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

[Tortoise]

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.

Here's a screenshot of the towel recovered from the area where Christine was located, and laid out and photographed at the crime lab.

The detective testified that there was no heavy staining or blood absorption on the towel, so that's further evidence that he was not using the towel to apply pressure, as the dispatcher was telling him to do.

 

[jeff2034]

Here's a screenshot of the towel recovered from the area where Christine was located, and laid out and photographed at the crime lab.

The detective testified that there was no heavy staining or blood absorption on the towel, so that's further evidence that he was not using the towel to apply pressure, as the dispatcher was telling him to do.

View attachment 639888

There's hardly any blood on that towel at all. I've seen more blood when I've had a nosebleed.

 

[LifeIsAMystery]

Here's a screenshot of the towel recovered from the area where Christine was located, and laid out and photographed at the crime lab.

The detective testified that there was no heavy staining or blood absorption on the towel, so that's further evidence that he was not using the towel to apply pressure, as the dispatcher was telling him to do.

View attachment 639888

Picture worth a thousand words they say, jmooo.

 

[Izzylizzy]

 

[tricia]

Grizzly True Crime is the only place I could find the actual video of Brendan being taken to the hospital and then told his wife had died. They played the audio in court, but I couldn't find the video anywhere except on Grizzly True Crime's YouTube channel.
Here is the link to the channel. This is an approved source for this case, so mods, please don't ban me. LOL

 

[Izzylizzy]

There's hardly any blood on that towel at all. I've seen more blood when I've had a nosebleed.

Exactly my thought. lol

 

[tricia]

Here is the link to Websleuths YouTube LIVE. We will be discussing this case tonight at 10:30 PM Eastern. I hope you will join us

 

[Izzylizzy]

Grizzly True Crime is the only place I could find the actual video of Brendan being taken to the hospital and then told his wife had died. They played the audio in court, but I couldn't find the video anywhere except on Grizzly True Crime's YouTube channel.
Here is the link to the channel. This is an approved source for this case, so mods, please don't ban me. LOL

Great news that Gisela finally made it here even if it is for just this case.

 

[LifeIsAMystery]

Great news that Gisela finally made it here even if it is for just this case.

Glad this has been re-posted, it is important video to see. Jmooo.

 

[LetsSolvIt]

<snipped for focus>
… 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. … <snipped by me>

Insight, please: If one engages a potential partner on one of these websites like “Fettish,” does the person going to the trouble to come to your home with “equipment, etc.” to answer your fantasy expect financial compensation? Are the people who accommodate “in search of’s” on this type of website considered sex workers?

I’m asking because if someone had no history of violence toward the opposite sex or seemingly hasn’t displayed a desire to engage in pretend violent sex acts, what would motivate them to answer a request for this very extreme and potentially dangerous fantasy play? It seems out of character without some very lucrative reward. Would the person be agreeing because they were going to get paid?

I’m not victim blaming. I’m asking in general terms as I have zero knowledge about these things. Please excuse my ignorance. Just wondering how these encounters are structured, if financially?

 

[iamshadow21]

Insight, please: If one engages a potential partner on one of these websites like “Fettish,” does the person going to the trouble to come to your home with “equipment, etc.” to answer your fantasy expect financial compensation? Are the people who accommodate “in search of’s” on this type of website considered sex workers?

I’m asking because if someone had no history of violence toward the opposite sex or seemingly hasn’t displayed a desire to engage in pretend violent sex acts, what would motivate them to answer a request for this very extreme and potentially dangerous fantasy play? It seems out of character without some very lucrative reward. Would the person be agreeing because they were going to get paid?

I’m not victim blaming. I’m asking in general terms as I have zero knowledge about these things. Please excuse my ignorance. Just wondering how these encounters are structured, if financially?

It's more like a dating profile.

You like baking cakes. I like eating cakes.

We mutually want to meet up so you can bake a cake for me to eat. It's completely consensual, prearranged, and there doesn't have to be money involved (unless that's your kink! Findoms, sugar babies/daddies or mummies are a thing.)

Ahead of time, you know that I don't like strawberries, and that I have an allergy to pineapple. And I know that you love to watch people eat, but you really don't like people eating with their mouths open, and that eating with their fingers is an absolute nono. You love making meringues for decoration, that's a blast for you. I absolutely adore whipped cream on top of whatever.

We both agree to meet each other's needs and respect each other's soft and hard no's.

And that's how a consensual kink encounter is negotiated through a site like FetLife.

( Happy to be corrected, I do not have an account, but I did work in sexual health twenty years ago.)

MOO

 

[LifeIsAMystery]

Insight, please: If one engages a potential partner on one of these websites like “Fettish,” does the person going to the trouble to come to your home with “equipment, etc.” to answer your fantasy expect financial compensation? Are the people who accommodate “in search of’s” on this type of website considered sex workers?

I’m asking because if someone had no history of violence toward the opposite sex or seemingly hasn’t displayed a desire to engage in pretend violent sex acts, what would motivate them to answer a request for this very extreme and potentially dangerous fantasy play? It seems out of character without some very lucrative reward. Would the person be agreeing because they were going to get paid?

I’m not victim blaming. I’m asking in general terms as I have zero knowledge about these things. Please excuse my ignorance. Just wondering how these encounters are structured, if financially?

The site is Fetlife.

No one has alleged that JR did this for money. Maybe some do. Most do it because it is their fetish and the website is one way to connect with people interested in the same. You can see the Telegram messages on the court website, Joe made it clear he did not normally do knife play and wasn’t personally interested. The exhibits also show that others they contacted through Fetlife would not agree without an in person prior meeting. Jmooo.

High-Profile Cases | Circuit Court

Fairfax County, Virginia - Orders from high-profile Circuit Court cases.

www.fairfaxcounty.gov

I think there are also clubs and meet up type groups for those interested in such things but that would not have worked to try to order a patsy to the door imho.

 

[Starlight0229]

Grizzly True Crime is the only place I could find the actual video of Brendan being taken to the hospital and then told his wife had died. They played the audio in court, but I couldn't find the video anywhere except on Grizzly True Crime's YouTube channel.
Here is the link to the channel. This is an approved source for this case, so mods, please don't ban me. LOL

The video is included in the evidence admitted on January 23 and posted here by the court. Circuit Court - High-Profile Cases

 

[LifeIsAMystery]

The video is included in the evidence admitted on January 23 and posted here by the court. Circuit Court - High-Profile Cases

Thanks! I think this one is very helpful to see.

 

[turaj]

Went looking for the trial today....can't believe VA needs to close court 2 days for a snow storm??? Found my info here. Thanks.

 

[LifeIsAMystery]

Went looking for the trial today....can't believe VA needs to close court 2 days for a snow storm??? Found my info here. Thanks.

There was also a lot of sleet making roads difficult to navigate in NoVa and schools are closed. The trial will be back on later in the week. My guess would be Thursday. Jmooo.

UPDATED: Fairfax County facilities, schools to stay closed on Tuesday due to ice | FFXnow

Fairfax County government offices and schools will remain closed tomorrow (Tuesday), as work continues to clean up roads after yesterday's Winter Storm Fern. In addition to closing schools for a second day, Fairfax County Public Schools is canceling all activities on school grounds, including...

www.ffxnow.com

 

[jeff2034]

I've read through the telegram messages. There are some snippets from the messages below that "Anna" typed. To me there are some clues that whoever is communicating as Anna, English may not be their first language. I know that texting is a language all to itself, and that often phrases are abbreviated and there are misspellings. But some of the examples below sound a lot like how JM talks and not typical errors an English speaker might make:
"Never, but I look through some pictures where the......"
"I probably will be a bit panicked"
"are my hand going to be free that I can snap?"
"the is a digital clock next to the bed"
"Oh I forgot to tell you. I do have a dog. She is very nice. But she will be in the
basement"
"Call me what you want from the start until 10:30"

The last two remind me of how JM testified in the courtroom .. i.e. short phrases, unclear meanings, etc Perhaps I am just reading too much into these!

 

[Weki]

Yes the star witness for the prosecution (JM) is not a particularly good witness in that she has difficulty giving details and is often incoherent with her answers. This may be more due to the language barrier than anything else. But either way she is somewhat difficult to understand - both verbally and logically. I also don't believe the prosecution is doing a particularly good job. For example, when asking JM about what she saw when she went into the bedroom, they did not press her for details. Important questions were never asked such as- Where was JR in relation to CB when she entered the room? (I assume he was on top of her but that was never made clear) Were they on the bed? (it appears they were on the floor due to crime scene photos) Did JR have the knife in his hand went she entered the bedroom? Where was the knife when BB picked it up? Was BB wearing gloves at that time? When and how was JRs body moved and who did that? (apparently there is evidence of blood smears on his body which indicate he was moved after he was shot). One of the few questions the prosecutor asked JM about the scene in the bedroom when she first entered was what did JR look like when BB entered the room and said "stop police". JM said he looked shocked. Not sure why they even asked that or what the significance was of her answer. That question nor the answer seems to be helpful to neither the prosecution or the defense. That seems like a silly question and not necessary when there are so many other more important questions that could have asked. But am not a lawyer so maybe I don't know.

All good points. I believe at least one of the issues for the state is that they are trying to portray JM as a young girl who got taken advantage of by an older, conniving man. That is clearly not the case and the evidence doesn't bear that out, IMO. So, the state has a conflict because if they ask her for the full details then the jury can see the horror she participated in and realize she's no victim but a perp. Perhaps the state feels the need to justify their leniency towards her or they think it would make her more believable if the jury saw her as a victim. I'm not sure. But, I agree, their questioning of her would've been far more effective had she been treated like the perp that she is.

JMO

 

[Weki]

I think that's exactly it. The more they ask of her, the more she can go rogue. If she goes rogue, that's more occasions to be less than credible. If the jury finds her knees then credible, they can choose to reject some, none, any and all of her testimony. The State needs the jury to find her credible so IMO it's best for them to elicit the important facts from the case without giving her any room to embellish.

JMO

But the state has all the leverage here. They can threaten her with more prison time if she doesn't cooperate FULLY.

JMO

 

[Lawnguylander1964]

Went looking for the trial today....can't believe VA needs to close court 2 days for a snow storm??? Found my info here. Thanks.

I'm in the next county over and it was a really long storm timewise, and while courts may be on the priority list, it was more about the jurors being able to get out. Hospitals, skilled nursing, main arteries took a lot of time to clear, so jurors streets are most likely still not passable. My HOA's snow people are out this morning cleaning up the parking lots/streets again this morning. They have not touched our sidewalks yet.