Brendan Banfield testifies at his double-murder trial ‘there was no plan’ with au pair

By Lauren del Valle, CNN

(CNN) — A Virginia man on trial for allegedly killing his wife and another man took the stand in his own defense to tell his side of the story.

Prosecutors say Brendan Banfield concocted an elaborate scheme to kill his wife, Christine Banfield, and another man, Joseph Ryan, in their family home in February 2023. He faces life in prison if convicted on aggravated murder charges.

Banfield has maintained his innocence, and his lawyer has accused prosecutors and investigators of manipulating evidence to suit their theory against his client.

Prosecutors put on a case over four days of testimony, telling the jury Banfield plotted with his family’s au pair to pose as his wife on a fetish website and lure Ryan to their home under the guise of having a consensual violent sexual encounter. Banfield was having an extramarital affair with the au pair at the time.

The plan, according to prosecutors, was to frame Ryan for Christine Banfield’s death and make Ryan’s killing appear to be an act of self-defense.

In his testimony on Wednesday, Banfield acknowledged the affair with the au pair, Juliana Peres Magalhães and said it began in August 2022. He said he made clear to her that he’d had affairs in the past, this was just another affair and that it would not change his relationship with his wife.

Defense attorney John Carroll asked Banfield if at some point around October 2022 he devised a plan with Peres Magalhães to get rid of Christine.

“No, there was no plan,” Banfield said. “At this point our relationship is maybe six to eight weeks old. I think that it’s absurd line of questioning for something that is not serious, that a plan was made to get rid of my wife. That is absolutely crazy.”

Banfield testified that he loved his wife and they’d made a decision to stay married despite both having affairs at times during their nearly 20-year relationship.

The morning of the killings, Banfield had an important work meeting scheduled that he testified could’ve led to a promotion. His wife, who was sitting in bed using her laptop, wished him luck before he left the house, Banfield testified. He also said he had planned to drive to New York with his daughter to celebrate his birthday later that day.

“There was no plan with Juliana on February 24. As far as I knew, Juliana was going to be going to the zoo” with the Banfields’ daughter Valerie.

“Christine had just taken off from work, and I understood that she was going to be home,” Banfield testified. “But there was no – I didn’t know anything else at that point. I was more concerned with my day … what I had to do at my job.”

That morning, Banfield stopped at a McDonald’s for breakfast after leaving the house. Earlier at trial the jury saw restaurant surveillance footage that corroborates that testimony.

Peres Magalhães called him while he was using the restroom at the fast food restaurant, Banfield testified. She sounded very stressed on the phone, he said.

“ I told her that I was going to call Christine,” he testified. But that call to his wife went straight to voicemail. Typically when his wife didn’t answer his call she’d text him, but it was unusual for her phone not to ring before forwarding to voicemail, he said.

“I believe I tried to call Christine again, of which it went to voicemail straight again. After that, I called Juliana back, and I told Juliana not to go in the house, and that I was going — that I was going to return to the house.”

He said it took him about 10 minutes to get back to the house.

Defendant to return to stand on Thursday

On the day of the killings, February 24, 2023, Peres Magalhães and Banfield called 911 to report the incident from the scene.

They told investigators Peres Magalhães saw Ryan enter the house early that morning and called Brendan Banfield, who rushed home to investigate. Banfield, who was an armed IRS investigator at the time, said he shot Ryan once in the head when he saw Ryan stabbing his wife in their bedroom. Peres Magalhães used Banfield’s personal firearm to shoot Ryan a second time.

When police officers arrived on the scene, they found Banfield kneeling over his wife’s body with his hands on her neck. He said he was applying pressure to her wounds to slow the bleeding, according to body-worn camera footage played in court.

Peres Magalhães was arrested for Ryan’s murder in October 2023, and a year later agreed to cooperate with prosecutors against Banfield in exchange for a recommendation that she be sentenced to time served. She testified at trial that the crime scene was actually staged by Banfield, who concocted the scheme to “get rid” of his wife.

Prosecutors have alleged Banfield moved Joseph Ryan’s body before police arrived, and, according to Peres Magalhães, she saw Banfield take handfuls of his wife’s blood and drip it on Ryan in an effort to frame him.

Brendan Banfield’s DNA was not found on the knife used to fatally stab Christine. Analysis only recovered DNA from Christine and Joseph Ryan, who prosecutors say brought the knife there at Brendan Banfield’s direction, posing as his wife.

Peres Magalhães, on the stand, acknowledged that she wants to get out of prison but also said the guilt and shame of hiding the truth weighed on her.

Banfield’s defense attorney has accused prosecutors of offering Peres Magalhães a way out of prison in exchange for a false story to pin the murders on Banfield.

Banfield is expected to return to the stand Thursday morning when the trial continues. The defense strategy comes with potential risks for Banfield. He’ll have to endure cross-examination from a prosecutor and the jury will get to weigh the credibility of his testimony, which is proving to be at odds with that of Peres Magalhães.

Banfield was not arrested and charged with murder for his wife’s and Ryan’s deaths until September 2024.

Carroll called several law enforcement witnesses to the stand to question the police investigation of the case.

The defense has also accused Fairfax County police of ignoring digital data recovered from Christine Banfield’s devices that he says disproves the theory that Banfield “catfished” Ryan, posing as his wife.

The defense called a digital forensics expert witness who told the jury that, based on his analysis, digital data from devices belonging to Christine Banfield, Brendan Banfield and Peres Magalhães does not support prosecutors’ catfishing theory.

During cross-examination, that expert acknowledged he could not identify a time when devices for both Brendan Banfield and Peres Magalhães were away from the Banfield home while the accounts allegedly related to the fetish website were being used on Christine’s devices.

Banfield testified that he does not know the password to his wife’s laptop and never accessed it without her.

“Her phone was basically always connected to her, it wasn’t really away from her basically ever,” Banfield testified.

Banfield also testified he never observed Peres Magalhães use Christine Banfield’s laptop or phone.

This story has been updated with additional information.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.