VA - Herndon, Joseph Ryan shot, Christine Banfield stabbed, both deceased, in home - Feb 2023

[LifeIsAMystery]

Body-cam footage shown on tv station longer version

 

[IDK]

Not sure this was posted yet:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1853473258617618434

 

[skyedaze]

According to the WaPo article, the DA provided a more extensive timeline of events at the plea hearing than anything we've heard before.

• BB created the account at the fetish website and masqueraded as Christine
• JM spoke over the phone with Ryan in the days prior to the murders using the Telegram app (I assume she was pretending to be Christine.)
• BB was the first person to shoot Ryan, JM shot him later when she saw him moving
• BB stabbed Christine
• Christine died at the hospital with BB at her side

BB is still only charged with Ryan's murder but not yet with the death of Christine. Maybe they will finally charge him for that murder as well, since they now have an eyewitness.

Just disgusting. BB stabbed her himself and then by her side at the hospital while she dies....with her blood literally on his hands That's evil right there.

 

[Ladyotm]

Just disgusting. BB stabbed her himself and then by her side at the hospital while she dies....with her blood literally on his hands That's evil right there.

I can't believe I'm just finding out he has finally been charged! He is a special kind of evil. I hope that his trial can be concluded before Magalhães sentence is completed.

 

[LifeIsAMystery]

She will not be sentenced until after she testifies, the plea deal is contingent.

 

[LifeIsAMystery]

Additional charge

JUST IN: Herndon man accused of killing wife now charged with child abuse | FFXnow

A Herndon man already charged with murder in connection with the killings of his wife and another man in their home is now facing new charges. A grand jury indicted Brendan Banfield, 39, on one count of felony child abuse and neglect and one count of felony child cruelty for his actions on Feb. 24,

www.ffxnow.com

 

[ch_13]

Additional charge

JUST IN: Herndon man accused of killing wife now charged with child abuse | FFXnow

A Herndon man already charged with murder in connection with the killings of his wife and another man in their home is now facing new charges. A grand jury indicted Brendan Banfield, 39, on one count of felony child abuse and neglect and one count of felony child cruelty for his actions on Feb. 24,

www.ffxnow.com

Just to clarify, it seems like they're charging him for abuse because the child was present in the home during the murders.

A grand jury indicted Brendan Banfield, 39, on one count of felony child abuse and neglect and one count of felony child cruelty for his actions on Feb. 24, 2023, Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano announced today (Monday).

 

[LifeIsAMystery]

Yes they lef

 

[Tortoise]

I'm not sure if this was posted before

New trial date set for BB - Oct 20th 2025, for four weeks

 

[ch_13]

News4 has now learned that, in October, Peres Magalhaes confessed to prosecutors and detectives that Brendan Banfield constructed the entire double murder plot and that he even intentionally planned to bring his young child into the home.

Detectives say the little girl waited in the basement as her mother and Ryan were killed upstairs.

4-year-old's statements should be allowed at father's murder trial, prosecutors say

Prosecutors are seeking to include statements made to police by a 4-year-old girl after her mother and another victim were found slain in the family’s home Herndon, Virginia. The double murder mystery has drawn international attention. The little girl’s father, Brendan Banfield, is accused of...

www.nbcwashington.com

 

[skyedaze]

News4 has now learned that, in October, Peres Magalhaes confessed to prosecutors and detectives that Brendan Banfield constructed the entire double murder plot and that he even intentionally planned to bring his young child into the home.

Detectives say the little girl waited in the basement as her mother and Ryan were killed upstairs.

4-year-old's statements should be allowed at father's murder trial, prosecutors say

Prosecutors are seeking to include statements made to police by a 4-year-old girl after her mother and another victim were found slain in the family’s home Herndon, Virginia. The double murder mystery has drawn international attention. The little girl’s father, Brendan Banfield, is accused of...

www.nbcwashington.com

What a dirtbag!
That poor little girl!

 

[LifeIsAMystery]

This is not great.

Defense argues detectives in Brendan Banfield murder case moved units after disagreements with theory

A detective who extracted evidence from 60 devices concluded in a report that pushed back on the theory of catfishing.

www.wusa9.com

 

[Tortoise]

"On Thursday, Banfield’s attorney said Fairfax County Police Department’s (FCPD) own digital forensic analyst determined Brendan was not behind the account’s that were communicating with Ryan---and after the Fairfax County detective’s conclusion, the officer was transferred and moved off the case by FCPD leadership even though the detective’s work was peer reviewed and given the green light by the University of Alabama.

[...]

A Fairfax County judge found that concerning and ordered the prosecutor to hand over all FCPD communications about the police transfer to Banfield’s defense team if it may exonerate him of crimes he’s accused of."

link:

MSN

 

[ch_13]

"On Thursday, Banfield’s attorney said Fairfax County Police Department’s (FCPD) own digital forensic analyst determined Brendan was not behind the account’s that were communicating with Ryan---and after the Fairfax County detective’s conclusion, the officer was transferred and moved off the case by FCPD leadership even though the detective’s work was peer reviewed and given the green light by the University of Alabama.

[...]

A Fairfax County judge found that concerning and ordered the prosecutor to hand over all FCPD communications about the police transfer to Banfield’s defense team if it may exonerate him of crimes he’s accused of."

link:

MSN

If there was dissension in the police department as to who was interacting with Joseph Ryan online, it probably goes a long way to explain why it took so long for them to charge Brendan with murder. If you go back to the early days, there were a lot of questions about who actually stabbed Christine. They initially only charged Juliana, and she was only charged with the murder of JR.

Presumably Juliana will now back up the state's claim that this was all orchestrated by BB. But will the defense just say that she is lying because she got a sweetheart deal?

In any case, I imagine the blood spatter and other forensic evidence will point to the real murderer. If I recall correctly, the paramedics thought the bodies were moved before they got there.


Edit - Here we go...
During a Friday bond hearing, Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Eric Clingan said police received in August “two definitive reports from expert forensic investigators” who spent more than a year reviewing evidence. Clingan said the reports were foundational in supporting prosecutors’ theory that Ryan and Christine Banfield’s bodies were moved and repositioned after they were fatally wounded. Clingan also said Ryan’s arms were moved and smeared with the wife’s blood.

Blood-spatter analysis helped investigation into husband charged with killing wife and another man

Officials shared new details of their sprawling investigation into Brendan Banfield, who was indicted earlier this month by a grand jury on four counts of aggravated murder for the Feb. 24, 2023, killings of his wife, Christine Banfield, and Joseph Ryan, according to a bench warrant filed in Fairfax

apnews.com

 

[LifeIsAMystery]

Update after most recent hearing

https://www.mystateline.com/news/national/ap-childs-interview-cant-be-used-in-her-fathers-trial-in-killings-of-wife-and-other-man-judge-rules/

 

[ch_13]

In video, au pair tells prosecutors how affair partner developed fetish sex murder plot

The au pair accused in a love triangle that led to an alleged double murder shared a dark and twisted story about what she says led up to the killings. Almost a year ago, Juliana Peres Magalhaes was interviewed as part of her plea agreement. Under questioning by prosecutors, she alleged that...

www.nbcwashington.com

Almost a year ago, Juliana Peres Magalhaes was interviewed as part of her plea agreement. Under questioning by prosecutors, she alleged that Brendan Banfield, the man with whom she was having an affair, masterminded an elaborate plot to kill his wife, Christine.
...
"And then I asked him, 'Are you gonna divorce her?' And then he said, 'That's not what I'm thinking about.' And then he explained that he was thinking about finding a way to just get rid of her, out of the picture," Peres said in the video.
...
Over the next few weeks, Peres said, Brendan Banfield told her about a website called , a kink, BDSM and fantasy dating website. She said Banfield created a fake profile on FetLife, pretending to be Christine. She says the two of them would log onto Christine's work computer and attempt to solicit someone over to their house to perform a rape fantasy with Christine.

 

[threesevenninefour]

So, what do we think? Was the officer who conducted the digital forensics investigation mistaken? Is Juliana lying about the catfishing plot in her interviews with police? Obviously, BB and JM planned and committed this horrific crime, but I’m very confused by all the recent developments.

MOO.

 

[ch_13]

I think we'll have to wait and see the video interview that JPM gave. But my assumption would be that the police asked her very specific and detailed questions about what she and BB did to prepare for the killings. For example, I don't believe a newly arrived Portuguese-speaking teenager would be familiar with an English-language fetish website, so I doubt she could have just made that story up. It would have to be something she learned about from BB.

Plus, there should be a ton of blood spatter evidence. It would be really hard to fake a crime scene to make it look like someone else did the stabbing. There should be a lot of tell-tale signs that the scene was staged.

 

[LifeIsAMystery]

The buying new windows detail seemed striking to me.

 

[JosieMae]

Trial coming soon. October 20, 2025. Anyone know if it will be televised?