00:00:07
One would hope that someday you will become tortured by what you have done to Christine, Joe, Christine's daughter,
00:00:12
and their families. But nothing I have seen suggests that you will. The level of cruelty, calculation, and
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inhumanity in this case reflects something far deeper than anger or impulse. It reflects evil.
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Which is why I carry no burden and find no hesitation in sentencing you to life.
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>> That was Fairfax County Circuit Judge Penny S. Saracatsannis announcing the sentence for former IRS special agent
00:00:38
Brandon Banfield. Life in prison without the possibility of parole. Now, Banfield
00:00:43
was found guilty of murdering his wife, Christine, and another man, Joseph Ryan,
00:00:47
inside the Banfield's Northern Virginia home in 2023. The case had been dubbed the au pair
00:00:55
affair because of Brandon's relationship with the Banfield's Brazilian live-in nanny, Juliana Peres Magalhaes. Now,
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Juliana pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter for also shooting Joseph Ryan and cooperated with the government
00:01:10
testifying against Brandon. In February, uh Magalhaes was sentenced to 10 years behind bars, and on Friday,
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June 5th, the victims' family members spoke up to honor their loved ones and seek justice.
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>> Somehow I found myself reliving something I had never experienced as if I had been there.
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I envisioned Christine's fear, felt her terror, and wished I was there to take her place.
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I no longer had a sister. I was no longer a sister. The absence of Joe is not abstract. It
00:01:42
is constant, visible, and devastating. >> Welcome to Case by Case. I'm 48 Hours correspondent Anne Marie Green, and I'm
00:01:51
joined by producer Michelle Segona, who has followed every twist and turn of this story. Today, we're going to
00:01:57
discuss its dramatic conclusion, including Brendan Banfield's decision to speak in court. Hello, Michelle.
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>> Hey, Emery. It's great to see you. You know, it's been more than 3 years for these victims' families. And during
00:02:10
sentencing, I always think about how difficult this is for them, but also how strong they have to be to be able to be
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that voice for their loved ones. >> I want you to sort of walk us through some of the key moments from the
00:02:24
sentencing, but can you also remind folks of just how we got here? >> During his January trial, the
00:02:31
Commonwealth argued Brendan and Juliana plotted to kill Christine Banfield by luring Joseph Ryan to the house.
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The goal in all of this was to make it look like Joe was the one who stabbed Christine to death. Brendan and Juliana
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created online accounts impersonating Christine, including on a fetish site, and ultimately convinced Joe Ryan to
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come to the Banfield house with a knife under the pretense of a rough sexual encounter.
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Brendan entered the bedroom to save his wife and shot Joe in self-defense. >> And key to the Commonwealth's case was
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the Banfield's au pair, Juliana. >> Did he tell you what he wanted to do? >> Yes.
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>> What did he say? >> He mentioned that his plan to get rid of her. >> So, she said he mentioned his plan to
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get rid of her. >> And this was really a case of he said, she said. Juliana came to the United
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States from Brazil as an au pair in 2021. And started a relationship with Brendan in 2022. And she testified that
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Brendan wanted out of his marriage, but felt a divorce was not an option. So, he wanted full custody of his
00:03:49
daughter. And Juliana said money was also a concern in all of this. And remember, Juliana and Brendan lived
00:03:56
together in the house. In the bedroom, Anne Marie, that he used to share with Christine after the Kelleys. That is,
00:04:05
until Juliana was arrested months later followed by Brendan's arrest. Right, so let us go back over sort of the details
00:04:13
of this murder plan because it sort of convoluted. It is convoluted. It's there's so many details and so many
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twists and turns it's hard to wrap your brain around a lot of it. According to the prosecution and Juliana, Joe was
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told to come to the house. This was on February 24th, 2023. And it was in the early morning and Christine was still in
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the bedroom. Brendan then left the house under the pretense of going to work, but
00:04:41
he was really at a McDonald's. Now, Juliana had also departed with the Banfield's young daughter for a supposed
00:04:48
trip to the zoo. The door was left unlocked when they left the house ready for Joe's arrival.
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Now, Juliana said she parked near the house and tipped Brendan off as to when Joe went inside the house. Now, Brendan,
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Juliana and Valerie, all three of them returned to the house and they went around back and they entered through the
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basement. Valerie and Juliana stayed downstairs. Now, this was as Brendan headed upstairs
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to the bedroom, but then Juliana followed Brendan. Juliana testified that when she got to the room, Christine was
00:05:26
still alive. Yelling at Brendan that Joe had a knife and that's when Juliana said Brendan
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shot Joe. So, you know, Christine obviously is unaware of any of this. She thinks that
00:05:39
a man has entered her bedroom, a knife-wielding man has entered her bedroom. Joe thinks that he is coming
00:05:46
for some sort of consensual rendezvous. So, they they are both sort of confused about what's happening. At this point,
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Christine has not been stabbed yet. She was yelling because there's a strange man in her room and he's got a knife.
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>> And according to Juliana, Christine was terrified and told her to call 911. Now, she did
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make the call, but then claimed that Brendan did some sort of signal for her to hang up. So, she hung up right away.
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That was the first 911 call. She stepped away and then returned to see Brendan stabbing Christine.
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Juliana said that she also saw Joe moving and warned Brendan and then shot Joe. Now, she said Brendan had given her
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a gun earlier that day. >> And then she called 911 for real. >> 911, what's your emergency?
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>> I need I need help. Brendan is uh My my friend and she just was stabbing my friend now. She's putting him up. I
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don't know what to do anymore. >> So, law enforcement arrived soon after, but Brendan was not arrested. That
00:06:55
didn't actually come until a year and a half later. In fact, Juliana was the first one arrested and jailed.
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>> And she stood by Brendan, but then ultimately cooperated with the Commonwealth and pleaded guilty to
00:07:07
manslaughter. And then Brendan was arrested and indicted. >> A- And correct me if I'm wrong,
00:07:13
Michelle, but she was getting help from Brendan's mom. Like they were putting money on her books and that sort of
00:07:18
thing while she was in jail. And she she was standing by him for for a bit. >> She did stand by him for a while. His
00:07:23
family was helping her out, especially in the beginning. This was until she decided to be the Commonwealth star
00:07:31
witness. >> So, Brendan and his defense, they continue to deny this whole catfishing
00:07:41
scheme. This was always self-defense after an intruder entered the home and then attacked Christine.
00:07:46
>> Even when he spoke at sentencing, Amarie, Brendan said that there was no indication that he or Juliana had access
00:07:55
to Christine's devices to create fake accounts. He said there was no evidence that he even stabbed Christine.
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>> There is no dispute that Joe Ryan brought the knife to my home. My DNA and fingerprints are not on the
00:08:08
knife. Joe Ryan's DNA is on the knife right at the junction of the handle and the blade.
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The DNA is right where you would expect it to be for someone who is forcefully using the knife.
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>> And then during the trial, the defense had pointed out that Juliana had changed
00:08:25
her stories, uh suggesting that she only worked with the government after Brandon
00:08:30
was arrested and she sort of lost hope. >> Look, the jury didn't buy it during the
00:08:34
trial and the judge didn't buy it at sentencing. And just a reminder that in addition to two counts of aggravated
00:08:41
murder, Brandon Banfield was also found guilty of one count of use of a firearm and one count of child endangerment.
00:08:49
>> Right. And Michelle, we should talk a little bit about the child endangerment
00:08:52
charge. Uh in in an earlier 48 Hours podcast episode, uh we talked a little bit about this. It's because that while
00:08:58
the killings were taking place, the Banfield's daughter was in the house downstairs in the basement.
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>> She was. It's disturbing that this happened with a 4-year-old child inside of that Virginia
00:09:11
home where her mother was being set up and ultimately murdered. >> Yeah, you can only imagine what what she
00:09:19
heard. So, we had the guilty verdict and then the sentencing now. Um I should note
00:09:24
that the day before the sentencing, Banfield's defense attorney tried to get the murder verdict thrown out, uh but
00:09:30
the judge dismissed his motion. As for the sentencing itself, it was an opportunity for family members now to
00:09:37
really tell the judge more about their loved ones, more about what they have lost.
00:09:42
>> That testimony at trial was a very much about the evidence, troubles in the marriage, but not a lot of detail about
00:09:49
who Christine and Joe were as people. So, let's start by hearing from Christine's older sister, Danielle
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Hawker. >> The memories we shared growing up held helped shape my sense of love, family,
00:10:01
and who I am. They felt simple and whole, filled with laughter, safety, and love.
00:10:09
Since moving losing her, those same memories have changed. They are no longer just joyful, but layered with
00:10:15
grief. Each one a reminder of both how much I had and how much was taken. >> It was especially emotional when
00:10:23
Danielle would reflect on their time as children and all of these memories that they shared together as little kids all
00:10:31
the way up until adults. Uh Christine's obsession with the Backstreet Boys, watching Full House on TV, having a
00:10:39
crush on Brad Pitt in Legends of the Fall. We also learned more about Christine's life as a nurse and how she
00:10:46
wanted to help others. >> Yeah, I mean, even Brandon talks about that. We'll get to that later, but I
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mean, she was so dedicated particularly through the pandemic when it was very grueling work. She also obviously had
00:10:59
some very strong words for her brother-in-law, Brandon, particularly in regards to his allegations that his
00:11:05
wife, Christine, had also been unfaithful. >> His lies did not just attempt to destroy
00:11:10
her reputation, they forced me to relive my grief with anger and helplessness I cannot fully describe.
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He was the one that had countless affairs, several attempts at finding the right
00:11:22
mistress that would eventually help carry out the plan with him because the absurd line of questioning about a plan
00:11:28
didn't just develop when he started his affair, Juliana. I believe she meant no more to him than
00:11:34
anyone else in his life. She was just another person to control and exploit. What he presented as affection was
00:11:42
manipulation. What may have appeared as love was nothing more than strategy. If there had been any genuine intent to
00:11:49
build a life with Juliana, he could have chosen a lawful and honest path. He could have divorced and moved on.
00:11:56
The divorce would have required relinquishing control, and control was always the priority. His actions were
00:12:02
not driven by love, but a desire for power, deception, and a complete disregard for
00:12:09
the lives he destroyed. >> And Danielle also brought up her young niece in all of this and how one day she
00:12:17
would have to hear about how her father talked about her mother. Um but Danielle really assured the court
00:12:23
that her and her family would make sure that this child would hear stories about
00:12:29
her mom um and hear them with light and joy and love. >> Mhm. And then we also heard about Joe
00:12:37
Ryan because sort of, you know, during the trial, we only really know him as the man from FetLife uh fetish app,
00:12:44
right? Who falls victim to this murder plot. For Brendan, he is nothing but a pawn. It could have been Joe Ryan, it
00:12:52
could have been anyone else who who kind of showed up. And so hearing from his mother and his aunt, it really humanized
00:13:00
him. >> It did. His mother, Deidre Fisher, she wasn't able to be in the courtroom, but
00:13:05
she did speak via video conference. And she was emotional. She really was um when talking about how hard it was to
00:13:15
see her son in the public eye initially being accused of killing Christine. She said she has a lot of medical issues
00:13:24
right now, which are linked to the trauma of her son's murder. >> Brendan Banfield, his defense team,
00:13:32
even some of the press, carelessly carelessly characterized Joe as the intruder.
00:13:44
The fetish guy into rough sex. The rapist and the murderer. Or simply the other forgettable guy.
00:14:00
Not even showing Joe's face during the murder trial. Joe was chosen because Brendan Banfield
00:14:10
thought he would make a good dupe to be framed for the planned murder of his wife.
00:14:20
As with so many other things, Brendan was wrong. In some ways, my son was flawed, regular
00:14:30
Joe. But it also had some amazing qualities. >> She described Joe as caring, someone who looked after his
00:14:40
grandparents. She said he was the person who would fight for the underdog. He had
00:14:45
a lot of love for gardening. He loved animals, and she also described him as a feminist.
00:14:51
>> I mean, Michelle, here's the thing, right? Whatever he was sort of involved in, this is supposed to be consenting
00:14:57
adults. There's nothing wrong with this sort of behavior, and it's also just one
00:15:01
aspect of a person's life. You know, clearly he was much more than that. >> I just I wish that these positive things
00:15:07
about Christine and Joe would be the first first things that come up on the first page of a, you know, of the search
00:15:14
engine as opposed to to all of this negativity. >> Yeah, absolutely. >> [music] >> And then Brendan Banfield spoke.
00:15:26
>> Yeah, I wasn't sure what he was going to say. I wondered whether or not he would
00:15:29
apologize or take it sort of any ownership at all. Certainly, he testified during the trial, but this was
00:15:35
a moment for him to speak beyond that. I'm I'm curious, you know, your reaction to what he had to say.
00:15:41
>> I would like to say I was surprised or shocked that he didn't take responsibility. Um but I think what we
00:15:47
heard at the trial and what we heard at the sentencing really go hand in hand. He had trouble getting out some of his
00:15:53
sentences. He was reading very fast. At one point he even stopped and paused for
00:15:58
a long period. Um he continued to blame law enforcement uh who he believes put the catfishing story ahead of the
00:16:06
evidence in his case. And I was struck at how he described Christine as a wife and a mother and we want to play you a
00:16:14
little bit of that. >> You know, Christine was a wonderful and loving person. Just as you heard from many of the
00:16:21
people here, she was a a loving and and compassionate nurse. During COVID, she volunteered to take
00:16:28
care of to take care of many of the people that were sick and struggling. She signed up for extra shifts. She
00:16:35
signed up for vaccination clinics. She cared for her daughter. She went She enrolled her in dance lessons. She was
00:16:42
there for for recitals. I loved her very much. Despite what you may think of my affairs, our marriage worked for us. It
00:16:54
wasn't something It wasn't something that I looked to end. There was no It was told to other women
00:17:01
that I was never going to leave Christine. That was always That was always how it
00:17:06
was said. >> And so interesting what he said about his marriage. He said he didn't want to
00:17:12
diminish Christine's life, but insisted he wasn't responsible for her death. He didn't display
00:17:19
any type of remorse during the sentencing hearing. A lot of defensiveness and again, Brendan
00:17:25
Banfield took zero responsibility. So, although he was charged with two counts of aggravated murder, he could only be
00:17:33
sentenced to one because of Virginia law. The judge said that in her 18 years on the bench, she had sentenced hundreds
00:17:41
of defendants and most of those individuals were not inherently bad. Uh she described them rather, you know,
00:17:48
people who maybe made mistakes. But she said that there were two instances of individuals who showed no remorse
00:17:55
and that it was apparent that Brendan was, and this is a quote, the same kind of evil. I want to play some of what the
00:18:03
judge had to say. It's long, but I definitely think it's worth hearing it full. >> The disregard of the life of your wife,
00:18:09
someone you supposedly loved, is almost unfathomable. Scheming for months a master plan
00:18:15
involving so many moving parts deception and manipulation manipulation luring a completely innocent man into
00:18:22
your deadly trap continuing on after the murders without a care and not once not once thinking of the impact on
00:18:29
Christine's daughter, the unspoken tragic victim of your behavior. You did not just take her mother from
00:18:35
her. You placed her in the middle of the horror you created. She is young now, but one day she will
00:18:40
understand your true self. And she will understand what you took from her, which is everything.
00:18:46
The loss of her mother who will never be a part of her life as she grows the loss of her family and the security
00:18:51
she lived under. All of this is lost based on your calculated and selfish behavior.
00:18:57
It is impossible to comprehend what Joseph Ryan experienced, seeing you enter the court enter the room
00:19:03
being shot in the head, blinded hearing you instruct the co-defendant to shoot him again.
00:19:08
And Christine, to imagine her final thoughts as she initially thought you were there to save her from what she
00:19:14
thought was a brutal attack. And then to see you over her stabbing her again and again with a knife in her
00:19:20
neck. Her final realization that this was all your doing. And in her final moments thinking of her
00:19:26
daughter. >> I have thought a lot about what Christine was thinking during those
00:19:32
final moments before she died. Um the thought of her not being able to hug and protect her child. I thought about
00:19:39
Joseph Ryan, how scared and confused he and Christine must have been in those moments. And when the judge concluded
00:19:46
this hearing with these strong words, she said it perfectly. That this was a trap. This was a deadly trap. And the
00:19:53
repercussions for so many are extreme. >> So Michelle Rondon Banfield is expected
00:19:59
to serve life in prison. >> If there's going to be an appeal, he needs to sort of
00:20:03
file an appeal within 30 days of the final order of the case. He will have a new attorney. As of now, it's a
00:20:11
court-appointed attorney. He wasn't sure if he was going to use the court-appointed attorney or if he was
00:20:16
going to hire his own. The judge appointed him an attorney because the expectation was there would be an
00:20:21
appeal. You know, you've been there for all the twists and turns of this case. Any final thoughts?
00:20:27
>> You know, the final piece to this long puzzle is in place at the moment, right?
00:20:31
But this isn't completely over. Now, if Banfield appeals, it depends on what happens during that process of what the
00:20:39
next steps for this case could be. Um I hope that the families here, both sides,
00:20:46
have some sort of comfort knowing that the two people found responsible, one defendant from a plea, another one from
00:20:53
a jury, that they are behind bars in [music] the here and now. >> Yes, they are. Um
00:20:59
Michelle Sigona, thank you so much cuz this was a complicated case and you've helped to guide us through the whole
00:21:05
thing. [music] Um and thanks for joining Case by Case. Thank you so much. And thanks to all of
00:21:11
you for listening. Be sure to rate and review wherever you get your podcast. >> [music]