The Au Pair Affair Murder Trial Of Brendan Banfield

Iris Dalley-Graff, Forensics Analyst, took the stand today in the Brendan Banfield murder trial in Fairfax County, Virginia. Banfield, a former IRS Criminal Investigation agent, faces four counts of aggravated murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and child abuse charges in the February 24, 2023 deaths of his wife Christine Banfield and Joseph Ryan. Prosecutors allege Banfield an...

Brendan Banfield is on trial for double murder. Prosecutors say he spent months planning an elaborate scheme to kill his wife Christine and frame Joseph Ryan as a home invader — all so he could be with the family's au pair. The entire case depends on Juliana Peres Magalhaes testifying against him. Retired FBI Special Agent Robin Dreeke is here to break it all down. Dreeke led the FBI's Counterinte...

He was a federal agent who allegedly built a murder plot designed to be undetectable. She was an au pair who lied for a year before becoming the prosecution's star witness. And in Ohio, a surgeon allegedly waited eight years to kill the woman who left him. In this special interview, former FBI Special Agent Robin Dreeke — who ran the FBI's Counterintelligence Behavioral Analysis Program — delivers...

She's the prosecution's entire case — and the most compromised witness in the trial. Juliana Peres Magalhães is the only person alive who was in that Herndon bedroom when Christine Banfield and Joseph Ryan were killed. She's testified in graphic detail about what she says Brendan Banfield did that morning. But she also spent a year lying to protect him. She wrote letters promising to "take the bla...

He was a federal agent. A husband. A father. And according to prosecutors, a calculated killer who spent months building a murder plot designed to look like a home invasion. Brendan Banfield is on trial for the February 2023 killings of his wife Christine Banfield and Joseph Ryan — a stranger prosecutors say was lured to the family's Herndon, Virginia home through a fake fetish profile and groomed...

Juliana Peres Magalhaes took the stand on Day 1 and described what prosecutors say happened inside the Banfield home on February 24, 2023. According to her testimony, Brendan Banfield shot Joseph Ryan in the head, then stabbed his wife Christine repeatedly in the neck — while their 4-year-old daughter waited in the basement to go to the zoo. Prosecutors allege Banfield and Magalhaes — the family's...

There were 24 competing theories before the au pair changed her story. Nineteen months passed before charges were filed. Eight months went by before a key piece of evidence was collected. The original prosecutor was removed after being cited for drinking at 8 a.m. And the forensics expert whose findings contradicted the prosecution's case was transferred out of his unit. That's the investigation a...

The prosecution's entire case depends on Juliana Peres Magalhaes testifying against Brendan Banfield. But who was really controlling whom in this relationship? Retired FBI Special Agent Robin Dreeke joins the Banfield Channel to break down the dynamic the jury needs to understand. Dreeke led the FBI's Counterintelligence Behavioral Analysis Program and wrote the book on trust and manipulation. He'...

Day three of the Brendan Banfield trial shifted from au pair Juliana Peres Magalhães's testimony to the investigators who processed the crime scene — and the evidence they presented may be the most damning yet. Fairfax County crime scene photographer Kenner Fortner showed jurors what detectives found when they returned to the Banfield home eight months after Christine Banfield and Joseph Ryan were...

Brendan Banfield is on trial for double murder. Prosecutors say he spent months planning an elaborate scheme to kill his wife Christine and frame Joseph Ryan as a home invader — all so he could be with the family's au pair. But does his behavior actually support that theory? Retired FBI Special Agent Robin Dreeke joins the Banfield Channel to offer something no other analyst can: a behavioral deep...

Madeline Crowley, Senior DNA Analyst, took the stand today in the Brendan Banfield murder trial in Fairfax County, Virginia. Banfield, a former IRS Criminal Investigation agent, faces four counts of aggravated murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and child abuse charges in the February 24, 2023 deaths of his wife Christine Banfield and Joseph Ryan. Prosecutors allege Banfield an...

Susan Greenspoon, Forensics Molecular Biologist at the Virginia Dept. of Forensic Science, took the stand today in the Brendan Banfield murder trial in Fairfax County, Virginia. Banfield, a former IRS Criminal Investigation agent, faces four counts of aggravated murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and child abuse charges in the February 24, 2023 deaths of his wife Christine Ban...

Banfield, a former IRS Criminal Investigation agent, faces four counts of aggravated murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and child abuse charges in the February 24, 2023 deaths of his wife Christine Banfield and Joseph Ryan. Prosecutors allege Banfield and the family's Brazilian au pair, Juliana Peres Magalhães, were having an affair and conspired to lure Ryan to their Herndon...

Cara McCarthy, Supervisor at the Virginia Dept. of Forensics Science, took the stand today in the Brendan Banfield murder trial in Fairfax County, Virginia. Banfield, a former IRS Criminal Investigation agent, faces four counts of aggravated murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and child abuse charges in the February 24, 2023 deaths of his wife Christine Banfield and Joseph Ryan...

Douglas Gudakunst, Fingerprint Specialist with the Fairfax County Police Department, took the stand in the murder trial of Brendan Banfield, the former IRS agent charged with four counts of aggravated murder in the deaths of his wife Christine Banfield and Joseph Ryan. Prosecutors allege Banfield and the family's au pair, Juliana Peres Magalhães, lured Ryan to their Herndon home through a fetish w...

Terry Leach, Detective with the Fairfax County Police Department, took the stand today in the Brendan Banfield murder trial in Fairfax County, Virginia. Banfield, a former IRS Criminal Investigation agent, faces four counts of aggravated murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and child abuse charges in the February 24, 2023 deaths of his wife Christine Banfield and Joseph Ryan. Pr...

Kenner Fortner, Sgt. with the Fairfax County Police Department, took the stand today in the Brendan Banfield murder trial in Fairfax County, Virginia. Banfield, a former IRS Criminal Investigation agent, faces four counts of aggravated murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and child abuse charges in the February 24, 2023 deaths of his wife Christine Banfield and Joseph Ryan. Pros...

Day 2 of the Brendan Banfield murder trial was all about one thing: destroying the credibility of star witness Juliana Peres Magalhães. Defense attorney John Carroll spent hours reading letters Magalhães wrote from jail — letters in which she promised Banfield she wouldn't cooperate, told his mother she would "give my life for his" and "take the blame for both of us," and complained about facing l...

Juliana Peres Magalhaes, former Banfield au pair, continued to be cross-examined on the stand today in the Brendan Banfield murder trial in Fairfax County, Virginia. Banfield, a former IRS Criminal Investigation agent, faces four counts of aggravated murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and child abuse charges in the February 24, 2023 deaths of his wife Christine Banfield and Jo...

The prosecution says Brendan Banfield planned an elaborate double murder. But their own expert contradicted their theory — and was transferred. Their lead detective was reassigned. Their prosecutor was removed. They had 24 different theories until the au pair flipped. Defense attorney Bob Motta joins the Banfield Channel to break down exactly where this case bleeds — and how you destroy the star w...

Juliana Peres Magalhaes, former Banfield au pair, continued to be cross-examined on the stand today in the Brendan Banfield murder trial in Fairfax County, Virginia. Banfield, a former IRS Criminal Investigation agent, faces four counts of aggravated murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and child abuse charges in the February 24, 2023 deaths of his wife Christine Banfield and Jo...

Juliana Peres Magalhaes, former Banfield au pair  , took the stand today the Brendan Banfield murder trial in Fairfax County, Virginia. Banfield, a former IRS Criminal Investigation agent, faces four counts of aggravated murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and child abuse charges in the February 24, 2023 deaths of his wife Christine Banfield and Joseph Ryan. Prosecutors allege...

Juliana Peres Magalhaes, former Banfield au pair, took the stand today the Brendan Banfield murder trial in Fairfax County, Virginia. Banfield, a former IRS Criminal Investigation agent, faces four counts of aggravated murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and child abuse charges in the February 24, 2023 deaths of his wife Christine Banfield and Joseph Ryan. Prosecutors allege Ba...

The prosecution says Brendan Banfield planned an elaborate double murder. But their own expert contradicted their theory — and was transferred. Their lead detective was reassigned. Their prosecutor was removed. They had 24 different theories until the au pair flipped. So where does reasonable doubt live? Defense attorney Bob Motta joins the Banfield Channel to break down the prosecution's case fro...

Day 1 of the Brendan Banfield murder trial delivered explosive testimony from the prosecution's star witness — Juliana Peres Magalhães, the Brazilian au pair who was having an affair with Banfield and has admitted to firing one of the shots that killed Joseph Ryan. Magalhães testified that Banfield told her in October 2022 he wanted to "get rid of" his wife Christine because he didn't want to pay...