Transcript
Podcast Host 1 (0:00)
On the Crime House Original podcast, Serial Killers and Murderous Minds, we're diving into the psychology of the world's most complex murder cases.
Podcast Host 2 (Katie Ring) (0:09)
From serial killers to cult leaders, deadly exes and spree killers, we're examining not just how they killed, but why.
Podcast Host 1 (0:17)
Is it uncontrollable rage? Overwhelming fear? Or is it something deeper? Serial Killers and Murderous Minds is a Crime House Studios original new episodes drop every Monday and Thursday Friday. Follow wherever you get your podcasts.
Podcast Host 2 (Katie Ring) (0:42)
This is Crime House, a suburban Virginia home, a secret affair, a kink website and a man invited inside under false pretenses. Recently this case was put before a jury questioning whether Brendan Banfield orchestrated a plot that left his wife and another man dead. Welcome to Night watch on Crime House 24 7. I'm your host Katie Ring and together we'll be following the cases making headlines now where justice is still unfolding. Follow us wherever you are listening and if you want ad free episodes, subscribe to Crime House plus on Apple Podcasts plus subscribe to our YouTube channel itWatchpod. This episode discusses an active criminal case. The information we share is based on what's publicly available at the time of recording and may change as new evidence comes to light. We aim to inform, not to decide guilt or innocence. So everyone mentioned is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. It was a quiet February morning in Northern Virginia. The kind of morning where nothing seems out of place. With residential streets lined with similar houses, cars parked neatly in driveways and neighbors heading to work unaware of what was unfolding just doors away. But inside a home on Stable Brook way in Herndon, Virginia, that calm was shattered on the morning of February 24, 2023. Police arrived at the Banfield house after receiving a frantic call from 37 year old Brendan Banfield and the family's au pair, 23 year old Juliana Perez Magellones. 37 year old Christine Banfield, Brendan's wife, was on the floor of their master bedroom and had suffered multiple stab wounds. A 39 year old man named Joseph Ryne was also found in the bedroom and had been shot. Brendan and Christine's four year old daughter Valerie was found hiding and unharmed in the basement. Joseph was pronounced dead at the scene, but Christine was rushed to the hospital. Unfortunately, she did not survive her injuries. Brendan told police that he had just walked into a nightmare when he saw a stranger attacking his wife. He then said he saw a man pull out the knife and start stabbing his wife, so he fired his gun to stop it. According to Brendan, the shooting was an act of Defense A split second decision made to save Christine's life. And according to the nanny, Juliana, she was hiding behind a bed, covering her eyes and ears. At first, the explanation seemed plausible. A husband protecting his family. But investigators quickly realized there was something unusual about this case because there were no signs of forced entry. Which means Joseph had not forced his way in. He had been invited. As detectives began placing together how Joseph ended up inside the Banfield house that morning, they uncovered a hidden layer of the family's life. One that had been quietly developing for months. A layer built on secrecy, deception, and a relationship that existed just out of view. By the time this case reached a jury three years later, the question was no longer what happened inside that house. It was whether the man who survived that morning had engineered everything that led up to it. Public records paint a limited picture of Brendan Banfield's early life. Unlike many other defendants whose childhoods became central to a criminal case, Brendan's upbringing was not a focal point of his trial. There were no extensive accounts of instability, abuse, or hardship presented to the jury. What is known is that Brendan and Christine Banfield met when they were both 18 years old during their freshman year at Quinnipiac University, and they had been a couple ever since. Eventually, Brendan went on to work as a special agent for the Internal Revenue Service, and Christine became a pediatric intensive care nurse. Brendan and Christine got married and were living in New York with their one year old daughter, Valerie. They had a very normal life together. The Banfield would vacation with other neighborhood couples, go hiking, explore national forest and participate in mud runs. They visited animal farms and aquariums and enjoyed going on cruises. Brandon even played intramural kickball. When the Banfields made their move to Fairfax County, Virginia, their dynamic didn't change. There was no public narrative of dysfunction between the couple, no reports of dv, no outward signs of a marriage on the brink. The pair seemingly worked well together before their move. They even ran a small business, a math tutoring center called Mathnasium, where Brendan worked as a center director with Christine. From the outside, their life appeared ordinary. In testimony that would come out almost three years after Christine and Joseph's deaths, Brendan claimed that he and his wife were inseparable and always preparing for the future. The picture of a seemingly perfect family made what came next difficult for investigators and later for jurors to reconcile. In October of 2021, the Banfields made a decision familiar to many working parents. They decided to hire a caretaker. And that search led them to 21 year old Juliana Perez Maginones. Juliana came to the United States from Brazil as part of a cultural exchange program. She moved into the Banfield home in Virginia and began caring for the couple's young daughter. The arrangement placed her inside the family's daily life, sharing meals, schedules, and private space. At first, there was nothing overtly inappropriate about the situation, but according to prosecutors, that dynamic began to change over time. In August of 2022, Christine and Valerie were visiting New York, leaving Brendan and Juliana home alone. Brendan was in the kitchen preparing food when Juliana started texting him from her room. It was an unusual text conversation, as Juliana was complaining about her dating activity and the men she was seeing at the time. Wanting to speak in person. Brendan asked her to come down to the kitchen, where Juliana showed him screenshots of her online conversations from her dating app, Hinge. In his testimony, Brendan would lay out details about his relationship with Juliana that only scratches the surface. Brendan asserts that all of Juliana's online matches had similar names to Brendan. Brandon Brennan. When Brendon finished cooking and sat down to eat, the two continued to discuss Juliana's dating history, where she listed out the characteristics of the type of man she was seeking. Older, taller, and looked a lot like Brendan Banfield. Moving on from talking, Juliana scooted her seat closer to Brendan and made an advance. And with his wife and child out of the house, Brendan did not stop her. Later, he claims he indicated that he was going upstairs to his bedroom to sleep. But instead, Juliana and Brendan ended up sleeping together. Brendan told the courtroom that over the next few days, they spoke a little about their relationship and affair. But mostly, Juliana was concerned that Brendan would tell Christine about their relationship and that she would get fired. Brendan told Juliana that he would not mention anything to his wife. He told her that he had had previous affairs and clarified that this is just an affair and there would be no relationship. Nothing would change between him and Christine, he said. But according to Brendan, Christine knew of his previous infidelity. Back in 2013, they had several discussions when Christine was working in private health care. She traveled quite a bit, often for a week at a time, and so would Brendan. He testified that during this time, they went to couples therapy because this frequent separation had left their relationship strained. Regardless, Brendan said they decided to continue their relationship despite this. Evidence presented at trial showed that Brendan and Juliana's relationship had grown. This was not a brief lapse or a single encounter, but an ongoing affair that developed while Christine remained unaware. Brendan and Juliana's encounters unfolded inside the same house Christine lived in. Inside shared rooms around the routines of childcare and family life. Other evidence showed Brendan taking Portuguese lessons to better communicate with Juliana. To this day, it suggested intention and emotional investment, not secrecy driven by impulse. As 2022 came to an end, investigators say that the secrecy surrounding Brendan's relationship with Juliana had hardened into something more deliberate. According to evidence presented at trial, Brendan was no longer just concealing an affair, prosecutors argued. He was actively constructing a parallel reality, one that allowed him to manage the relationship and maintain control inside his home without exposing either himself or Juliana. According to Juliana's testimony, Brendan admitted that he wanted to leave his wife, but but divorce was not an option. Allegedly, he didn't want to give Christine money or jeopardize losing custody of their daughter Valerie, and so he came up with a plan to get rid of her, which is when Joseph Ryan entered the picture.