Au Pair Affair Trial: “I Wish I Shot Him Earlier," Brendan Banfield Tells His (Wild) Story

Summary

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Podcast Summary: "Au Pair Affair Trial: 'I Wish I Shot Him Earlier,' Brendan Banfield Tells His (Wild) Story"

Podcast: Amy Robach & T.J. Holmes Present (iHeartPodcasts)
Episode Date: January 29, 2026

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Overview

In this explosive episode, Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes dive into a pivotal, highly anticipated moment in the Brendan Banfield "au pair affair" double murder trial: Banfield's direct testimony. For the first time, listeners hear his version of the events that resulted in the deaths of his wife, Christine Banfield, and another man, Joe Ryan. The hosts dissect Banfield's story piece by piece, comparing it to prosecution claims, examining inconsistencies, and pondering what "makes sense"—and what doesn't—in this twisting case.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Stage: Competing Narratives

• Prosecution’s Claims (01:42-02:54):
  • Banfield, allegedly aided by his au pair/mistress, set up a fetish website to lure Joe Ryan, with the intent to murder both Christine and Joe and frame Joe for Christine’s death.
  • The au pair’s testimony aligns with the prosecution.
• Banfield’s Story Permiered (00:51-01:42):
  • Banfield claims Ryan entered the marital home to kill Christine.
  • This version requires accepting that a man with no violent history turned murderer unexpectedly—a “hard one for me to fully, fully get my head around,” says Amy.

2. Banfield's Testimony—Step by Step

Returning to the House (02:54-03:22):

• Banfield receives news (via the au pair) that a strange man is in the house.
• He justifies his suspicious actions: avoids the front door (to be quiet), enters via the basement, leaves daughter and au pair downstairs.

"His understanding was that someone pulled into the driveway, a man, and had walked into their house. So he's like, what the hell? I don't know anything about that." —Amy (02:54)

• The hosts agree these details (e.g., telling au pair and daughter to stay outside) are "reasonable and believable." (03:35)

Hearing 'Suspicious' Sounds (03:37-04:56):

• Banfield hears noises upstairs, initially assumes it's his wife with another man (both Banfields have had affairs, but never caught each other).
• He considers leaving but hears the tone change—from "pleasurable to painful."

"He said it sounded more like an impact sound. It sounded forceful. And what he thought was moaning actually sounded painful." —Amy (04:27)

Confrontation in the Bedroom (05:09-07:05):

• Banfield describes entering the room, gun drawn, announcing “police.”
• Christine says, “Brendan, he has a knife.”
• Joe Ryan allegedly commands Banfield to drop his gun; Banfield says “drop your knife.”
• Ryan then turns the knife on Christine; Banfield notices blood and shoots Ryan.

"He said that Joe Ryan told him to drop his gun." —Amy (06:08)

• Banfield attempts to aid Christine—her wounds are described as catastrophic.

"She was putting pressure on her neck. He put his hand on hers…she removes her hand from under his and puts hers on top of his, instructing him to press harder. She's an ICU nurse." —T.J. (07:19-07:39)

Aftermath: The Au Pair's Role (07:39-08:15):

• Au pair Juliana reappears with Banfield’s gun; a shot is fired (unclear at whom/why). Banfield is shocked; the gun was supposed to be locked but the au pair knew the code.

Tragic Final Moments (08:15-09:09):

• Banfield emotionally describes Christine's last moments—writhing, choking, saying “I’m sorry” and “I love you.”
• The hosts acknowledge how compelling, yet unproven, this testimony is.

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3. Contentious Points & Skepticism

• Improbable Actions? (11:03-12:10):
  • Why, with a gun trained on him, would Joe Ryan stab Christine, rather than drop the knife?
  • Both hosts repeatedly question the logic of Ryan’s actions.

"It doesn't make sense that if somebody has a gun on you…you just kill her." —Amy (11:03)

• Banfield’s Credibility (10:19-10:36):

  • Amy notes “much of what he testified to yesterday actually was…common sense.”
  • But today’s details left them questioning his believability.

• Evidence Contradictions (14:49-14:57):

  • Questions about whether Christine’s wounds are consistent with Banfield’s version.
  • Banfield insists: “I never touched Joe Ryan…never touched a laptop, never touched a cell phone of Christine.” (15:15)

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4. Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Banfield on Regret:

"'I wish I shot him earlier.' Speaking of Joe Ryan, meaning if he had shot him earlier, he could have stopped him from continuing to stab Christine." —Amy (13:57)

• Host Skepticism:

"That is one it's hard to get over if you're in that jury room." —T.J. (14:40)

• On the Drama of Trial:

"Somebody's flat out telling bold face lies. These two stories, people are on the stand perjuring themselves in this trial." —T.J. (09:09)

• On Legal Tactics:

"'Do not speak...save it for trial. That is what they tell their clients.'" —Amy (17:26)

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5. Key Timestamps

• 00:51 – The challenge of Banfield's version: "Hard one for me to get my head around..." (Amy)
• 02:54-03:22 – Banfield's explanation for returning home and entering through the basement
• 04:27 – "The sounds changed" from pleasure to pain (Amy)
• 05:35-07:05 – Banfield enters the room, describes the confrontation and shooting
• 07:19-08:15 – Banfield tries to aid Christine; au pair fires a shot
• 09:09 – Hosts discuss the diametrically opposed narratives
• 13:57 – "I wish I shot him earlier" (Banfield's dramatic admission)
• 14:49 – Evidence questions: did Banfield touch Ryan or other objects?
• 16:00 – Revelation of a surprise rebuttal witness

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6. Developments and Next Steps

• Cross Examination Begins (12:10, 13:14-13:15):

  • Prosecutor’s turn to question Banfield, with early fireworks and aggressive objections from defense.
  • Early questions highlight that this is the first time Banfield has given this version (16:46).

• Surprise Rebuttal Witness Announced (16:00-16:46):

  • Prosecution is calling someone who directly contradicts Banfield’s testimony, unknown to both sides until that day.

• Trial’s Emotional and Credibility Stakes:

  • The hosts repeatedly question what is believable, what fits human behavior, and how “common sense” factors into jurors’ minds.
  • They highlight that regardless of which testimony is true, one or more witnesses are “flat out…lying.” (09:09)

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Tone & Style Notes

• The discussion is informal but deeply analytical, with both Amy and T.J. pressing each other to stay critical and avoid jumping to conclusions.
• There is a strong undercurrent of empathy—both for the human tragedy and the complexity facing jurors.
• The episode is dramatic and tension-filled, with plenty of speculation as to what’s true and what just doesn’t add up.

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Conclusion

This episode offers a close, skeptical look at Brendan Banfield’s first public account on the witness stand, juxtaposed against the prosecution’s narrative and physical evidence. With cross examination heating up and a surprise rebuttal witness incoming, Amy and T.J. prime listeners for more revelations—and even more doubt—about which version of this sensational crime the jury might believe.

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Transcript

[A]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.

[B]

Hey there folks. It is Thursday, January 29, and Brendan Banfield, the man accused in the so called au pair affair double murder trial, is on the stand. And today, for the first time any of us have heard his version of events the day his wife and another man were killed in his bedroom. And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and tj. We've heard the prosecution story, we've heard their star witnesses story. Robes, this is a much different story. He's gone through the whole thing. You tell me first of all, is this a believable story?

[A]

This was a hard one for me to fully, fully get my head around because the way Brendan Banfield told the story, I have to believe and the jury has to believe that Joseph Ryan came over to Christine Banfield's house to kill her. That is hard for me to get my head around because so far what we've seen in terms of any sort of text messaging back and forth, it seemed as though Joe Ryan was just a guy who was into some role play, some, some kinky sex. There's nothing in his past, nothing that I've heard yet that would suggest or give any kind of motive when someone has a gun on you to start stabbing that person's wife or if he thought it was the police, why would he then murder? I had a hard time with his.

[B]

Version of events and that was key. And I think you're right, Robes, I. You couldn't get your head. He had me up to that point. You just get your can't make sense of it. So a lot of you been following this case, is this third full week, I think maybe of this trial now, but Brendan Banfield on trial for killing his wife Christine and another man, Joe Ryan. According to prosecutors, Brendan Banfield hatched a plan with his au pair who he was having an affair with. Hatched a plan to set up a fake fetish website account for Christine Banfield and then lure this man over to have that man engage in some kind of a sexual activity. And then have Brendan Banfield come in, see this man attacking his wife, kill his wife, kill the man, and then have the man take the fall for the wife's death. That gets you caught up. So the au pair, Robes tells this whole story. It goes along with the prosecution story. Brendan Banfield finally got on the stand. He has finished at least the direct. He is being cross examined as we're recording this there at lunch right now. But Robes, we can take it from the top. Let's go back to what he says happened on that day. Why in the first place did you get a good understanding of why he was called back to the house? What was his understanding of why the au pair had him come back?

[A]

His understanding was that someone pulled into the driveway, a man, and had walked into their house. So he's like, what the hell? I don't know anything about that. So, fine, I can. I can buy that. I can buy him not using the front door because it was going to make noise to get in through the basement. He claims he left his daughter and the au pair in the basement while he went to go check it up with his. Check it out with his firearm.

[B]

Now back up there. He told her not to come in the house. His story is that when he got back to the house, the au pair and the daughter were outside in the car. He pulls in, tells them to stay outside and go then. And then she defies what he says and comes in later.

[A]

That is all believable.

[B]

Reasonable.

[A]

That's all reasonable and believable. And the fact that he said, stay down here, and then he goes upstairs to check out to see who's in the house. And he said at that point, he testified that he thought maybe it was Christine having an affair because they had both had affairs before. But he was nervous because he had never. Actually, neither one of them had ever caught the other in the act. So speak.

[B]

They told each other about it. I think it's what he explained. But he explained this. Robes. He goes up. I. This bard got me when he said he heard sounds. Sound like skin slapping against each other. He said he actually gave thought to leaving. That he actually considered because he went back in there with lunch or something that was in the refrigerator you need to take out to Juliana. He considered leaving where he thinks he hears his wife having sex with another man and just leaving the house and letting it be and taking it up later.

[A]

Yes. And he's. He says. He testified this morning that when he thought he heard moaning and skin on skin, he was going to leave. But then he said he heard it change. The. The sounds changed. He said it sounded more like an impact sound. It sounded forceful. And what he thought was moaning actually sounded painful. He said Christine sounded like she was being hurt. And that is when he made the decision to go upstairs. Fine. Still somewhat believable.

[B]

Yes. That like his story so far, you can buy it. Nothing at this point you necessarily challenge with his. His phrase was from painful from pleasurable to painful is how it transitioned.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Whatever he's hearing and I think he said the door was kind of cracked open, wasn't fully closed. So here we go. As he's now upstairs, gun drawn, IRS agent. We remind you, he carries a badge. He starts seeing Juliana come upstairs. He told her to stay downstairs, sees her starting to come up. He goes into the room, robes. This is the moment. Right. We have all been waiting to hear. I was not expecting to hear what I heard from him today about what he saw when he walked in that room.

[A]

Yes, he said they were. And here's the other interesting thing. He did say Joe still had his clothes on and was looking directly at him and that Christine was on all fours on her knees. Now, how is there skin on skin if. If Joe had his clothes on? I did catch that, and I didn't know if he had an explanation or maybe I'm reading too much between the lines.

[B]

Again, you could make the argument, was he really hearing skin on sin? Was it skin? It could have been someone slapping skin.

[A]

Again, that's true.

[B]

An attorney can explain that away. I'm not saying you're concerned is invalid.

[A]

But he says that he. He came in and he said, police holding his gun forward. And that Christine said, brendan, he has a knife. And he said that Joe Ryan told him to drop his gun.

[B]

And he told Joe Ryan to drop his knife. So here we go. We got some kind of a standoff in Brendan Banfield's bedroom. This scene, as he starts to explain this. It doesn't make sense.

[A]

It doesn't make sense. Okay. Now, he said he couldn't see. See if Christine had already been injured because she had her hair over her face. But he said that even after he told him to drop his knife and he had a gun on him, that Joe Ryan decided to just. Eventually he went. It took a while for him to get there, but started to basically stab Christine in front of him.

[B]

Said he first noticed what, blood in her hair?

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Is something he noticed. He shoots at this point. He said when he saw him make that forceful motion with the knife to her neck, that's when he actually shoots Joe Ryan. Jo Ryan goes down. I think he said he had to step over him to get to Christine to try to give her aid.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

But he goes to Christine. Apparently, this wound is awful, according to him. To the point. It's pretty awful to hear. But she was putting pressure on her neck. He put his hand on hers to put pressure on the wound as well. She, according to him, removes her hand from under his and puts hers on top of his, instructing him to Press harder.

[A]

She's an ICU nurse.

[B]

To press harder. And at this point, this was a tough detail to hear that the wound was so bad, His. He said his fingers actually went inside her neck, how bad the wound was. And that's when he first realized just how bad it was. Now Joe Ryan is down. Juliana is in the room, and he tells her to watch him, keep an eye on him. Right now, Juliana disappears for a second. He didn't see where she went, but she comes back. He has no idea what's going on. And he hears another shot. Said it shocked the hell out of him and turned around, stunned to see Juliana standing there with a gun. A gun that was his, that was supposed to be locked up.

[A]

Yes. But he did, I guess, later testify that the key. I guess the key lock, or it was a touch pad, was the same as the front door, so she knew the combo. So that wouldn't be unreasonable, that she would be able to get the gun out. But he said, yes, he was stunned. He was shocked. And he said he was just focused right then on kneeling down next to Christine. And he said she was. This was actually really difficult to hear. And he did get emotional when he was describing that she was writhing and that she was having a tough time. She was choking, she was coughing up blood, and he was rolling her over. I mean, he was describing this horrific scene. Something that really got me, too, is when he. And I know that she's got family in the courtroom, but just to hear this, that. That she told him that she was sorry and that she loved him.

[B]

I mean, that was tough happened. That's just what he described. These are two robes, vastly different stories. Somebody is not just. Just playing with a few facts. Somebody's flat out telling bold face lies. These two stories, people are on the stand perjuring themselves in this trial. They.

[A]

Somebody is lying, and they are, and it's. And when you see. You know, we watched Juliana, the au pair testify, and she was defiant about what happened. I mean, that was more of her attitude, was very much like that. And then you hear and see with your own two eyes and your ears listening to and watching Brendan Banfield seemingly emotionally describe this horrific scene that he didn't think he was going to walk in on, but it's just some of the facts. This is about common sense. A lot of time we've talked about this, and much of what he testified to yesterday actually was. We were very much in his camp. Like, it made sense what he was saying and how he was saying it was.

[B]

We should qualify that about being in his camp. I know what you meant.

[A]

I meant just. Yeah, his command sense made common sense. What he was saying made sense to me. And so he was garnering traction from me, like, in terms of his believability and the credibility of his story versus Juliana's story.

[B]

That was on direct yesterday from his attorney. What we saw this morning, again, was from his attorney, but totally different. We walk away feeling totally differently about what we heard today. Robes I don't have. And we were listening closely. Maybe we'll go back and listen again. I don't have a good understanding of how she sustained those wounds from Joe Ryan. It didn't make sense that if somebody has a gun on you, you have a knife to his wife's neck, you just kill her.

[A]

Just gonna keep stabbing her.

[B]

Just keep. That doesn't.

[A]

When you know someone has a gun on you, that just doesn't make a.

[B]

Whole lot of sense. He. What did he say? He said that he told Brendan Banfield to leave. According to Brendan Banfield, Joe Ryan told him to leave. Then at one point, Joe Ryan said, hey, can I just leave?

[A]

That was also very damning. I was. I was so curious as to how he thought, look, if he's. If he's making this up, that's a weird thing to say. Because if the guy asks Brendan to leave, Brendan's like, I, you're under arrest. I believe he said he told him, you're under arrest, has a gun on him, and then he says, can I leave? And when he says, you're under arrest, he decides to stab Christine in front of him instead of dropping the knife, putting his hands up. It. It doesn't. Because, you know, a gun is no match. Or a knife. Sorry. Is no match for a gun.

[B]

Joe R Wasn't a hardened criminal or something. He was just a guy looking to have sex.

[A]

Some kinky sex. And so that, to me, doesn't make sense. No one with a knife in their hand and a. And a victim right there is going to take on somebody who has a gun.

[B]

That's a. That's a tough one to get over. Just as a human being. That's a. Just doesn't make sense. Could it happen. Have happened this way? Obviously, yes, but that one didn't make sense. Well, folks, the. Like we mentioned, they're in a lunch break now. The prosecution is getting its go at cross examination now. We were able to see just the beginning of it. It is going to pick back up after lunch. But stay here. We'll tell you how Explosive that thing has already gotten in just a few minutes. And the few questions the prosecutors have been able to ask. Brendan Banfield, stay here. We continue here on Amy and tj, one of the most critical days in the au pair affair double murder trial. Brendan Banfield, the defendant, is on the stand testifying in his own defense. The cross examination is underway. Prosecutors are getting to ask him some questions. Ropes remind me, when the. When the questions about sex came up, was that still with his attorney or the. Yeah, that was his attorney.

[A]

His attorney.

[B]

Because she kept objecting.

[A]

Yes, it was very. Yes, it was very disruptive once again. But his defense attorney was asking him about. Basically it was kind of explaining the affairs, that he had a higher sex drive than his wife. So they were talking about that, trying to explain basically perhaps why they were both having affairs and why maybe Christine had different interests than him and sexually. And that could have explained perhaps the scene he walked in on. The other thing I thought was interesting that we didn't mention before the break, which I thought was just kind of a drop the mic moment. The defense attorney was trying to find a way to end the testimony, the direct testimony with Brandon. He. He couldn't land his plane because the prosecutor kept interrupting. But eventually he did elicit this response in terms of what he was trying to ask Brendan, what would you have done differently if you could go back into the room? And she kept objecting, saying, relevance, relevance. But eventually he was able to get Brendan to say this line, I wish I shot him earlier. Speaking of Joe Ryan, meaning if he had shot him earlier, he could. Could have stopped him from continuing to stab Christine again. It's just a hard thing for me to imagine that Joe Ryan with a gun on him, with someone who says police, who has a badge that may be exposed right there in his midsection, is going to choose to stab someone after the gun's on him again.

[B]

It's possible, but that is one it's hard to get over if you're in that jury room. That one just is a difficult one to make sense of. And then you go to the evidence. What does the evidence show?

[A]

The.

[B]

Does the evidence. Is it consistent? Robes, can you remember? Is it consistent. Her wounds consistent with the story he just described? I don't know.

[A]

It's hard. It's hard to say because, you know, if he tried, according to the prosecution, he tried to stage the scene, he tried to drip the blood on her from Joe Ryan's hand. But he did say this. I never touched Joe Ryan. He did testify to that today.

[B]

Never touched Joe Ryan never touched a laptop, never touched a cell phone of Christine. He said on that day he didn't touch any of that stuff. Oh, Robes. This, this cross examination is going to be something. We'll let you know how the day is gonna go. They're coming back from lunch here in just a little bit. And the. The prosecutor, she only got a few questions in right before the lunch break. Don't know how long this will go now, Robes, because there was some thought that they could wrap up and jury could get the instructions today. But now the prosecutor says they have a rebutt witness, someone somewhere who heard something in Brendan Banfield's testimony yesterday. Robes. That said nah and called up and the prosecution said, we didn't even know about this until yesterday.

[A]

Yes. So there is a surprise rebuttal witness. She said this person's name first off in court. And I think they were even getting it wrong. It was. They were trying to figure out what it was. And I was hoping they were going to discuss who it was and give some sort of indication. And the defense attorney said, you know what, we'll do it. When we have a private moment, we'll discuss. Because obviously the defense needs time to figure out how to then cross examine this rebuttal witness. But if the prosecution said, hey, we didn't know about it either, but it was because of Brendan Banfield's testimony that this person spoke up and said, I want to refute something that Brendan Banfield testified to that is going to be very interesting and certainly was a surprise to everyone this morning, including the defense.

[B]

Yeah. So when the cross examination started, her first or her second question ended up in a sidebar with the attorneys with the questions. What was it she was trying to get out of him? Oh, yeah. She was saying, yeah, you're telling this story. And the first time you told it is today here in this courtroom. You've had three years to talk to all these investigators. There was another legal this and that. You. He said, yep, this is the first time. And he explained, my attorneys advised me not to talk to y' all and not to do this and not to do that.

[A]

Yes, he said, I told counsel, I told my attorneys that I would sit down with anyone and explain exactly what happened and tell my side of things. And I was advised by my attorneys not to do so. And look, that is fair.

[B]

I buy that.

[A]

That is absolutely something. Look, we've known and talked to plenty of defense attorneys. That is the first thing a experienced defense attorney, criminal defense attorney will tell their client. Do not speak. I know you want to. I know you want to say innocent. I know you want to tell your side of things. You cannot, should not, do not save it for trial. That is what they tell their clients.

[B]

Even if you're innocent, they'll tell you to shut up.

[A]

And that's so hard.

[B]

And it's hard to do. So. Folks, we will keep an eye on it. Please keep an eye on our feed. We will definitely be hopping on back on to give an update about his testimony and the cross examination by prosecution. But for now, we appreciate you, as always, spending some time and following along with us, but I am TJ Holmes on behalf of my dear Amy Robot. We will be talking to you all real soon.

[A]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.