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

[Izzylizzy]

If you google Eric Clingan, another Deputy Commonwealth’s attorney, you’ll get your answer. He was originally supposed to be handling this trial.

Yikes!
Thanks!
The prosecution could have been worse.
Curious if a prosecuting attorney is drunk during a trial if a mistrial could be called?

 

[mickey2942]

Agreed. The prosecution did an excellent job in the Chad Daybell trial, Tammy Daybell’s family, friends, co-workers, everyone testified about Tammy Daybell, how happy, and healthy she was. Full of life.

At the end of the prosecution's case, I felt like I personally knew who Tammy Daybell was...even though her two own children testified for their Father, Chad Daybell, and literally contradicted everything her friends said.

So, I did not watch this trial as much as the Daybell trial. But I don't think that the prosecution did quite as well in this trial. Of course, the Daybell trial had far more time to prepare.

 

[Luna20]

I guess I still don't understand why JR had to be killed. Couldn't he have done all the same fake catfishing online pretense back and forth, and when they finally found someone to agree to come over and do whatever they talked about, couldn't BB have burst in as a cop and cuffed the guy, then maybe led him down to the basement while BB "took care" of Christine, then blame it all on JR?

Surely he wasn't worried that anyone would believe JRs word over his?

That has too much slip in it. The guy would have flipped on BB in every way. Then it would be 2 people against BB. More timelines to match up, diving into his Fet life account and more.

 

[Izzylizzy]

Ok well didnt he testify that he usually leaves around 730am but that day he left early. So what wife books a fetish fling before her husband is even scheduled to leave, and in her own house. Come on…

No one in their right mind would do that and with a complete stranger in your home to boot.
imo

 

[Luna20]

Yikes!
Thanks!
The prosecution could have been worse.
Curious if a prosecuting attorney is drunk during a trial if a mistrial could be called?

If she was my attorney I would file a complaint. I wouldn’t need to go through 10 attorneys to settle like Ms. Boone did though.

 

[sunspun]

That has too much slip in it. The guy would have flipped on BB in every way. Then it would be 2 people against BB. More timelines to match up, diving into his Fet life account and more.

I can't believe how well it went for BB, well, up until it didn't, I mean.

I mean it basically all went according to plan at first didn't it? Except for that pesky too early 911 call.

But they asked JR to show up at that early hour since CB had to be there asleep when he got there, and JR did, showed up on time.

They asked him to bring a knife, and he did. What would they have done if he didn't bring it? Probably used one from the home, and still blamed it on JR, saying he must have grabbed it on his way in.

Where did JM say Christine was when she and BB entered the room? Had JR actually already started messing with her that fast? He had just gotten there!

 

[Kellygirl2013]

How much time elapsed after JR entered the bedroom, before BB appeared?

Would CB possibly still have been asleep up to that point? I thought JR might have sat there in the room for a little bit, trying to get his nerve up or whatever. Before he woke her up pretending to be her fantasy rapist with a knife.

I do recall CB, according to JM, said, "Brendan, he has a knife!"

So obviously she was awake long enough to know there was a strange man in her bedroom, and he had a knife. And I assume he was saying what to her would have been bizarre things, or maybe he was playing the stranger rapist role so well, that that's all she thought he was. A home intruder with a knife, talking about doing awful things to her.

Was she naked just because she slept in the nude, or was that part of BBs staging?

It does seem weird to me that JR had only barely arrived, and already he must have had his knife out, brandishing it as they say. No time for small talk or foreplay etc, I guess. Well, that was part of what they discussed online before he went there, wasn't it? They must have told him that she didn't want any small talk, I bet. They probably had "her" telling him to stay in character so as to not break the mood, right?

Had to be like that, cuz otherwise I can't see him already with his knife out, only minutes after he got there.

Was she probably asleep when he walked in? Did they know if he actually woke her up, or if she woke up because she heard someone come in?

In the CA evidence (found on the FFX county circuit court website-under high profile cases), there was a receipt found somewhere either in JR’s car or on his person , with a timestamp of 7:13.45 am, of items he purchased that morning from a Walmart located in an area of FFX county that is about a 15 min.drive, from the Banfield residence. So if you figure it takes another minute or so to walk back to his car from the Walmart, and then factoring in rush hour traffic, I don’t think he actually got to the house until a few minutes after 7:30am, so don’t see how he could have had time to do anything with CB before BB and JM walked in on them. IMO I don’t think JR even removed her clothes….I think BB removed them to stage the scene.

 

[Vaderman]

A man and an aupair had an affair and plotted to kill the man's wife. To cover the killing of his wife, they arranged for a sexual encounter they pretended the wife arranged for herself - that a man would enter their home and rape her at knife point. Then the aupair and man suprisingly discover the encounter in action and they killed the man by gunshot and stabbed the wife to death (but claiming the sex-encounter man did the stabbing).

Thank you so much for the summary!

A few more questions:

Was the au pair:
1) Legally implicated in the plot to kill the wife by LE or
2) Morally implicated in the plot by the husband?

Has the au pair cooperated with the state and their argument or has she come out in support of the man?

What's the overall consensus on WS? Is he guilty? Is she?

 

[Megnut]

How much time elapsed after JR entered the bedroom, before BB appeared?

Would CB possibly still have been asleep up to that point? I thought JR might have sat there in the room for a little bit, trying to get his nerve up or whatever. Before he woke her up pretending to be her fantasy rapist with a knife.

I do recall CB, according to JM, said, "Brendan, he has a knife!"

So obviously she was awake long enough to know there was a strange man in her bedroom, and he had a knife. And I assume he was saying what to her would have been bizarre things, or maybe he was playing the stranger rapist role so well, that that's all she thought he was. A home intruder with a knife, talking about doing awful things to her.

Was she naked just because she slept in the nude, or was that part of BBs staging?

It does seem weird to me that JR had only barely arrived, and already he must have had his knife out, brandishing it as they say. No time for small talk or foreplay etc, I guess. Well, that was part of what they discussed online before he went there, wasn't it? They must have told him that she didn't want any small talk, I bet. They probably had "her" telling him to stay in character so as to not break the mood, right?

Had to be like that, cuz otherwise I can't see him already with his knife out, only minutes after he got there.

Was she probably asleep when he walked in? Did they know if he actually woke her up, or if she woke up because she heard someone come in?

JM is a liar. She was truthful enough to get her sweetheart deal but IMO not any more truthful than the barely truthful she was.

Despite all their preparation with JR, there's no way they could be sure he'd do as they described. Lord, what if CB got the knife away from JR and stabbed him to death?

Did they have JR's arrival timed, relative to JM's call to BB?

I'm not sure I trust JM and BB with any version of their story. The only honest witnesses are dead.

BB arrived almost before JM would have entered the bedroom. Who knows at what point BB encountered/accosted him or what he may have forced him to do. Honestly it's just all too awful to imagine.

The only upside in all of this is that he chose to testify. That was a gift to the CW.

IMO it launched them to BARDland

JMO

 

[ttjo]

Yes another thing, yuck!!! That is basic common sense. And she wasn’t dressed appropriately on more than a couple of days. Her hair looked dirty. Seriously, it’s not a good representation.

ObJECtion LEADing

Way too many head scratchers

At one point I kind of felt sorry for the defence. “Objection leading”, “objection speculation”, “objection asked and answered”, objection objection objection, one right after the other. Finally he probably thought to himself “Forget it”and said no more questions.

 

[I am not Sherlock H.]

My concern is the elephant that was in the CW's side of the courtroom.
Will any jurors wonder why the CW did not put on a witness(es) to rebut that CB was into S&M?
This has been gnawing at me.

Yesterday's Court TV's reporter who was in the courtroom said that when BB was testifing about CB and S&M that CB's sister who was in the gallery kept shaking her head back and forth.
Why didn't;t she testify for the CW?
imo

Good question, and sometimes hard to discern @Izzylizzy ….. and IANAL.

But I did learn from an attorney some years back. And that was that in some cases, some things are better not responded to or addressed. Best left to twist or remain unanswered. Unacknowledged or unrefuted. Unless and until needed, if needed. I think @Inthedetails is also correct above post # 1500 for some additional reasons. And it might also have been seen as a cheap shot or ill attempt to smear the victim?

Interestingly I watched a Murder in the Heartland episode today on Oxygen. Perhaps some relevance here? One of the detectives recapping the story spoke of a case (post conviction) where the two defendants were tried together. And they simply tried to blame each other in open court. And the detective quipped…… those are sometimes perfect situations that arise…… as one can observe and think (and jurors can likely see) …… “well, there you go…..someone must be telling the ‘truth’”.

And that is not to make light of it. Just the sad irony that often happens in some of these horrid cases. MOO

 

[ttjo]

Good question, and sometimes hard to discern @Izzylizzy ….. and IANAL.

But I did learn from an attorney some years back. And that was that in some cases, some things are better not responded to or addressed. Best left to twist or remain unanswered. Unacknowledged or unrefuted. Unless and until needed, if needed. I think @Inthedetails is also correct above post # 1500 for some additional reasons. And it might also have been seen as a cheap shot or ill attempt to smear the victim?

Interestingly I watched a Murder in the Heartland episode today on Oxygen. Perhaps some relevance here? One of the detectives recapping the story spoke of a case (post conviction) where the two defendants were tried together. And they simply tried to blame each other in open court. And the detective quipped…… those are sometimes perfect situations that arise…… as one can observe and think (and jurors can likely see) …… “well, there you go…..someone must be telling the ‘truth’”.

And that is not to make light of it. Just the sad irony that often happens in some of these horrid cases. MOO

And wouldnt it be hard to put on a rebut witness for something like that. I would think it’s private and possibly the witness is just not aware of it.
I mean I sure dont believe it, but its something that could be hidden .

 

[Luna20]

At one point I kind of felt sorry for the defence. “Objection leading”, “objection speculation”, “objection asked and answered”, objection objection objection, one right after the other. Finally he probably thought to himself “Forget it”and said no more questions.

Overkill between that and the “okays”

 

[Megnut]

Thank you so much for the summary!

A few more questions:

Was the au pair:
1) Legally implicated in the plot to kill the wife by LE or
2) Morally implicated in the plot by the husband?

Has the au pair cooperated with the state and their argument or has she come out in support of the man?

What's the overall consensus on WS? Is he guilty? Is she?

1. Charged and convicted of the lesser charges of manslaughter. Expected to be sentenced to time served and then deported.

She dissent cooperate for a very long time, before deciding to cooperate. She sent him long letters telling him they wanted her to roll on him...

Gonna say consensus is yes, but guilty as hell.

In fact, that they conspired to and carried out these murders. It's the only explanation for the evidence at hand.

No other explanation is even kind of credible.

JMO

 

[Luna20]

Thank you so much for the summary!

A few more questions:

Was the au pair:
1) Legally implicated in the plot to kill the wife by LE or
2) Morally implicated in the plot by the husband?

Has the au pair cooperated with the state and their argument or has she come out in support of the man?

What's the overall consensus on WS? Is he guilty? Is she?

Yes, implicated

She got a deal to testify against him

They are both guilty and from what I’ve seen here that is the overall consensus

 

[Vaderman]

1. Charged and convicted of the lesser charges of manslaughter. Expected to be sentenced to time served and then deported.

She dissent cooperate for a very long time, before deciding to cooperate. She sent him long letters telling him they wanted her to roll on him...

Gonna say consensus is yes, but guilty as hell.

In fact, that they conspired to and carried out these murders. It's the only explanation for the evidence at hand.

No other explanation is even kind of credible.

JMO

Yes, implicated

She got a deal to testify against him

They are both guilty and from what I’ve seen here that is the overall consensus

Thank you both for bringing me up to speed!

 

[Luna20]

1. Charged and convicted of the lesser charges of manslaughter. Expected to be sentenced to time served and then deported.

She dissent cooperate for a very long time, before deciding to cooperate. She sent him long letters telling him they wanted her to roll on him...

Gonna say consensus is yes, but guilty as hell.

In fact, that they conspired to and carried out these murders. It's the only explanation for the evidence at hand.

No other explanation is even kind of credible.

JMO

What happens if it’s a mistrial? Would she be held back?

 

[ttjo]

Thank you both for bringing me up to speed!

She also is very manipulative. She broke up with him many times, (oh please) thats just basically giving him an ultimatum. Head games.

 

[Izzylizzy]

I've been trying to pinpoint what I didn't like, and I think it comes down to treating a double murder as casually as a lesser crime like stealing a bike or something. The weight of the case didn't seem heavy in the way it was handled.

jmopinion

Yep.
The prosecution lacked passion .
Jenna Sand's opening, during the trial and her closing.

 

[DropthePuck]

Random musings:
I'm still scratching my head over how this plain, balding schlub had multiple affairs and that women were actually attracted to him .

I'm worried that if he's found guilty, he'll file an appeal based on ineffective counsel, win the appeal, and get a new trial. Since JM will be a free woman in Brazil, the CW no longer has any leverage to make her testify against him and that could put a damper on the CW's case. According to Peter Tragos, the CW has no case w/o JM. I'm not sure I agree.