VA - Joseph Ryan shot, Christine Banfield stabbed, both deceased, in home - Herndon 24 Feb 2023

[Tortoise]

Current Weather/Operating Status​

The Fairfax County Courthouse is CLOSED Monday, January 26, 2026. This includes all three courts - General District Court, Circuit Court, and Juvenile & Domestic Relations District Court.

Courts Weather/Operating Status | Circuit Court

Fairfax County, Virginia - Courts Weather Status page for Fairfax Circuit Court, General District Court and Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court.

www.fairfaxcounty.gov

 

[Megnut]

The Defense can spend the snow day numbering his exhibits.

But will he?

 

[LifeIsAMystery]

Thanks for the status update. I was looking forward to Banfield taking the stand…jmoo.

 

[Luna20]

The Defense can spend the snow day numbering his exhibits.

But will he?

And looking for page three….

The thing that makes me think he will testify is that he has to paint himself in a way that he wants to be perceived as. Right now the jury only has JK testimony describing Brendan. It’s killing him and he desperately wants to change that narrative.

Even if he goes to prison he wants people to think that he would never do anything to Christine and that he really was a great husband and father. He especially doesn’t want anyone to think that he participated in same sex escapees. He’s too much of a stud to ever need enhancements.

 

[LifeIsAMystery]

And looking for page three….

The thing that makes me think he will testify is that he has to paint himself in a way that he wants to be perceived as. Right now the jury only has JK testimony describing Brendan. It’s killing him and he desperately wants to change that narrative.

Even if he goes to prison he wants people to think that he would never do anything to Christine and that he really was a great husband and father. He especially doesn’t want anyone to think that he participated in same sex escapees. He’s too much of a stud to ever need enhancements.

What do you mean by - same sex escapades and enhancements? Think I may have missed something?!

 

[Luna20]

What do you mean by - same sex escapades and enhancements? Think I may have missed something?!

He doesn’t want people to think that he has anything to do with Fet life or anything that can be perceived as non-conventional. Someone mentioned that he could have had his own Fet life account and was open to everything that one could imagine. Threesomes, same sex partners, etc.

 

[LifeIsAMystery]

Local news coverage of the scene and BB interactions with LE upon their arrival. I believe the news station is an approved source.

 

[helpfulcharlie]

Logically I have trouble understanding what BB is going to testify to. Even if JM isn't the most reliable witness on the planet, if BB's story were true she would have no reason whatsoever to come up with the story she told, because it's worse than the original story, for both of them.

This is how I imagine it going. Maybe someone with more experience in cockamamy alibis can help refine it for me:

"So you're maintaining your wife invited this guy over and you interrupted a violent episode and tried to defend your wife etc?"
"Yes"
"What about Juliana's story?"
"She made it up."
"But why?"
"I don't know."

In other words, I can't imagine anyone copping to participating in a planned murder if it was really what BB claimed it was. Right?Why would you take a plea deal for something far worse than what you actually did? This is why I believe her. Because she's telling the truth. She's young, and cracked under pressure from investigators, as one would expect. I can only hope the jury sees it the same way.

All the eyes-glazed-over trickery about who was operating the devices when, I hope that doesn't taint the jury. It's easy to believe a paid expert witness giving an opinion, but the truth is, there is no foolproof way to unequivocally guarantee who's operating a device at any given time. Especially when an actual investigator is one of the perpetrators. I can see him thinking he's clever and manipulating the device locations and activities in a way that paints a picture favorable to him, i.e., adequate reasonable doubt.

Also, I was paying close attention to JM's testimony, and it was difficult because she is either intentionally or naturally imprecise, but she referenced only needing the phone when doing two-factor stuff, authentication, whatever. I think the prosecution this case would have benefited from clarification on these points.

I feel like it's not just the defense presenting a lackluster case, and I sincerely hope he's not acquitted.

 

[LifeIsAMystery]

His tale does not fit with the 911 calls, why delay if CB was stabbed before they arrived? Why would JR stab anyone when he thought he was there for consensual sex and had just stopped at Walmart to buy lube per testimony? In the body cam in ambulance BB had handcuffs, so why the need to shoot JR a 2nd time and kill him? IMO he thought he could do Winger one better, jmoo.

 

[jeff2034]

Some of those points were asked and answered in Julian'a testimony. I think in relation to Juliana describing Joe looking shocked, from my point of view, it would be because that was likely in her account to police and it's the prosecutor's job to set the scene with as many of her observations as available, to give the account as much credence as possible. It's the sights and senses that make the retelling of an account believable or not. In my experience liars tend to forget to give those little details, because they never saw it and forget to imagine it. IMO

6.53.57

Q. And what did you see when you went into the bedroom?
A. When we first get into the bedroom I could see the bed, the bed we have in the master bedroom was kind of tall, and so from my point of view all I could see was like Joe, at the moment it was Joe, like on top of Christine in a way I would only describe holding her down. And that was my first view as soon as I get into the bedroom.

Q. Were you able to see Christine at all at that point?
A. At that point no.

[...]

Q. After Brendan shot Joe, did anyone say anything?
A. If anyone said anything?
Q. Yes. Did anyone say anything in the room at that point?
A. Yeah, because Brendan ran to Christine, [bbm] she was still on the floor, and I, at that point she had, she had seen me, and she said, she asked 'what did you do?' to Brendan, I think regarding to he shot Joe, and she said my name, she told me 'Juliana call 911'.

[...]

7.07.36
A. And I just started telling him he's moving, he's moving, he's behind you and that's when I fired the shot too.
Q. That's when you, could you say that again?
A. I fired.
Q. And when you say you fired, you fired what?
A. A gun.
Q. The gun that was where?
A. In my, that I had, in my pocket, the handgun
Q. Did you hit anyone?
A. Yes
Q. Who did you hit?
A. Joe.
Q. What happened after you shot Joe?
A. After I shot him he falls back
Q. Did you see Brendan touch Joe's body after you shot him?
A. Touching, touching, no.
Q. Did you see him interacting with Joe or Christine after you shot Joe?
A. Well he was still stabbing Christine and he had, there was, he got her blood, in a handful of blood and he starts dripping on, on Joe's body.
Q. Did you ever call 911 again?
A. Yes.
Q. Why did you call 911 again?
A. I called 911 again when he told me, Brendan told me he was ready for me to call.

When I see what JM said typed out as you have done, I can see where some of those points were made. But I think this illustrates how poor of a witness JM is and how the jury might not understand completely what she is saying. For example when JM says: "When we first get into the bedroom I could see the bed, the bed we have in the master bedroom was kind of tall, and so from my point of view all I could see was like Joe, at the moment it was Joe, like on top of Christine in a way I would only describe holding her down." what I believe she meant to say was "When I entered the bedroom, Joe and Christine were not on the bed - they were on the floor next to the bed, on the side of the bed that was farthest from the door.. Because the bed in the master bedroom is tall, I could not see Christine on the floor, I could only see the top of Joe who was on top of Christine. He seemed to be holding her down but I could not see that for sure." We can only hope that the jury can understand and interpret what she said correctly. Certainly the lawyers could have helped to make what she said more understandable but asking follow up/clarifying questions, but they didn't.

 

[jeff2034]

Was this shown in court? Some of the detectives and medical staff must have recognized that there was no water coming from his eyes. There literally wasn’t a tear.

He is a bad actor and I’m sure he thought that no one would see this footage. The fake hyperventilating is so obvious. Just like JM did in front of the house.

Yes I watched the entire body cam video of BB in the ambulance and in the hospital and I did not see once any tears or him wipe his eyes. I saw him blow his nose a lot. There are irritants you can squirt in your nose to make it irritated and run... perhaps he did this. He is an officer, and so he knows what evidence the police will be looking at and not looking at. Like how, according to JM, only using CB's phone/laptop to interact with fetLife account in places where CB currently is. Or perhaps he just had a cold!?

 

[jeff2034]

His tale does not fit with the 911 calls, why delay if CB was stabbed before they arrived? Why would JR stab anyone when he thought he was there for consensual sex and had just stopped at Walmart to buy lube per testimony? In the body cam in ambulance BB had handcuffs, so why the need to shoot JR a 2nd time and kill him? IMO he thought he could do Winger one better, jmoo.

Yes those are all great points. JM's first mistaken 911 call places them (or at least her) on the scene at about 8 AM, and the next 911 call wasn't until about 8:15 AM? Why the delay if your wife is already stabbed and bleeding out? BB could certainly be rendering aid to CB while JM calls 911. And yes JR has no reason to actually stab this woman who he is about to have consensual activity with. You could speculate that perhaps JR stabbed her accidentally during aggressive role-play, but multiple times!? Also according to relatives, JR had no history of actual violence toward women his entire life. You could argue that the desire to engage in this type of role-play indicates some level of violence toward women, but in his mind this was all just fantasy and consensual between two consenting adults. Finally, if we are to believe the unknown intruder story that the defense is proposing, while BB had the right to shoot JR if he thought he was about to stab his wife, BB could have yelled "police drop the knife" first. But I recognize that this would have taken a superhuman degree of restraint given the circumstances. But there was certainly no justification for shooting JR the second time, especially when BB had handcuffs in his possession which could have subdued a still moving JR. And during JM's first mistaken 911 call, IMO you can clearly hear a person in agony and attempting to breathe- apparently JR after having been shot the first time.

 

[Megnut]

When I see what JM said typed out as you have done, I can see where some of those points were made. But I think this illustrates how poor of a witness JM is and how the jury might not understand completely what she is saying. For example when JM says: "When we first get into the bedroom I could see the bed, the bed we have in the master bedroom was kind of tall, and so from my point of view all I could see was like Joe, at the moment it was Joe, like on top of Christine in a way I would only describe holding her down." what I believe she meant to say was "When I entered the bedroom, Joe and Christine were not on the bed - they were on the floor next to the bed, on the side of the bed that was farthest from the door.. Because the bed in the master bedroom is tall, I could not see Christine on the floor, I could only see the top of Joe who was on top of Christine. He seemed to be holding her down but I could not see that for sure." We can only hope that the jury can understand and interpret what she said correctly. Certainly the lawyers could have helped to make what she said more understandable but asking follow up/clarifying questions, but they didn't.

I hope the jurors heard Juliana say "the bed we have"...

JMO

 

[alexwood]

I hope the jurors heard Juliana say "the bed we have"...

JMO

"A Freudian slip, or parapraxis, is an unintentional error in speech, memory, or physical action that reveals repressed, unconscious desires, anxieties, or hidden thoughts. Coined by Sigmund Freud, this concept in psychoanalysis suggests mistakes are not random, but arise when the unconscious mind bypasses conscious defenses." (Dictionary + AI)

 

[Tortoise]

Courts Weather/Operating Status | Circuit Court

Fairfax County, Virginia - Courts Weather Status page for Fairfax Circuit Court, General District Court and Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court.

www.fairfaxcounty.gov

Current Weather/Operating Status​

The Fairfax County Courthouse and all Courts are CLOSED Monday, January 26, 2026 and Tuesday, January 27, 2026.

• General District Court - Closed
• Circuit Court - Closed
• Juvenile & Domestic Relations District Court - Closed

 

[LifeIsAMystery]

I hope the jurors heard Juliana say "the bed we have"...

JMO

I sure did! Jmoo.

 

[LifeIsAMystery]

Now that the 911 calls and audio of body cams have been played in court, I never heard BB mention Christine’s bleeding disorder. He spoke about her using very distancing language imho. Her airways were clear, she bled out per the audio of the doctor at the hospital. Had help been summoned earlier, she may have survived. She lived until the hospital and her airways were not affected per the audio. Jmoo. Christine telling JPM to call 911 after Joe was shot fits the call timeline but not BB’s plan, thus he told her to hang up. Per JPM the next 15 or so minutes were spent stabbing CB, shooting JR again and staging the scene. Not only was Christine terrified in her last minutes, having her clothes cut off would have been humiliating. Then the attempts to smear the reputation of a woman who had never even looked at a porn site per LE testimony and literally just replace her. It’s so disturbing. Mooo.

 

[Izzylizzy]

Live now

 

[Izzylizzy]

So far after all that has been said and done if I were on the jury I'd be thinking if BB & JM actually walked into the brutal scene of CB having been attacked and stabbed by JR I would have been screaming into my first 911 call for help.
No innocent person would have hung up on 911, ignored their call backs and waited like 13 more minutes to again call 911.
Plain and simple.
imo

 

[LifeIsAMystery]

Yes those are all great points. JM's first mistaken 911 call places them (or at least her) on the scene at about 8 AM, and the next 911 call wasn't until about 8:15 AM? Why the delay if your wife is already stabbed and bleeding out? BB could certainly be rendering aid to CB while JM calls 911. And yes JR has no reason to actually stab this woman who he is about to have consensual activity with. You could speculate that perhaps JR stabbed her accidentally during aggressive role-play, but multiple times!? Also according to relatives, JR had no history of actual violence toward women his entire life. You could argue that the desire to engage in this type of role-play indicates some level of violence toward women, but in his mind this was all just fantasy and consensual between two consenting adults. Finally, if we are to believe the unknown intruder story that the defense is proposing, while BB had the right to shoot JR if he thought he was about to stab his wife, BB could have yelled "police drop the knife" first. But I recognize that this would have taken a superhuman degree of restraint given the circumstances. But there was certainly no justification for shooting JR the second time, especially when BB had handcuffs in his possession which could have subdued a still moving JR. And during JM's first mistaken 911 call, IMO you can clearly hear a person in agony and attempting to breathe- apparently JR after having been shot the first time.

The testimony by LE that BB was not seen applying pressure seemed damning and CW asked about with towels, then about blankets then about sheets. All of those “no” answers plus his knowledge of her blood clotting disorder does not come off well imho.