan Banfield was moreover charged with utilizing a firearm whereas committing or making an attempt to commit homicide and baby endangerment. The couple’s then-4-year-old daughter was in the home on the time of the killings, within the basement.
“He left her within the basement, realizing that Joe Ryan was upstairs,” Sands stated throughout her closing argument. “He left her within the basement whereas he shot and killed Joe Ryan. He left her within the basement whereas he stabbed his spouse.”
