Brendan Banfield testifies he shot his wife’s attacker trying to save her life

By Lauren del Valle, CNN

(CNN) — A Virginia man on trial for allegedly killing his wife and another man told a jury how he found his wife being attacked in their bedroom and shot the man who was stabbing her.

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 started testifying Wednesday afternoon about his version of events. He’s 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.

Banfield acknowledged his affair with Juliana Peres Magalhães that started in August 2022, but testified that he never had a plan with the au pair to get rid of his wife.

He said he made clear to Peres Magalhães that he’d had affairs in the past, and this was just another affair and that it would not change his relationship with his wife.

Banfield said 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.

On Thursday, Banfield also testified that he and Peres Magalhães had broken up at different times in their affair and were not actively in a relationship the day of the killings.

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 Wednesday. 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,” he said. “As far as I knew, Juliana was going to be going to the zoo” with the Banfields’ then 4-year-old daughter.

Banfield said he only learned his wife took off from work the night before. “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 nearby 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 very stressed while he was using the restroom at the fast food restaurant, Banfield testified.

He told Peres Magalhães he’d call Christine, but that call to his wife went straight to voicemail. He then called the au pair again. Banfield testified he told Peres Magalhães he’d come home and she should not go into the house alone.

On Thursday, Banfield testified he told the au pair to stay with his daughter outside while he went to investigate the house. He thought he could be walking in on his wife having an affair so he used the basement door in his backyard to avoid being heard at the front door, Banfield said.

“I believed that it was an affair that was going on at that point…doesn’t seem like an emergency for the police to be involved in,” he said.

Banfield said he still didn’t think it was an immediately dangerous situation when he crept upstairs to the kitchen area and heard what he thought was sex.

But then the sounds changed.

“Instead of what I thought was the sounds of sex, I thought that the impact sounds sounded forceful, and that Christine’s moaning sounded painful and not pleasurable, and that the distance between the sounds of – the distance between the sound of the skin on the skin contacts sounded too far apart for sex. And I thought that – I thought that maybe she was being hurt.”

According to Banfield, Peres Magalhães had followed him into the basement, carrying his daughter. He didn’t stop them from coming in the house but said he told his 4-year-old to stay with the au pair in the basement.

He testified that Peres Magalhães at some point followed him upstairs, leaving his daughter alone, but he was focused on his wife and didn’t address it at the time.

On cross-examination Thursday, Banfield said he’s thought about those decisions a lot and wishes he handled it differently.

“I understand that and it may have been a mistake that I didn’t send them back, that I didn’t send them back out, and it’s something that I’ve thought about many times, many times.”

Banfield describes how he says the killings unfolded

Banfield, an IRS investigator, testified he locked eyes with Ryan, who was kneeling over his naked wife on the bedroom floor. He announced himself as “police” when he entered the room with his service gun drawn.

Christine called to him, “Brendan, he has a knife,” Banfield testified.

Banfield said he hadn’t initially seen the knife, covered by his wife’s hair, and hoped to diffuse the situation without using his gun.

He described a tense back and forth with Ryan, who he said told him to drop the gun and didn’t remove himself from Christine.

Banfield told Ryan he was under arrest and then watched Ryan stab his wife, he testified. That’s when he fired a shot that struck Ryan in the head, though he testified that he didn’t learn where he’d hit Ryan until months later.

On cross-examination, prosecutor Jenna Sands questioned Banfield’s timeline and why he didn’t shoot Ryan sooner if he was stabbing his wife.

“I was afraid,” Banfield said.

Sands asked, “And you are a trained law enforcement officer, correct?”
“I am,” he said. “My shooting record is on the lower end for the qualifications, and there is not – there’s very little space there, and I was afraid of hitting her.”

Banfield testified he rushed to his wife, first kicking the knife away from Ryan. Christine was conscious at the time and guided him through putting pressure on her stab wounds, Banfield said.

As she directed him to hold her neck he recalled, “Christine told me that she was bleeding out and that she was sorry and that she loved me.”

When he noticed Peres Magalhães in the room, he told her to call 911 but she rushed out of the room. She went to his safe in the closet and pulled out his personal firearm, Banfield said he later learned, but claimed he did not direct Peres Magalhães to shoot Ryan.

He recalled Ryan striking him in the back near his shoulder blade around the same time he heard Peres Magalhães fire the shot.

“It was at this point to that there was another shot and I looked up and I saw that Juliana had my other firearm. And I was stunned that Juliana had shot.”

Reacting to the shot, Banfield said he jumped up, then standing between his wife and Ryan. He then told Peres Magalhães to call 911, but the au pair seemed to be stunned, not moving. Eventually the au pair dialed 911, pacing and stumbling over her words, so Banfield testified that he took the phone from Peres Magalhães to answer the dispatcher’s questions.

The jury heard the audio recording of this call earlier at trial.

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 staged by Banfield, who concocted the scheme to “get rid” of his wife.

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

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.

Banfield testified Thursday that, after Peres Magalhães shot Ryan, he didn’t leave Chistine’s side until first responders intervened.

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.

Past affairs and a digital trail

Banfield said he developed a real relationship with Peres Magalhães after his wife’s death. The jury saw a letter he wrote to her in jail after her arrest – he called her a hero.

Banfield testified that when Peres Magalhães shot Ryan he still could’ve been a threat to them. Banfield said his own gun and the knife were on the floor near Ryan while he was distracted, tending to wife.

“She was a hero, because, in my view she saved my life that day. I think it’s easier to fall in love with somebody that saved you.”

Banfield testified that both he and his wife had affairs during their nearly 20 years of marriage and Christine pursued her interest in sexual violence outside their marriage on at least two occasions.

“Back in New York, I know that Christine had an affair where she was involved in a BDSM relationship for a month or two,” Banfield testified.

According to Banfield, his wife, who spent years as a sexual trauma nurse examiner, had a specific interest in sexual violence and often brought home case documents with graphic images.

On cross-examination, Banfield acknowledged at least two affairs he had, including one relationship he solicited on a “sugar baby” website.

A prosecutor also asked him if he knew of any internet history on his wife’s devices that might’ve revealed her soliciting a sexual violent relationship.

“I was aware that she was interested… in this type of thing, but I was unaware of the messages or that she was pursuing this again, as it’d been many years since she had expressed those feelings,” Banfield said.

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

The defense called a digital forensics expert who testified his analysis of devices in this case does not support prosecutors’ catfishing theory. But the expert also acknowledged during cross-examination that 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 did not know the password to his wife’s laptop and never accessed it without her. He also testified he never observed Peres Magalhães use Christine Banfield’s laptop or phone.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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