Brendan Banfield: The Au Pair Affair Murders | #436

Summary

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RedHanded Podcast Episode #436

"Brendan Banfield: The Au Pair Affair Murders"
February 12, 2026

Overview

In this episode, hosts Sirutti and Hannah plunge into the sensational double-murder case that has captivated true crime enthusiasts and the internet alike: the 2023 killings of Christine Banfield and Joe Ryan in suburban Virginia. With the trial's conclusion arriving literally a day before recording, the hosts examine how a seemingly “all-American” family spiraled into a dark web of deception, sexual kink, and murder—with an au pair and her lover at the center of it all.

Key Themes

• The illusion of the perfect family—and the secrets beneath
• Dark twists of infidelity, manipulation, and sexual fetish
• The intersection of technology (catfishing, digital forensics) and crime
• Ethical dilemmas in plea deals and justice
• The exploitation of a stranger for a grisly scapegoat

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The Players (03:51-08:33)

• Brendan Banfield: IRS criminal investigator (“more pencil pusher than 007”), described as "bland" and "beige, forgettable looking" ([08:51]). He was 15 years older than the au pair.
• Christine Banfield: Hard-working pediatric nurse, universally known as a devoted mother.
• Juliana Perez Margulies: Brazilian au pair, 21 when she arrived, “striking resemblance to America Ferrera” ([09:24]), new to America, seeking opportunity.
• Joe Ryan: The “unknowing patsy”—a 39-year-old D.C. man with knife-play kinks, lured into the deadly scenario via catfishing.

“Neighbours saw the Banfields as the perfect all-American family. I know people are gonna be upset. 'All American' doesn't mean anything.”
— Hannah ([05:01])

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The Affair and Murder Plot (08:33-20:40)

• Brendan and Juliana’s affair ignited mid-2022, first seeming trivial but intensifying as Brendan began voicing murderous intent. Divorce was ruled out due to potential financial loss and custody disputes.
• Juliana initially thought Brendan’s murder talk was a joke, but he “was drop-dead serious” ([12:34]).
• Brendan claimed his IRS and law enforcement experience gave him the perfect know-how for the “perfect murder.”
• He involved Juliana in firearms training ([17:11]), with her later posting gun range photos with tongue-in-cheek captions on Instagram.
• Step-by-step, he meticulously prepared:
  • Outfitted the house with soundproofing ([19:26])
  • Tested scream audibility with Juliana
  • Sought the “perfect” plan.

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The Catfishing Fetlife Plot (20:40-28:08)

• Stage 1: Fake FetLife profile (“Anastasia9”) created in Christine’s name (with a gym selfie picture).
• Stage 2: Target selected (Joe Ryan: “tacosupreme7000”)—a man interested in knife play and rough roleplay.
• Stage 3: “Christine” arranges a meeting simulating a violent housewife fantasy at the Banfield home.
• The plan: Frame Joe as an attacker, then kill him in “self-defense.” Both Brendan and Juliana reinforced this story to police.

“They started to consider that this could be a sexual meeting between Christine and Joe that had somehow gone sideways. So from Brandon's point of view, everything was going perfectly to plan.”
— Hannah ([34:43])

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The Murders & 911 Calls (28:08-34:43)

• On the morning of February 24, 2023:
  • Juliana claims she and Valerie left for the zoo but “forgot” their lunches and returned.
  • Brendan returns, and purportedly, they stumble upon Joe Ryan attacking Christine.
  • Brendan shoots Joe Ryan; Juliana is told to retrieve (and use) another gun.
  • Christine is found savagely stabbed, Joe is shot. Both Brendan’s and Juliana’s 911 calls are strikingly flat and unconvincing.

“That call is incredibly cringe… [Brendan] is on a fucking power trip. This entire case, this is this man on a power trip. I'm like, you're a fucking IRS investigator weeding out tax evaders. At most, like, calm the fuck down.”
— Sirutti ([28:47])

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Cracks in the Story (37:23-46:41)

Investigative Red Flags:

• Timeline Precision: Brendan and Juliana’s hyper-detailed timeline raised suspicions ([37:23]).
• Christine's Character Contradiction: Friends doubted Christine's involvement in fetishes; zero digital footprint of interest in BDSM or kink ([38:34], [80:58]).
• Crime Scene Forensics: Blood patterns inconsistent with their story—signs of body repositioning, blood unnaturally smeared ([42:08], [43:53]).
• Behavior Post-Murder: Juliana moved into the master bedroom with Brendan; daughter Valerie asked Juliana “Should I call you Mummy now?” ([44:14]).

“If you rob a bank, the number one rule is don't immediately start living like you just robbed a bank.”
— Hannah ([46:41])

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Law Enforcement Response and Split (48:58-53:46)

• Charges: Juliana charged with second-degree murder for Joe Ryan; Brendan initially remains free, even working as an Uber driver ([49:18]).
• Divide & Conquer: Prosecutors isolate Juliana, offer a sweetheart plea deal to flip testimony against Brendan.
• Juliana’s Loyalty Wanes: Charming love letters and vows to take the blame—until jail changes her mind and reality sets in ([51:05]).

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The Trial: Star Witness and Cross-Examination (53:46-69:22)

• Juliana's Testimony: Now the prosecution’s key witness, she lays out the full plot:
  • No real zoo trip; waited for Joe to arrive, called Brendan (waiting at McDonald's) ([55:30]).
  • Watched Brendan stab Christine, then herself shot a wounded Joe ([57:12]).
  • Afterward, they rearranged the scene, smeared blood, and fabricated the entire story for police.
• Defense Attack: Hammer away at her credibility, plea deal incentives, and financial motivations (Netflix documentary negotiations, paid commissary) ([64:02], [66:19]).
• Digital Forensic Limitations: Experts agree no way to determine author of computer messages—only that they originated from Christine’s device in her home ([75:26]).

“Without her, there's enough gray area for them both to get off.”
— Hannah ([64:28])

“All eyes were on Juliana as she took the stand at Brendan's murder trial in January 2026… This very much glowed down version of Juliana… de Sex herself… claimed she'd just been roped in… tried to back out, but Brendan said it was too late”
— Sirutti ([53:46]-[54:55])

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Prosecution's Case: Catfish Theory and Physical Evidence (73:56-83:56)

• Support for Catfish Theory:
  • Timing of Fetlife account use: Messages only sent when both Brendan and Juliana were home.
  • No sexting or fetish browsing found in Christine’s digital life ([80:58]).
  • The strategic creation of burner email accounts to cover tracks.
• Christine’s Bleeding Disorder: Made her particularly vulnerable to knife wounds—Brendan would know this ([82:32]).

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Brendan's Testimony and the Last-Minute Bombshell (85:36-90:32)

• Brendan testifies, coming off as “cold, callous, and incredibly arrogant” ([86:06]).
• Prosecution reveals baby name discussions between Brendan and Juliana—contradicting his downplaying of the affair.
• Rebuttal Witness: Thomas Smith, Brendan’s boss, refutes alibi of an early work meeting; CCTV places Brendan at a McDonald’s ([88:53]).
• Defense utterly blindsided; Brendan is exposed as a “big fat liar” ([89:49]).

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Verdict and Reflections (90:34–97:54)

• Jury deliberates nine hours; Brendan Banfield found guilty on all counts—aggravated first degree murder of Christine Banfield and Joe Ryan.
• He faces life in prison; Virginia no longer has the death penalty.
• Juliana is set to be released, deported to Brazil, and likely to profit from media deals.

“I think she's just gonna go back to Brazil. She’ll dye her hair again, get a Netflix deal, write a book, do something.”
— Sirutti ([94:16])

• Hosts note that both Christine and Joe Ryan were true victims—Joe, in particular, “a completely random, uninvolved person” ([97:01]).
• Acknowledgement of moral complexity: Sweetheart deals are troubling, but without Juliana’s cooperation, conviction might not have been possible ([96:24]).

“He won't get out of prison now. I mean, you know, double first degree aggravated homicide, like, he's done. But I'd be pissed if I were Christine's family. That Juliana just gets to swan off back to Brazil. It's a bit unsatisfying.”
— Sirutti ([95:57])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "[Brendan] is on a fucking power trip. This entire case, this is this man on a power trip. I'm like, you're a fucking IRS investigator weeding out tax evaders. At most, like, calm the fuck down."
  — Sirutti ([28:47])
• "I truly think, if only one of them was going to go to prison, I'm glad that it's Brendan Manfield, and I'm glad it's for the rest of his fucking life."
  — Sirutti ([96:24])
• "She is a co-conspirator, hands down. I won't say instigator... but co-conspirator, absolutely. And she wiggled out of it without the sentence she truly deserved. Like, she's killed a man. Yeah, she shot him point-blank."
  — Hannah ([94:31])
• "As far as Joe Ryan's concerned, he also spoke on the phone to Christine... but it was probably Juliana doing the talking."
  — Sirutti ([27:02])

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Important Timestamps

• 03:51 – Banfield family background, relationships
• 08:33 – The affair and growing conspiracy
• 17:11 – Brendan trains Juliana in firearms
• 20:40 – FetLife catfishing, setup of Joe Ryan
• 28:08 – The murders, 911 calls
• 34:43 – Police begin to unravel the lies
• 42:08 – Forensic inconsistencies emerge
• 53:46 – Juliana flips, details the plot on the witness stand
• 80:58 – Tech forensics and defending the catfish theory
• 85:36 – Brendan’s testimony and cross-examination
• 88:53 – Surprise witness destroys Brendan’s alibi
• 90:34 – Jury verdict announced

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Tone and Language

The hosts maintain their signature blend of dark humor, incredulity, and righteous anger. They are unsparing in their assessments of both Brendan’s and Juliana’s character—rich with sarcasm, banter, and pop culture references, often utilizing expletives and graphic language for emphasis.

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Conclusion

The Banfield case stands out not just for its lurid circumstances but for the audacity and clinical calculation with which an affair was weaponized into the murder of two unsuspecting victims. With Juliana’s damning (if self-serving) testimony, a rare sweetheart plea deal, and a last-second bombshell witness, justice for Christine Banfield and Joe Ryan was secured—albeit with more than a lingering sense of moral ambiguity.

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For listeners seeking more true crime with an unfiltered, forensic, and darkly funny lens, this episode is a RedHanded must-listen.

Transcript

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[Male Host (Sirutti)]

To the occasion for summer vacation planning because early gets you closer to the action. So don't be late. Book your next vacation early on VRBO and save over $120. Rise and shine. Average savings $141 select homes only. Brendan and Christine Banfield had what looked like the perfect family. They lived in a beautiful million dollar house in the Virginia suburbs of Washington D.C. she was a hard working nurse and he worked as a criminal investigator for the irs and their four year old daughter Valerie completed the picture. But early on 24 February 2023, that idyllic facade was absolutely ripped apart. The family's Brazilian au pair, Juliana Perez Margulies called 911 Police arrived on the scene to find two bodies in the master bedroom soaked in blood. One was Christine Banfield, the other a stranger. Christine had been stabbed savagely whilst the unknown man had two gunshot wounds to his head and chest.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

Brennan claimed that he and Juliana had come home and caught an intruder attacking his wife Christine. So they shot the man in self defense, but tragically it was too late to save his wife. Yet something about this shocking scene just didn't add up. And as investigators dug deeper, they uncovered evidence of a twisted scheme so outlandish that it sounded like a plot ripped from a juicy Brazilian telenovela. A scandalous affair between a cheating husband and a femme Fatallo pair fetish websites, catfishing and bloodthirsty kinks. And an obvious patsy lured in as a sacrificial lamb for a forbidden love story. Or is.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Is no wonder that this case has had the Internet absolutely obsessed for the past three years. And with the much anticipated trial finally wrapping up literally the day before we sat down to record this episode, we figured it's time. So strap in listeners, because this case really does have it all. I'm Sirutti.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

I'm Hannah.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

And this is red handed. And this, more importantly is the baffling saga of the au pair affair murders.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

And we changed the intro to see what would happen and I hate it. I'm old, I'm setting my ways. Don't make me change.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Let's see, let's see.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

There better be some really good data. We're going to start off by introducing the Banfield family at the heart of this case. Brendan and Christine were college sweethearts who got back together in 2004 after tying the knot in 2010, Christine gave birth to their daughter Valerie in 2018. The family originally lived in New York, but after Brendan got a job with the IRS in 2019, they moved to the affluent suburb of Herndon, Virginia.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Brendan's role involved investigating mainly white collar fraud, so he was technically a federal law enforcement agent. Although his role was definitely more pencil pusher than 007, as we'll go on to see. He doesn't think so. Meanwhile, Christine kept up her career as a registered nurse, working exhausting shifts, caring for extremely ill children. But outside of work, they both still made an effort to fit into their new community. Christine was known in the neighborhood as a devoted mum who would arrange multiple playdates, while Dallas Cowboys fan Brendan would often stop and talk football with the local dads.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

How about them Cowboys?

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Yeah, sports teams.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

You better be paying them cheerleaders. I've watched both series. Neighbours saw the Banfields as the perfect all American family. I know people are gonna be upset. All American doesn't mean anything.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

It's just living the dream, right? I figure that's what it means, I guess, yeah.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

But it just seems like I. I don't know of any other country or culture that has an equivalent.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

No, I guess it's maybe about like the American dream of like, you know, you're living the good life, you worked hard, you got a job, you got the kids, you got the house, you.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

Know, I guess so. I just. Yeah, it's not. Doesn't compute with my software and actually they weren't really the All American family because they had an international twist only from the outside. Through the Cultural Care Au Pair agency, the Banfields had previously employed a young Brazilian woman called Amanda to help look after Valerie. Amanda slotted into their family perfectly. She and Christine got on like a house on fire. And little Valerie was a flower girl at Amanda's wedding when she left them to get married. So after Amanda left, Christine probably hoped that she would get just as lucky with Amanda's replacement. But she got more than she ever bargained for with Juliana Perez Margulies. From the town of Zancarei on the outskirts of Sao Paulo, 21 year old Juliana had signed up to the au pair programme, hoping for a slice of the American dream. Travel, independence and maybe a bit of adventure. And you might be tempted, especially if your understanding of Brazil starts and ends with City of God, which to be fair, is pretty much all the education system in the US and the UK offers up to imagine Juliana as some sort of desperately poor girl from the favelas, dreaming of escaping to the developed world. But the reality is much less dramatic and a bit less patronizing. From what we can tell, Giuliana didn't come from abject poverty. Zaray is an ordinary suburb and Juliana was from a pretty average family with a single mom who worked as a cleaner. Like many young Brazilians, Juliana was seeking a more comfortable life in the US and the chance to spread her wings and see the world. I thought about being an au pair. It's not that weird.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

No, no. I've got friends who are au pairs. Yeah. It's just like she's like, I've got a very reasonable life in Brazil. But she's like, it still kind of sucks.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

You don't need any qualifications, Free room and board.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Yeah.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

Might learn a language.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

That's very much Juliana through and through. So most of the story that we are about to tell you next is based on Juliana's version of events. It's very, very important that we all remember that we don't know the truth for sure. This is just what Juliana says happened. So with that in mind, let's go back to October 2021, when a fresh faced Juliana first came to live with the Banfields. Juliana's role as an au pair was mainly to help look after little Valerie as a sort of live in nanny with room and board covered. She'd also get $200 a week for spending money. And at first, her relationship with her new bosses was cordial yet professional. She mostly interacted with Christine about Valerie's care and didn't even really see that much of Brendan. But after about 10 months, everything changed.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

In the cliche of all cliches. Around the summer of 2022, Juliana and Brendan started a torrid Beckham style affair behind Christine's back. Brendan was 15 years older than Juliana and if we're being frank, quite bland looking.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Yeah, he is. That's the word. Very like beige, forgettable looking.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

Has to be. He's a spy, he's a Federale.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Whereas Juliana, her look evolves, shall we say, throughout this episode, which we'll get to later. But at this point, she looks a bit like. What was her name? The Mormon, Jodi Arias. Oh, she looks a bit like her.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

You can't just say the Mormon. We've done a lot.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

And actually, was she even a Mormon? I can't remember. Yeah, she looks a little bit like Jodi Arias. What I will say about Juliana is she has a striking resemblance to America Ferreira. Ugly Betty, for those of you who don't know, I love America Ferrera and she looks like America Ferrera if she had dyed her hair blonde and wore loads of red lipstick and really, really like tight, revealing clothes. At this point, which at the end.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

Of Ugly Betty, almost, that's who I.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Think of when I see Giuliana.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

Regardless of their looks, it does seem quite evident that they had electric chemistry between them sheets. Juliana later claimed that since their fling was mainly based on lust, she didn't think it was that serious at first. But as time went on, the situation evolved. I also don't know how strenuous the COVID regulations would have been in Virginia in 2021.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

I didn't even think about that.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

Throw it to the room. So maybe they're all just banged up, can go anywhere.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Maybe.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

Anyway, when they were allowed outside with Valerie in tow, the pair managed to sneak off for a romantic getaway to New York without Christine, and they took loved up selfies together in a bath. According to Juliana, that is when Brendan first started to mention his plans for the future and it became clear that he saw Juliana, not his wife, by his side. In that vision.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Brendan told Juliana that he wanted to marry her and have kids with her, but there was just that pesky problem of Christine, you know, his current wife, standing in the way. And Brendan is very clear. He tells Juliana, according to her, that divorce was not an option, since he couldn't stand the idea of Christine eventually ending up with more money than him as part of the divorce proceedings. And he also said that he didn't want to share custody of Valerie because he reckoned that Christine was lazy and a bad mum. Now, we can't say for sure what the dynamic was like in that house, but this picture that he paints of Christine as being a shit mum is basically the opposite of what everyone else says about her. Everyone else says she's an incredibly devoted mother to Valerie and absolutely doted on her daughter. Still, according to Juliana, Brendan pushed the narrative that his wife was the villain of the piece and if they wanted a happy ending, then Christine would have to go. Juliana claims that she didn't take Brendan too seriously when he first started saying these kind of things about wanting to, you know, get rid of his wife. Which I would argue. Why? Why would you not think that? Serious. But maybe. Maybe they'd said all sorts of crazy things to each other and she thinks it's just a language barrier. Oh, yes, she definitely likes to pretend there's a big language barrier later. Maybe it's just pillow talk. Who knows? But that's what she claims.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

For a while, Brenda didn't see you. Like he had a firm plan. So Juliana claims that she just thought he was joking. What a funny joke. But as time went on, it became even clearer that Brendan Manfield was drop dead serious. Brendan told Juliana that he was working on a plot that would free them from Christine without any suspicion coming their way. The first major decision was apparently that Brendan didn't want to hire someone else to kill Christine, since he figured that contract killings always backfired on the one who ordered the hit.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Smart.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

I mean, he obviously doesn't know anything about jfk. Juliana says that Brendan appeared to be drawing on his experience as law enforcement agent. If you are in financial. Is he in financial crime? Federal Financial crime.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

He works for the irs.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

You're a glorified accountant. The end. The most boring of all it appeared to Juliana. Also, she now claims that Brendan had an impressive knowledge of how murder for hire really works. And if their plan was going to work. Juliana claims that Brendan told her she needed to follow his instructions to the letter because he really knows what he's talking about. So they had to enter into a pact of silence that would seal Christine's fate. Juliana all in. Agreed. So together, she and 15 years older, father of the child she looks after Brendan, joined forces to concoct a plan so insane it sounds almost impossible to believe. But if it was impossible, we wouldn't be here.

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[Male Host (Sirutti)]

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[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Honestly, with this case, we've done a lot of cases like this. We've done a lot of cases where spouses are offing each other, that kind of thing. We've seen the hitmans for hire. We've seen the like, you know, oh, it was an intruder. All of this. This one truly is fucking on another level.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

And we promise from the bottom of our hearts and the hearts of our bottoms, every word we're about to tell you is true. Yeah.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

So with a hired hitman out of the question, Brendan needed to prepare Juliana for battle. While Brendan had undergone firearms training and he did carry a service weapon for his job, Juliana had never so much as held a gun before. So Brendan takes her to a firing range several times over the next few months.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

You ever fired again?

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

No, I haven't I would. I'd go to a firing range, but I feel like I'd probably just hurt myself.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

I think my issue with firing ranges is the only thing stopping the person next to you from shooting you is social construction.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Or is it millions of years of biological evolution?

[Female Host (Hannah)]

No, as in, like, if they decided to just turn around and. And shoot you, they literally could.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

You're in a car, though. I also.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

Oh, I feel like that in the car all the time I'm on. It's a death machine on wheels and I literally could just go and then it would all be okay.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

I'm not gonna go to a shooting range with you.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

No, no. I. My cousin, like, I think shooting is one of those things that, like, if you go to a shooting range, it can be one of those things that you're magically amazing at. Like, my cousin is one of those people. She just went to a firing range with her father in law and she's amazing at it. Never ever touched one before. And she's assassin marksman.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

How will you know until you get that? Because I once played laser tack against my will.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

Oh, I used to just hide under the bunk beds in the World War II section.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

I was Top gun. Were you really? I was top gun.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

Is it because they can't see you coming?

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

I don't know. Because actually I turned up for work that day and I was wearing heels as much before. Before pre Covid. So I used to actually wear heels to work and now my feet can't get into heels anymore. And I completely forgot that we were going to play laser tag as a team after work. And I was like, oh, well, they just can't come anymore. And they were like, no, you're coming. They'll have some spare shoes you can borrow. We got there, they didn't have spare shoes I could borrow.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

And even if they did, they would be full of fungus.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Exactly. Disgusting. And so I was like, well, I guess I'm just playing in my fucking heels then. And I fucking got Top Gun. And I was like, fuck you all. I'm the best.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

I think I always used to get lamb to the slaughter.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

I think it was I'm a lover, not a fire. I think it was just like a gross misunderstanding.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

I'm just more of a hand to hand combat guy.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

There you go. That's better. When the end times come, you know, we haven't got any guns anyway.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

I won't be trying to survive. What would be the point?

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

So anyway, he takes her to this range and he gets her shooting and the thing I found interesting about this was this prep work that they're doing. You'd think it would be kept top secret. It was not, because Juliana would post pictures of them at the gun range on her Instagram. One time, she even used the caption, this hottie talking about Brendan takes a good photo.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

Does he?

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

No, I don't know if she means takes a good photo as in you can take good photos of him or he takes good photos of her.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

Oh, probably that one. Yeah.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

So, yes, while some men buy their mistress's diamonds, Brendan bought Juliana after he deemed her to be ready. A handgun, according to her. Brendan still wasn't sure exactly how they were going to get rid of Christine yet. But he was working hard to try and meticulously cover all the bases in the lead up to whatever they were going to end up doing. And those drastic measures even involved triple glazing the entire house and testing how soundproof it all was by getting Juliana to stand in various rooms and scream. And chillingly, all the while, Christine Banfield went on with her life with no idea of these twisted plans. Working backbreaking shifts as a nurse, she had no clue that her hubby and her au pair were coldly plotting to take her out. All that was left was for Brendan Banfield to decide how he was going to do it.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

In January 2023, Brendan finally had the brainwave he'd been waiting for. He told Juliana that they should set up a fake profile in Christine's name on a website that we have covered before. FetLife, which, if you are uninitiated, is a forum where people with extreme kinks, from a bit of cheeky BDSM to the darkest of fetishes. It's a place where they can all connect and share their fantasies. Brendan claimed that he'd never used the site himself, but he just heard about it. Sure. But according to Juliana, the plan was that they would set up an account for Christine and use the site to find an unwitting stooge to come to the house expecting a kinky BDSM encounter with a bored housewife, only for them to stage a scene where it would look like things had gone sideways for the man. And the man had killed Christine. So they had killed him in self defense after stumbling across the horror. Not a great working knowledge of what self defense means there.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

I guess it's like, well, he's in my house and he's killing my wife.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

And there are a lot of ways that spouses decide to off each other. And Brenda Banfield is a piece of shit, but one with an imagination. You gotta give it to him kind of.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

The next step was to try and reel in this horny second unsuspecting victim. So a swimming costume selfie that Christine had snapped at the gym and sent to her husband Brendan appeared on a FetLife profile under the username Anastasia9.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

Spelled wrong, it's not how you spell Anastasia.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Yep. And he swiftly got a bite from a user called tacosupreme7000.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

Is there a more supreme number than 7,000? I don't think so.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

No, there's not. Or a more supreme food. Although I have to say, tacos. Not particularly sexy.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

Mmm. Eh?

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

No, I wouldn't be going for it. But fate. Christine definitely did because the man behind the tacos was 39 year old Joseph Joe Ryan. And he just a normal bloke. He lived with his grandma and dog in Washington D.C. and basically enjoyed like some pretty nerdy hobbies like LARPing with his friends in his spare time. So what was Joe doing on FetLife? Well, underneath his exterior, quite normal man taco man vibes. Joe had a very specific taste for blood. Literally, to be specific, he was into knife play, a type of BDSM where the dominant partner inflicts superficial wounds on their sub to make them bleed, which both participants seemingly get a kick out of. Now, those who knew Joe say that he was actually pretty open about his fetishes. And while some of them were pretty extreme, they insist that he was not a violent person in real life. And his friend Don Arnold called him an old fashioned man who respected women. He just happened to have a very particular appetite in the bedroom and he was searching for a gal who could bring those fantasies to life.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

And that's how Joe Ryan found anna double n Anastasia9, the FetLife user with Christine's photo. Now, it is important to clarify that messages were exchanged between the two accounts. But just like on Reddit, there is no way of saying who actually wrote them. But the police, and we believe that it was never Christine on the other side of the keyboard. Instead it was Brendan and Juliana pretending to be her.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Because people will be like, well you can use ip, blah blah blah. Like the computer used is not in dispute, the home in which it's happening is not in dispute. It is who is the actual literal person who is typing out those messages that is in dispute, but not really because it definitely wasn't Christine.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

The account was always accessed from Christine's computer at times when she was at home. And that might Sound like a logistical nightmare. But according to Juliana, that was deliberate. Brendan told her that they had to make sure that they had alibis, ensuring that Christine's movements would match up with the timing of the messages when the inevitable investigation took place. He's not wrong. Everything was done with ice cold precision and premeditation. But Joe Ryan had no idea he'd been catfished. I don't think you can have an idea you've been catfished. Otherwise you haven't been catfished. You've just been like, you're not who you say you are.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

True. Unless it's been going on for a really long time. And then you write into catfish the catfish show and you're like, I think I'm being catfished. What a show. Because I don't know how to use reverse Google image.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

No.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Unsurprisingly, the messages between Anastasia and Joe Ryan quickly turned spicy. Anastasia claimed that she cheated on her husband regularly to engage in rough sex with strangers. And so Joe was more than happy to volunteer. As tribute, they discussed meeting up in person to carry out an elaborate rape fantasy role play where Jo would come over to the Banfield home and act like a violent intruder, tearing off Christine's pyjamas with a knife and forcing himself on her. And in These messages from Anastasia9 Christine, the person even says, if I'm screaming, if I'm crying, if I'm telling you to stop, ignore me, carry on. It's all part of the game. Now, we get this is an incredibly dodgy area, but look, it's worth saying that at least from Joe Ryan's understanding of events, all he was doing was taking part in a consensual roleplay scenario.

[Juliana Perez Margulies]

Obviously.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Could people who are engaging in this sort of thing take a few more precautions, like, hey, I want to meet you and I want you to tell me face to face that that's what you want me to do. Maybe. But as far as he is aware, Christine's on board with this.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

Agreeing a safe word is pretty standard.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

I would say this, this too. It feels like you left a lot of. There's like a lot of holes been left in this for problems to occur. But as we have also said on this show multiple times, when people are horny, they don't think clearly. That's one of the main things I've learned in never a truer word. And look, I will also point out that as far as Joe Ryan's concerned, he also spoke on the phone to Christine because records show a voice call on the telegram messaging App where Joe spoke to who he thought was Anastasia. But it was probably Juliana doing the talking. And so knowing that they had this voice call, plus the context of the messages that we can physically read, it seems that they were probably firming up plans for an in person tryst on the 24th of February. So, a week or so before, Brendan and Juliana traded in their phones and wiped their icloud data, so the stage was set for the big day. But Christine Banfield, she was still very much in the dark.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

As for what happened on Tuesday, 24th February, 2023, we should probably start with what the authorities saw and heard on that Fateful morning. The 911 call came in at 8:02am.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

911, where's your emergency? I need help. My friend, she just wasn't sat in the mic. Now she's doing a lot. I don't know what to do anymore. And what's your name? And what's going on? My name is. My name is Brendan Banfield. I'm a. I'm a. I'm a federal agent. This is my house. There's somebody.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

There's somebody here.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

I. I shot. I shot him. But he stabbed her. She's bleeding. She's got several. Several marks on her neck. What do I do? What do I do? Okay, so what I need you to do is apply direct pressure directly to where she's bleeding from. Okay? And if it becomes so, just add more cloth to what? It's already there. I think we can all agree that call is incredibly cringe. Like, firstly, Juliana, she sounds like she's on drugs. She's so. Like, my friend's been stabbed. Like, I don't know what to do anymore. Like, at least try sound a bit panicked. And look, we've done a lot of these calls before, and people, like, they sound too panicked. They sound too out of breath. They sound a bit too. But come on, this is a little bit too far in the other direction. And then him, Brendan Manfield, the whole. I'm a federal agent, and he was in my house and I shut him. Like, the man is on a fucking power trip. This entire case, this is this man on a power trip. I'm like, you're a fucking IRS investigator weeding out tax evaders. At most, like, calm the fuck down.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

There isn't a lamer federal agent.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

No, there isn't. It is like the most lame form you could be and still be technically a federal agent. He's such a fucking loser. I can't stand him.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

First responders rushed to the house of the federal agent, where Joe Ryan lay dead from gunshot wounds. And Christine Banfield was barely clinging to life, having been stabbed multiple times in the neck. Paramedics tried valiantly to save Christine, who was unable to speak. Brendan rode with Christine in the ambulance, but it was too late. 37 year old Christine Banfield tragically died soon after arriving at the hospital. When doctors told Brendan the news, he broke down in a fit of tears. Seemingly a grieving husband struck dumb by a senseless tragedy.

[Juliana Perez Margulies]

My name is Gina.

[Doctor / Medical Professional]

I'm one of the doctors here.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Your wife has died.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

Something.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Whatever. Brendan, shut the up. Like, look, I get it. What would I do if I was pretending to cry in front of people? I'm not saying it's an easy thing to do, but like, he's just so skeezy. I can't stand him. It's despicable. So while this is all going on at the hospital, back at the Banfield home, officers took 4 year old Valerie into protective custody. And a shaken Juliana told first responders her version of events. They were yelling each other.

[Juliana Perez Margulies]

He was saying like, drop, drop the. The I'm sorry, my is on.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

No, no, no, you're doing really well. He was saying, drop, drop. Drop the. Oh, the knife or the gun?

[Juliana Perez Margulies]

The gun. And Roman said, no, police.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Drop the knife.

[Juliana Perez Margulies]

And he was say, I'm going to kill her. I'm going to kill her.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

And I don't know, he stabbed. He started stabbing her.

[Juliana Perez Margulies]

Bren, I think Brendan shot him.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

I can't stand it.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

Can you say how you say.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

How you say. I just. I. Oh, oh, oh. English isn't my first language. And they're like, you're doing a great job. And she's like, I am, aren't I? I am America Ferrera. If they ever make this into a movie, I sincerely hope America Ferrera plays her. And then when she pretends she can't remember the English word for gun, I'm like, shut the. And they're like, gun. Like, gun, gun.

[Doctor / Medical Professional]

Shut up.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

You've got pictures on your Instagram of you at a fucking gun range. She's such a fucking doink. I can't stand her.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

I also feel like in environments, when your adrenaline is running is when your second language is the best. That's when you're firing on all cylinders on all guns.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

So, yeah, she basically does this little role play and then she tells her story, right? She claimed that she had gone out for a trip to the zoo with Valerie that morning, leaving the house just after Brendan had left for work at about 10 past 7 in the morning. Shortly after leaving, though, she said that she realized that she'd left hers and Valerie's packed lunches at home, and so she turned back. When she returned to the house at 7:20am she said, I keep wanting to call her. America Ferreira. No. Juliana said that she saw a strange car in the driveway and she saw a man entering the house. She said she went into the house and called for Christine, but got no answer. So she rang Brendan and asked him to come home immediately. They then went into the house together, where she took Valerie to the basement whilst Brendan went upstairs. Juliana said that she then heard a commotion, so she ran upstairs where Brendan was yelling, police officer, drop the knife. Inside the bedroom, she saw Christine naked and bleeding on the floor, and a man she didn't know lying motionless nearby, and a panicked Brendan leaning over Christine, trying to help her. Then the other man, the one she didn't know, moved. He wasn't dead. Brendan then ordered Juliana to get another gun out of the bedroom safe, giving her the code. Juliana said she shakily took the gun and shot the stranger in the chest. After that, she called 911. Brendan repeated the exact same story as Juliana to authorities. Their accounts were aligning seamlessly.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

On the surface, this looked like a home invasion gone terribly wrong. Brendan Banfield was the bereft husband who had tried to save his poor wife to no avail, with Juliana, the loyal au pair, trying to help her bosses and protect their little girl. Quickly, the Police found the FetLife messages, and they started to consider that this could have been a sexual meeting between Christine and Joe that had somehow gone sideways. So from Brandon's point of view, everything was going perfectly. To plan.

[Doctor / Medical Professional]

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[Male Host (Sirutti)]

But soon there were details that just didn't add up. Firstly, it seemed odd to investigators that Juliana and Brendan seemed so sure of their timeline. Juliana is literally like, I left at 7:10, I went down the road, we came back at 7:20, I called Brendan, we waited outside, we went in at this time. Like, it's very, very, very precise. And they're just like, that's not typically how people remember traumatic things, right? So they're immediately like a little bit questioning about this. Then is the big red flag, which is Christine's alleged behavior. It seemed massively out of character to this married mum who's a nurse. All of her friends insisted that she had always been faithful to her husband, and no one in her life was aware of any kinks that Christine had, like being into bdsm. Now, of course, she could have just kept that a secret. For most people, these things are incredibly private, so it's not exactly completely unusual that none of her loved ones knew what she liked in bed. But yeah, there's more to it later.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

But the way the tryst had been planned also didn't quite ring true. Christine had worked a long shift as a nurse the day before, so naturally it would be expected to have a bit of a lie in on her day Off. Would she really plan a kinky meetup just after 7am moments after her husband, her daughter, and their au pair were due to leave the house? 7:00am BDSM sounds bad.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Pretty intense. Mmm. Now, Juliana and Brendan's accounts of Joe Ryan's death were also incredibly confusing. A medical examiner concluded that Brendan's first shot to Joe Ryan's head would have at least partially blinded or demobilized him. In other words, he wouldn't have really been an active threat. Now, of course, look, in the heat of the moment, filled with fear, there's a stranger in your house, it is believable that Brendan could still have perceived this man as being a threat and shot him. That wouldn't have been that weird. And also, come on, if this was real, emotions are running incredibly high. This man broke into your house and stabbed your wife in the neck. Like, who would blame him, really, for shooting twice, right? What's odd, though, is that Brendan, who was already armed and who still had bullets in his gun, and who had already shot the intruder once, why didn't he just shoot the man again instead? Remember what actually happened? According to Brendan and Juliana, he called Juliana his au pair, who, as far as he knows, doesn't know how to fucking shoot a gun to go and get another gun that was locked up in a safe in another room, go get that, come in and shoot this man. If you think he's such a threat, just shoot him. You're the law enforcement officer with a gun.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

Not going to send the like, basically child I employ to go and get another one.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

I don't know. That's the thing that didn't make sense. It didn't feel like it fit the natural pattern of what a person would do who was in that kind of situation, even under extreme stress.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

And then there's the 911 calls. As it turned out, Juliana placed more than one call to the emergency services that morning. The first was made at 7:47am where dispatchers heard what they called a g guttural moan, followed by silence. A minute passed, then two more calls connected within seconds of each other. Again, the caller didn't speak. The last call was made at 8.02am, where Juliana begged for help and Brendan took over and explained what happened and that he was a federal agent. As we just played you, between the first and final calls, there were 13 minutes. If you hold your breath for 30 minutes, you're dead. And in the context of saving someone's life, someone who's bleeding out on the floor, it's an Especially long time. But that's not even the worst bit. Most damningly of all, Juliana failed to mention those earlier calls to the police when she was telling them what happened. Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Kelsey Gill said in a press conference that it was, quote, not what a person in that situation would do unless they were trying to cover something up.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Finally, there was the forensic side of things, the strangest of all, because the blood patterns at the scene just didn't add up with Juliana and Brendan's story. Firstly, some of the blood at the scene was already dried. God. Secondly, the blood from Joe Ryan's wounds appeared to have flowed in several different directions, as if he'd been repositioned after he'd been shot in ways that he couldn't have done himself, given his injuries.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

Do they not teach you that in federal tax school?

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Apparently not. As for Christine, her neck was absolutely covered in gashes of varying depths. Some were superficial, almost like tentative paper cuts made with just the tip of the knife. Typically, what you see kind of hesitation.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

Marks or what actually happens when you're doing knife play. Like, we've said this a hundred times, the difference between a sex game, even one, including a knife, and actually killing someone miles apart.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Yeah, because she also had some very, very deep wounds, the deepest of which was 2.5 inches deep, which had severed her carotid artery and jugular vein. Christine would have bled out rapidly. But what was really interesting is that some of the blood wasn't where it should have been. Or should we say, some of the blood wasn't how it should have been. Because if someone stabs a person in the neck multiple times, you'd expect to see blood spray on the attacker's clothes and body, particularly when one of the wounds has cut the carotid artery.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

And a lot of it.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Yeah, absolutely. You'd also expect to see transferred blood on them, like in big pools from where you're trying to hold the person down that you're stabbing. But forensic investigators found that Christine's blood actually looked like it had been smeared onto Joe Ryan's arms. The police smelled a big, fat rat.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

A very embarrassed, humiliating rat that shat itself and then smeared it all over the walls. The investigation went on for several months, during which time Brendan and Juliana were free. Bizarrely, Juliana continued living at the family home with Brendan and Valerie. Shockingly, a victim liaison officer named Sally Faez witnessed Valerie asking Juliana, valerie's the kid. Should I call you Mummy now? And are you going to marry Daddy? So nothing's behind closed doors. It would appear. Juliana responds, I wish.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Yeah, because look, kids, she's four kids ask weird questions, right?

[Female Host (Hannah)]

But very often within the context of the situation they are in.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Absolutely. But Juliana responding, I wish. In front of a fucking liaison officer. Are you all right? Like, it's just. Oh my God, she's so confused. Poor Valerie. This horrible thing has happened to her. She's so confused. Instead, she's like, yeah, fucking wish, kid. I wish. She is so stupid.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

Police were starting to suspect that the relationship between Juliana and Brendan might run a little bit deeper than just boss and employee. And their hunch was eventually confirmed. On the day of the murders, officers had taken photos of the house, including Juliana's room. There was a Brazilian flag on the wall and her clothes were in the wardrobe.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Nearly seven months later, though, in October 2023, they returned to the house with a search warrant and took yet more photos. Only now there had been a pretty significant change. Juliana's clothes and lingerie were now all in the master bedroom, where framed photos of the Banfield had been replaced with lovey dovey shots of Juliana and Brendan.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

Sleeping in that woman's bed is sick.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

It's all so disgusting. They're so stupid as well. They're so stupid. It's been seven months since your wife was murdered in that house. I mean, I'm not even going to do this because she was murdered, but not by Joe Ryan, by you. And to just. It's like if you rob a bank, the number one rule is don't immediately start living like you just robbed a bank.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

Well, fame don't play with real money when you're playing Monopoly.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

All good tips, all good tips. So if you are going to plot and murder your wife with your fucking mistress, don't immediately start a relationship with your mistress very publicly. Maybe just wait a little bit longer. But they don't. They were very openly a couple, with Juliana taking Christine's place before she was barely fucking cold. And this of course, spiked investigators interest. And so more searches were done and they quickly discovered that the pair had been having an affair for over a year with online evidence detailing their extramarital antics behind Christine's back. Now, while the affair between Brendan and Juliana wasn't exactly proof in itself, it put a whole new spin on the case that couldn't be ignored. And this is the thing. If they hadn't very openly been a couple, their affair might never have even been discovered. Which just points to how fucking stupid this whole thing. Investigators were finally asking the question, were the foreign au pair and her Skeezy boss in cahoots to get rid of his wife.

[Doctor / Medical Professional]

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[Female Host (Hannah)]

In October 2023, Juliana was charged with the second degree murder of Joe Ryan. The second shot to the chest by Juliana was judged to be the fatal blow that killed him. She was held in jail for almost a year while Brendan stayed free.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Yeah, this feels very like. I think if they genuinely believe that Joe Ryan was a man who had broken into the house to kill Christine, I don't think they'd be bringing any charges against Juliana. This is a ploy. Split them up, divide and conquer. Get her into jail. She's the weakling. She's much more likely to crack. They obviously pin him as being the mastermind, and they're like, we get her away. We test their loyalties to each other. We put the pressure on, and then we see if they crack.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

Brendan even remained a tax spy. He remained working for the irs, although he was placed on suspension pending investigation. So he worked as an Uber driver. That is terrifying. Turn your location on, ladies. During this time, Juliana's lawyer tried to do damage control by publicly claiming the affair between Juliana and Brendan wasn't really that deep. Juliana was on dating apps, and the Banfields allegedly weren't sexually exclusive. Meanwhile, a smitten Juliana stayed loyal to Brendan Banfield. Behind bars, she sent him gushing letters where she promised that she would never do anything to hurt him, vowing to take the blame for everything if she had to. The pages were littered with love hearts, smiley faces, and Soppy phrases like always yours. She even assured Brendan's mum, who she affectionately called her mother in law, that she wouldn't switch up on Brendan, insisting that no matter what the police offered her, she just would not take it. I would pay money to know what Brendan's mum has to say.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Well, they're paying for her defence.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

So Juliana was standing by her man. Until she wasn't.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Yeah, because after almost a year behind bars, Juliana fell ill and was hospitalised, needing gallbladder surgery. Around this time, her letters to her mum back in Brazil took on an increasingly desperate tone. She was complaining that she was absolutely miserable in prison and longing to come back home. And to make matters worse, Juliana wasn't quite feeling the love from Brendan in the way that she had at the time. Same. The start of her stint in the.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

Clink gave her the stay straight at the gate.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Juliana wrote to a friend that she was starting to realize that the only thing she and Brendan had in common was sex. She moaned that she was pissed off with him, as he apparently kept flaking on coming to visit her. And with her own trial looming, Juliana was clearly panicking about the outcome, writing that she'd never forgive herself if she couldn't see her family again.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

But luckily for Juliana, there was light at the end of the tunnel. By now, Brendan Banfield was facing his own charges of aggravated murder, a firearms offense, and one count of child endangerment against his daughter, Valerie, because she was in the house when her mother was killed. As far as the prosecution were concerned, the big kahuna in this case was Brendan Banfield, the man they suspected of masterminding the plot to murder his own wife and a stranger. And while they had Brendan in the crosshairs, they still weren't quite certain that a jury would definitely convict him. And that's where Juliana came in. Their crown jewel, the one he would least suspect. Prosecutors offered Juliana a sweetheart deal. If she spilled the beans and testified against Brendan Banfield, they would reduce her own charges to involuntary manslaughter and she would face a maximum sentence of just 10 years, which, compared to the time she'd served for second degree homicide, was definitely sweet. They even hinted that if she played a blinder as the star witness at Brendan's trial, once it was over, she could be released with time served and just be deported back to Brazil, which is what Juliana wanted most in the world anyway. So, unsurprisingly, Juliana snapped up that sweetheart plea deal and started yapping.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

All eyes were on Juliana as she took the stand at Brendan's murder trial in January 2026 under the banner of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The trial featured the same courtroom and the same judge Penny S. Ascarati as Johnny Depp and Amber Heard's notorious defamation case.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

There you have it.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

There you have it. Absolutely. And while this would have just as much scandal as that case, the trial would definitely lack the same glamour, shall we say, because Juliana turned up to court looking very different. And I mean, like, quite literally like a different person, like completely Juliana. She is now in the dock free of her lash extensions, dyed blonde hair, the red lipstick is gone. She's got no makeup on at all. She's got glasses on and she's dressed like in very, very plain gray clothes. And she's also very visibly put on quite a bit of weight. Very different person. And this very much glowed down version of Juliana, which was so obviously a ploy on her part to like de Sex herself, told the story that we have just gone through with you guys so far, explaining how Brendan had masterminded the whole plan to get rid of Christine and that she had just been roped into it. She also added that she'd actually got cold feet and tried to back out in the days leading up to the murders. But the Brendan Banfield told her it was too late for all that. So scared, alone in the country and hopelessly in love. Juliana claimed that she just did as he instructed.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

On the stand, Juliana gave her account of what actually happened on the morning of February 24th, and it was a very different story to the one she had initially told police. It laid out a meticulous itinerary that she and Brendan had prepared well in advance. Juliana admitted she never intended to go to the zoo that day with Valerie. Instead, she just drove around the corner and waited for Joe Ryan's car to arrive. As expected. At 7:20am she rang Brendan, who was waiting at a local McDonald's, for her call, to let him know. Brendan returned and they went into the house with Valerie, who Juliana led straight down into the basement while Brendan went upstairs. Juliana then followed, hearing Brendan doing his whole freeze, I'm an officer shtick, and entered the bedroom to find the scene they had prepared playing out in real time. A terrified Christine was naked on the floor while Joe Ryan loomed over her with a knife. As Brendan pulled out his service gun and shot Joe once in the head, Christine called out to Juliana and begged her to call 91 1. A flustered Juliana made the call while Joe Ryan moaned in agony in the background. That was the noise the dispatchers had heard on the first brief 911 call. But Brendan motioned for Juliana to hang up, so she did.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

And what happened next is beyond chilling. Juliana claims that she went into the bathroom to get some towels, and when she returned, Brendan Banfield had taken the kitchen knife that Joe had brought and was stabbing his own wife repeatedly. Christine was begging Brendan to let her go, but he didn't stop. He kept going, stabbing his wife seven times. Juliana says she couldn't bear to look, pacing around the room and covering her eyes, all as a terrified and confused Christine bled to death at the hands of her husband. And probably in those final moments, seeing Juliana doing nothing to help her, realizing the betrayal that had taken place.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

As Christine bled out, Jo Ryan showed signs of movement, perhaps a final desperate attempt to survive. Juliana pulled out the gun that Brendan had given her that, as it turned out, she'd actually had on her the whole time, and she shot Joe Ryan in the chest. This time, Joe Ryan stopped moving for good. Next, Brendan and Juliana quickly rejigged the scene to fit their story. And this involved wiping Christine's blood on Joe's arms. To really sell the idea that he was the one who'd stabbed her. Juliana opened the safe where the spare gun Brendan had brought her was usually kept to cover up the fact that she'd already had it on her. Even now, Brendan was callous and unremorseful. Juliana claims that he was disappointed by the knife that Joe had brought for the rape fantasy, since a sharper one would have made everything a bit easier. After several minutes, Brendan gave Juliana the Nod to phone 911 again, which explains the bizarre 13 minute gap in between the emergency calls that morning.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Juliana's testimony was incredibly damning for Brendan Banfield, but the defence shot back with one very loud and very clear question. How on earth was the jury supposed to believe a word that Juliana said?

[Female Host (Hannah)]

And to. To have a dying woman beg you to call 91 1-MM and still keep going?

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Yep. And also to remain, like, in love with a man that you've just watched stab his wife in the neck seven times in front of you and say.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

You'Ll take the blame. Obviously she doesn't stick to it for it, but, like, to even have that for quite a long amount of time. She sticks to guns.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Juliana is. She tries to put herself across in this entire case as, like, this innocent victim who was, like, Svengalied by fucking Brendan Banfield. And that's just not the case. But, like, the point in trial stands as that Juliana is the star witness for the prosecution against Brendan Banfield, she is the only way in which they're going to bring him down, and he is the one that they really want. But the defense's point is a very, very good point. Like, how is the jury supposed to believe what she is saying?

[Female Host (Hannah)]

Right.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

They pointed out how the sweetheart deal completely incentivized Giuliana to throw Brendan under the bus, and they insisted that she was now just spouting whatever story the prosecution wanted her to say in order to save her own bacon.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

That's how Carla Harmon got off.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Absolutely. This is the tricky thing. It's like it all comes down to in court. Do you believe Juliana or do you not believe her? Brendan's defense lawyer, John Carroll, actually tried to pass a motion for the whole trial to be thrown out on the basis of Juliana's dubious integrity, but the judge refused. But Carol, like we said, does have a point. Juliana claimed in court that she was telling the truth now because it was the right thing to do. And let's have a little listen to Juliana being questioned by Carol.

[Juliana Perez Margulies]

Yes.

[Defense Attorney (John Carroll)]

That's a letter that you wrote, it looks like, on December 8, 2023.

[Juliana Perez Margulies]

Yes.

[Defense Attorney (John Carroll)]

And that would have been about two months after you were arrested on this charge?

[Juliana Perez Margulies]

Yes, Correct.

[Defense Attorney (John Carroll)]

And calling your attention to the highlighted portion.

[Juliana Perez Margulies]

Did you ask something? I'm sorry, I was reading.

[Defense Attorney (John Carroll)]

I was asking you to read it. Yes. Have you read it?

[Juliana Perez Margulies]

Yeah, I read it.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Okay.

[Defense Attorney (John Carroll)]

And the yellow portion there, can you read that, please?

[Juliana Perez Margulies]

Yes. Well, now that you know parenthesis. I mean, they already knew close parenthesis, that I'm not going to cooperate with them. There is nothing I can do. So I don't know what they are going to use. I mean, everything they have and can. I don't know. Everything. I just have the feeling they might hold me here until my trial. It can take months, years. There are many theories of what had happened set up by you, us, or I wasn't supposed to be there, and et cetera.

[Defense Attorney (John Carroll)]

Okay. In this letter, which you wrote, it suggests that someone from the Commonwealth had been talking to you about cooperating against Brandon. Is that correct?

[Juliana Perez Margulies]

No, they never talked directly with me.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Okay.

[Defense Attorney (John Carroll)]

How would they communicate that to you?

[Juliana Perez Margulies]

Through my lawyer.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Overruled.

[Defense Attorney (John Carroll)]

How would they commute that, Communicate that to you?

[Juliana Perez Margulies]

Through my lawyer.

[Defense Attorney (John Carroll)]

Okay. And so this is two months after you were arrested. And were they.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Were they.

[Defense Attorney (John Carroll)]

Were you given an opportunity to plead guilty and cooperate at that time?

[Juliana Perez Margulies]

Yes.

[Defense Attorney (John Carroll)]

Okay. And what was it that they were offering you at that time?

[Juliana Perez Margulies]

At that point? My Lord had said that they were offering, in exchange for my cooperation, they would offer me a misdemeanor, and I would be released on time served.

[Defense Attorney (John Carroll)]

Okay. And your. I guess, as I understand it, your lawyer communicated that to you, and then you made the decision as to that.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Yeah.

[Defense Attorney (John Carroll)]

And what was your decision?

[Juliana Perez Margulies]

That I. I didn't want.

[Defense Attorney (John Carroll)]

Okay, so you rejected the. The misdemeanor offer.

[Juliana Perez Margulies]

Yes.

[Defense Attorney (John Carroll)]

Based on what you knew.

[Juliana Perez Margulies]

Yes.

[Defense Attorney (John Carroll)]

Okay, thank you.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

The defense, as you heard there, are highlighting for the jury that Juliana acknowledges that there are many theories out there regarding her involvement. You know, they're making her read out messages that she sent, and she's like, yeah, there's loads of different theories for what people think happened. And also in that message, she's just been forced to read out her willingness to change her story depending on the situation, which is not a good look for her.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

No. But, like, I. Also, without her, there's enough gray area for them both to get off.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

And that's why the judge doesn't throw out the whole case. I understand why the defense is asking for that, but sweetheart deals are normal practice for law enforcement. They're normal part of, like, they're a normal part of the justice system. So, of course the judge can't throw it out based on that, because then there's so many cases you would set a precedent for that kind of thing. Now, Juliana also had to admit in court that part of her decision to now tell the truth or change her story, depending on how you want to look at it, was absolutely motivated by the terms of the plea deal. Again, not very helpful, because the terms of the plea deal mean that she could get out with possibly time served and also be reunited with her family, which is basically all that she really wants. And it's very clear, because that's what she's saying in her messages. And Carol reminded the jury that the Son of Sam laws in the US Prevent convicts from making money off their cases, but this doesn't apply in Brazil.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

Interesting.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

So if she gets out on a reduced prison sentence and gets deported back to Brazil, she can do whatever the fuck she wants. So Juliana could be absolutely gearing up for a big payday after her turn as a Commonwealth star witness. And Carol actually presented evidence of. Of this in court in the form of jailhouse letters, where Juliana actually discussed Netflix negotiations, revealing that she had been offered $10,000 to appear in a future documentary. But she still apparently wanted more, telling her, mum, we deserve something. And here is a clip of John Carroll asking her to explain what exactly she means by we deserve Something.

[Defense Attorney (John Carroll)]

What does that mean? You deserve something.

[Juliana Perez Margulies]

That's what. That's what it says. The words we.

[Defense Attorney (John Carroll)]

I know that. What. What do you mean? What are the details that are associated with making a. Yeah.

[Juliana Perez Margulies]

Also. Okay, so also me in the future. Yes.

[Defense Attorney (John Carroll)]

And what is it you deserve? Something.

[Juliana Perez Margulies]

For everything that we've been through. My family and I. For everybody.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

For.

[Defense Attorney (John Carroll)]

For being what you've been through.

[Juliana Perez Margulies]

For being through what I've been through.

[Defense Attorney (John Carroll)]

Okay.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

You.

[Defense Attorney (John Carroll)]

You were charged with murder because you shot someone. Am I wrong?

[Juliana Perez Margulies]

No, you're not.

[Defense Attorney (John Carroll)]

And so why would you deserve something because of that?

[Juliana Perez Margulies]

Not because of that. I didn't say that I deserve something because of.

[Defense Attorney (John Carroll)]

Okay.

[Juliana Perez Margulies]

What I did.

[Defense Attorney (John Carroll)]

I didn't. I didn't hear any details, so feel free to tell me why.

[Juliana Perez Margulies]

I'm saying for after. When this is over for me and my family and again, forever, everything we've been through.

[Defense Attorney (John Carroll)]

Okay.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Now.

[Defense Attorney (John Carroll)]

When, prior to you accepting the commonwealth's offer and accepting the story, were you negotiating with anyone prior to taking your plea?

[Juliana Perez Margulies]

Not that I remember.

[Defense Attorney (John Carroll)]

Okay. I'm sorry. Not. Not that you remember?

[Juliana Perez Margulies]

Yes.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Okay.

[Defense Attorney (John Carroll)]

Were you talking to any media?

[Juliana Perez Margulies]

Don't. Not I remember either.

[Defense Attorney (John Carroll)]

Okay. Were there any talk. Was there any talk of money with anyone, no matter who it was?

[Juliana Perez Margulies]

No.

[Defense Attorney (John Carroll)]

Other than people that you want to pay into your account?

[Juliana Perez Margulies]

No.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Okay.

[Defense Attorney (John Carroll)]

So this. This newfound interest in, you know, Nestech, a nest egg for yourself or money for you, has come about since you pled guilty and accepted their deal, correct?

[Juliana Perez Margulies]

Well, that is correct.

[Defense Attorney (John Carroll)]

And you. You. And I guess it took a little time to go out into the future.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

In order for you.

[Defense Attorney (John Carroll)]

You to feel comfortable doing that. Is that correct?

[Juliana Perez Margulies]

Well, yeah, I was thinking about my future. Yes.

[Defense Attorney (John Carroll)]

Thinking it was a huge risk is.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

What?

[Defense Attorney (John Carroll)]

Did you say? Huge risk?

[Juliana Perez Margulies]

No, I was thinking about my future.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

Yes, I was thinking about your future.

[Defense Attorney (John Carroll)]

Okay.

[Juliana Perez Margulies]

Yes.

[Defense Attorney (John Carroll)]

And so that's.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

That.

[Defense Attorney (John Carroll)]

That gets back to where I started. So that's. That's just what this is about. It's just thinking about your future?

[Juliana Perez Margulies]

You can say that.

[Defense Attorney (John Carroll)]

Okay, well, do you say that, Put.

[Juliana Perez Margulies]

It that way, yes.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Okay. Thank you.

[Defense Attorney (John Carroll)]

Do you see the letter that's marked March 8, 2025?

[Juliana Perez Margulies]

Yes.

[Defense Attorney (John Carroll)]

Did you write that?

[Juliana Perez Margulies]

Yes.

[Defense Attorney (John Carroll)]

Do you see the highlighted portions?

[Juliana Perez Margulies]

I can.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

And.

[Defense Attorney (John Carroll)]

Your honor, this is defense 68. Can you read the highlighted portion? To the ladies and gentlemen of the jury?

[Juliana Perez Margulies]

He says, I'm talking to this girl. She's an author, published books and everything. She even sent me her books to read. Her name is Kate. She works with the guy named Zachary. As we have Video calls. Sometimes they are the ones interested in making a documentary with Netflix about my case, interview, etc. So I'm negotiating with them regarding money, etc. Then they could help me while I'm here putting money in my account.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

And Juliana was also forced to admit in court that Netflix producers were also paying for her commissary items while she'd been inside.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

Netflix.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Cheeky. Cheeky.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

Needless to say, this was yet another enormous blow to Juliana's credibility in the courtroom in the eyes of that jury. Me too, to be honest, she came across as a selfish, grasping little piece of shit. And she wasn't exactly helped by her blase attitude on the stand either. She didn't appear to show much emotion at all, even when describing the gruesome details of Christine and Joe's murders. But it's not over till it's over. The fight was still on. Prosecutors defended Juliana's switch up by putting it into context. They highlighted that she was a foreigner in the US she was only 23 and totally dependent on the Banfields for everything from legal representation to communication with her family. And she'd been reluctant to turn against her support system before the Netflix producers coughed up Brendan. Banfield's parents were the ones paying for her lawyer and funding the account she used to communicate with her family while in jail. Those gushing letters from Juliana to Brendan's mum in her early months inside, where she promised that she wouldn't betray Brendan, well, they just showed how Juliana relied upon the Banfields for her basic needs, seeing them as her only source of support while she was locked up and scared. And while I don't believe that's what she was doing, I can see the argument of, I'm not gonna tell my boyfriend's mum who's paying for me, that I'm dobbing him in. Yeah, I can see that logic. They claim that Giuliana turning on Brendan in spite of all of that, actually pointed to credibility, not against it, because she was willing to risk her safety, risk her life, risk her sentence, risk it all to tell the truth.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

So, best they've got. But ultimately, the prosecution argued that all of this was just splitting hairs anyway, because at the end of the day, Juliana's story checked out. Her testimony was not only realistically detailed, but it also completely lined up with the expert evidence that the prosecution had presented in court. They called up a blood pattern expert who confirmed that the blood appeared to have been unnaturally placed between the bodies, just like Juliana had described. The expert also pointed to blood spatter on Brendan's shoes. Which wouldn't typically occur from tending to a person who had already been stabbed. Instead, it looked a lot more like cast off. Even if Juliana was just trying to tell the prosecutors what they wanted to hear, there's no way she could have got all those details so eerily accurate. Now, of course, look, it's not beyond the realm of possibility that the prosecutors gave Juliana this information so that she could then tell a story that backed up the facts that they were going to present. But that would be highly corrupt behavior, and we haven't seen any evidence that that's what they did.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

The first pillar of the Banfield trial, of course, was Juliana's credibility. The second was the so called catfish theory. The prosecution consistently pushed this as an explanation for everything. The hinge for their whole case rested on it not being Christine who arranged the tryst with Joe Ryan, but instead, it having been a plot concocted by Brendan and Juliana to facilitate Christine's murder. So, unsurprisingly, Brendan Banfield's defence set out to do all they could to dismantle it. During Juliana's cross examination, John Carroll tried to catch her out by asking specific questions about the plan. Needling her on tiny details like who sent what between her and Brendan and where exactly was she in the house when she sent certain messages? Juliana couldn't always remember and often said she wasn't sure, but it was three years ago and the questions were so specific, it's not that surprising. Despite minor wobbles, Juliana was pretty solid on the overall story. And the messages she described sending were consistent with forensic evidence. Again, how would Juliana have such intimate knowledge of the content of the messages unless she had a hand in writing them? It's very accurate. Stab in the dark otherwise, isn't it? For a 20 something year old?

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

She was 21 at the time.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

On a FetLife website in your not native language.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Okay. But it all comes down to the question of proof. And in this case, it's not that straightforward. The defense made the bold claim that there was zero digital evidence to conclusively prove that Juliana and Brendan used Christine's computer to send those messages. Which annoyingly, is kind of true. Digital experts for both sides testified that there is no data led way of proving who was behind a specific bit of communication. As one digital expert put it, the zeros and the ones stay the same. In other words, the binary code of the computer cannot tell us anything beyond the raw data, that is that the messages were sent and where they were sent from. They can't tell us who sent them. It's impossible to actually place someone behind the screen and assert that they were the ones who posted something, only that it came from a particular account or device. And it's this lack of certainty that the defence tried to strike on hard during the trial.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

That's all they have to do. Just enough. And then Brian's defence attorney, Carroll, stepped things up, a gear to conspiracy. He alleged that as the catfish theory started to be pushed by investigators, both the lead homicide detective and another forensic detective who disagreed with the theory were quietly transferred onto different cases. Carol pointed to an earlier report written by forensic detective Brendan Miller, which concluded that Christine was in fact the user behind the activity on her device before he was unceremoniously pulled off the case. Carol described turmoil inside the police department, insinuating that there was a party line to follow, even if the evidence didn't fit.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Now, Detective Miller's boss confirmed on the stand that Miller was indeed pulled from the case after making a wrongful deduction in his report. But this wasn't because he came to a different conclusion than the one that they wanted him to. It was because he had made a call that couldn't possibly be proven by the digital evidence alone. So basically, what they're saying is Miller does say, I think these were written by Christine. I can prove that these were written by Christine. But like we've already said, no forensic analyst worth their salt should ever or could ever be making that kind of a conclusive statement based on pure data, which is all that Miller had, essentially. Miller wasn't taken off the case because he disagreed with the leading theory. He was taken off the case because he fucked up by saying something he couldn't possibly prove.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

That's what you want?

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Yeah.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

That's who you want on the case.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Despite what John Carroll might want you to believe, there's no such thing as a silver bullet when it comes to digital forensics. At least not in this story.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

Way more important is the fact that the prosecutors did actually present solid contextual evidence in support of the so called catfish theory. They pointed to several occasions when Juliana and Brendan were known to be away from the house. Like another weekend they spent in New York with Valerie that corresponded with a conspicuous lack of activity on those accounts on Christine's computer.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

This, I think, is so much more interesting, right, because they obviously, according to Juliana and according to the evidence, all of the messages are sent when at least two of them, including Christina's, in the house. But when Brendan and fucking Juliana aren't in the house, then Christine's not sending all of these saucy messages. Make it make any sort of sense, please. Like, that, to me, is so conspicuous.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

Yeah. If Christine was messaging kinky suitors behind her husband's back, surely the perfect time to do do that would be when she had the place to herself.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

All right. Defense comes in and they're like, no, no, no. Part of the thrill was her almost getting caught. So when they weren't in the house, it wasn't that interesting for her to send these messages. Like, that's what they. That's the only thing they could say that would make any sense, because they've even taken Valerie with them on these dirty weekends for some reason.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

Which, like, how was that explained?

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Well, that's the only reason that it would make any sense that Juliana has to go. But I still don't get it.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

Oh, okay. I see. Still, though, like, you'd be suspicious.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

I can imagine it spun from Brendan. Like, you're so busy at work. You're so busy at work. Let me not leave Juliana, our au pair, at home with our daughter, and let me take you away for a nice weekend in New York. I will go to New York and take our child and our nanny.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

You know, you've always said you love.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

This house and you stay here, but don't you send any fucking kinky messages behind my back.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

The messages were always sent when either Brendan or Juliana were also at home with Christine. Juliana testified that they would take advantage of Christine being wiped out after a long work day to take her laptop from her backpack and use it without her knowing. And prosecutor Jenna Sands pointed out that a new email account was made to create the FetLife account, so any correspondence wouldn't go into Christine's actual inbox that she used in her daily life. It would go to a different one. So you could easily interpret that as someone trying to hide it from her.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Now, look, you could also make the argument that you're up to no good. You're going to create a burner email account to use on this website. Maybe. But here's the real kicker. Officers testified in court that they reviewed all of Christine's accounts and online activity across several years prior to the murders. And guess what they didn't fucking find. There was zero evidence that she had ever accessed or made accounts on any similar fetish or sex related websites. This is what I said earlier. The fact that none of her friends knew and they were all like this doesn't sound like Christine at all. Sure. That could just Be something you keep secret, but nobody keeps secret from their fucking Internet usage, what fetishes they're into, right? Like that is just not believable. As Lt. David Giaco put it, she had never so much as visited a porn site. So with all these factors considered, did Christine honestly sound like the sort of person who would engage in X rated chats with a stranger and then invite them over to pretend to rape her? The prosecution said no, but whether it would be enough to sway the jury was another matter.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

And this brings us on to one of the most interesting moments of the whole trial.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

This really just like, yeah, this is it for me.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

Christine's dad was called to testify. But rather than tugging the jury's heartstrings with a grieving father's memories of his daughter, the state's questioning focused strictly on.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

The clinical stuff, specifically the blood clotting disorder. Oh, come on. That Christine suffered from. Her dad explained that Christine bled and bruised incredibly easily, and it was something she had had since childhood to the extent that the hospital had to make special precautions when Christine gave birth to her daughter, Valerie. When nudged, he indicated that Brendan was also well aware of this disorder. Now we can see why the prosecution went down this road. It got across the idea that Brendan most likely chose to stab Christine as the manner of murder because he knew that she was at a higher risk of bleeding out more quickly than most people.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

And they also insinuated that Christine's known blood disorder would make her less likely to engage in knife play in the bedroom. It would be, unlike many a sex game, an actual risk to her life. And she was a nurse, she would know that. You could say that perhaps Christine may still have engaged in the kink, despite the danger. And sure, that is possible, but if you put that together with the lack of any kinky Internet history whatsoever, I just don't think so.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

No. So the trial rolled on and all the while the media frenzy continued to grow. The attention of the press really honed in on Juliana, the scheming au pair at the centre of the drama, whilst Brendan remained very aloof. He always sits quietly in the dark, showing very little emotion, just scribbling a fuck ton of notes. It's honestly so, so annoying to watch. There is so much footage of this trial out there and I watched far too many hours of this yesterday. And all he does, all the time, he's doing fake writing, he is doing pretend writing. I'm just like, what are you fucking writing? Whenever anyone is testifying, he's just like. And scribbling away on his little fucking notepad, like, what, are you writing your fucking memoirs? Like, shut the fuck up. There's even a point, and this was just so, like, striking. There's even a point where in court they play the body cam footage of one of the first responders and they don't show it, obviously on the YouTube, but you know that the people in the courtroom are seeing the incredibly bloody scene that those officers met. Christine had been stabbed in the next seven times and Joe Ryan had been shot twice. People look horrified. Even Brendan Banfield's lawyer, like, puts his hand to his mouth, like he's shocked by what he's seeing, even though I'm sure he's seen it before. But Brendan Banfield just goes back to writing notes. He's a fucking. Apart from knobbed.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

The few moments where he took the time to wipe away a singular tear from his eye.

[Rocket Money Advertiser]

Yeah.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

But if you actually look at his face, bone dry.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

There's no tits, though.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

Towards the end of his trial, the jury and public finally got their chance to hear Brendan's side of the story. Bold move. Yeah. The defence chose to put him on the stand to testify, leaving himself bang open to a cross examination.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

I couldn't believe it.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

And it backfired spectacularly. But I can't say that anyone is surprised.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

No. When testifying, Brendan Banfield comes across exactly as you might expect. He's incredibly cold, he's incredibly callous and he comes across incredibly arrogantly. He admitted to having cheated on Christine multiple times in the past, though he also shrugged off and said she had affairs too, something that couldn't be verified by anyone else. Though he seemed to roll his eyes and get sarcastic when questioned by prosecutor Jenna Sands. He clearly thinks when he's speaking that he is the smartest person in the room.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

Oh, yeah, that's his. That's his whole vibe. I can feel it through the notes.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

And this is where prosecutor Jenna Sands honestly came into her own. On cross examination, she grilled Brendan about the holes in his story, of which there were many. Specifically about how his claims on the stand that he wasn't really that into Juliana were total. And Jenna Sands came armed with the receipts, like messages where a seemingly smitten Brendan suggests baby names for his and Juliana's future children.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

Trash. And on top of that, sans offered a compelling motive. A desperate Brendan went through with the murders, at least partly to keep his sexy little 21 year old mistress from leaving him.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

And there was still one last bonus in store for the Commonwealth. And oh, my God, it is so good. In the trial footage, you see the prosecutor say, Jenna Sands, she stands up and she says, we've got a new witness, Judge, we've got a new witness. It's a rebuttal witness who came forward only last night. So it's a complete surprise to us. His name is Thomas Smith, T. Smith. And the defense attorney, Carol, he stands up and he's like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Who is this guy? You can't just randomly bring up a new witness that we've never heard about. And they're like, it's a rebuttal witness. It's rebutting something your client, who you never should have put on the bloody stand, said. Therefore we can bring them forward as a surprise. And the judge is like, what do you want to. You can have a chat about this. But the judge says, I'm not going to refute a rebuttal witness. That that's totally legit of her to do. And they can only come forward because of something he said. So fair is fair. And it is so funny because while John Carroll is like, who is this guy? Who's T. Smith? Who's Thomas Smith? The camera cuts to Brendan Banfield and he's like, oh, shit. Oh shit.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

This last minute witness was none other than Brendan's manager from the irs, Thomas Smith.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Yeah. That's why he knows, because he's like, but that's my boss.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

After hearing Brendan testify that he had an early meeting scheduled at work with his boss on the morning of the murders, Thomas Smith personally reached out to testify. That's a real federal agent.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

I love this so much. Cuz. Yeah. Brennan's whole story is like, well, I left at 7 cuz I had this really important business meeting I had to go to and that's why I was in such a rush, blah, blah, blah. And he's like, I want to testify.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

And he dropped the bombshell that no such meeting was ever planned. And in fact, Brandon's supervisors were all out of the office that week. I really hope that Thomas Smith always hated Brandon.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Oh yeah.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

And he was just waiting for his moment. And he never ever thought that it would be this good.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

It's so good.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

So of course that blew Brandon's whole story wide open and proved him conclusively to be a big fat liar bounder in a cat. Because as we mentioned earlier, he wasn't at a business meeting. He was hiding in a McDonald's toilet. And the prosecution had the CCTV to.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Prove that because he's allowed to run his mouth saying that he was at a meeting, but they find out he's at the McDonald's, they get the CCTV and now they've also got Thomas Smith to be like, there was no meeting. So it's not like he thought there was a meeting. He left. There wasn't a meeting. He goes to McDonald's, there was no meeting.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

It's beautifully played how they wait till the end to really harpoon him.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Absolutely.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

So after deliberating for almost nine hours on 4th February, 2026, the day before the eve of today, the day before we sat down to record this very episode that you're listening to or watching with your eyes, the jury returned with a verdict. Brendan Banfield was found guilty on all charges, including the aggravated first degree murders of both his wife Christine Banfield and Joe Ryan. He is expected to be sentenced to life because surprisingly to me, Virginia doesn't have the death penalty.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Brendan showed zero emotion when the verdict was read out, which isn't that surprising. The fact that he meticulously plotted to murder the mother of his child in cold blood as well as a perfect fucking stranger, just to avoid custody issues and financial battles in a future divorce is truly chilling. Not to mention that he was more than happy to run the risk of essentially orphaning his own daughter, or at the very least taking from her a loving mother. Brendan Banfield treated Christine like she was just some sort of admin annoyance. And he had no problem whatsoever in smearing her reputation as well as taking her life and smearing the reputation of Joe Ryan as some sort of rapist murderer. And Banfield, look, he's no different to other killers. The two that really stuck out to me, Chris Watts, Scott Peterson, men who wanted to start over with a brand new life and a brand new wife, completely unburdened by the past. They don't want a divorce and then have to be a divorcee and then have this ex wife that's like hanging around, wanting your money, like wanting you to co parent. They're like, nah, fuck that shit, I'm done with you. I'm onto this, get the fuck out. And I don't care that you will. Your life will be over so that I can have what I want. And that psychopathy makes it easy for them to destroy basically anyone who stands in their way. And I think what's really interesting is that Brendan Banfield obviously recognized the similarities between himself and such killers, which is why I think he worked so hard to come up with what he thought was going to be this foolproof plan. I feel like he really studied other crimes. And he's like, right, why did this guy get caught? Why did this guy get caught? And he's like, what I need is a solid reason for why she's been stabbed and why I'm shooting this person. And he's like, this is it. I'll set up this elaborate scheme. And his narcissistic ego, which I think, you know, I don't have to be a fucking psychiatrist to say that, clearly made him believe that he was clever enough to get away with this.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

He's a federal agent.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

He's a federal agent. Of course he is. Fucking hell.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

Not everyone could be a federal agent.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Quite.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

As for Juliana, most likely she'll be headed back to Brazil with that Netflix deal in her back pocket. The state's gambit paid off. Her testimony was a huge part of what solidified the case against Brendan Banfield and likely what put him behind bars. Without her cooperation, I don't think they could have conclusively proven the case against him. I really do think there would have been enough grey area to wobble a jury. But it does sting that Giuliana literally got away with murder and escaped with basically zero consequences. What? She can't go back to the U.S.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

I think she's just gonna go back to Brazil. She'll dye her hair again, like, get a Netflix deal, write a book, do something. And then she can just get enough plastic surgery that no one will reckon I can recognize her now, like, and she's just gonna go on living her life.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

Cause the fact is, like, Giuliana knew exactly what she was doing. She had so many opportunities to prevent this tragedy from happening, and she didn't take a single one of them. Christine begs her to call 911, and she keeps going. She's a co conspirator, hands down. I won't say instigator. I do think it was Brendan's idea. I don't think it's full. Karla Homalka where it was like. Or like Myra, I don't think it's that. But co conspirator, Absolutely. And she wiggled out of it without the sentence she truly deserved. Like, she's killed a man. Yeah, she shot him in the point blank.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

And, like, I honestly thought. Like, this isn't entirely clear to me, but I was like, did Brendan Manfield make her shoot Joe Ryan so that she is equally implicated in, like, getting her hands dirty? But, like, she never says that. She just says, I had the gun and I shot him. She doesn't Say he ordered me to shoot him, which.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

Why wouldn't you say that when you're already ratting him out? So that makes you look better.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

This is what I mean. I don't know.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

So we do really, truly hope that Christine Bamfield and Joe Ryan's loved ones feel like justice has been served. But I don't know. I understand how it has come to this. And at least it is a very solid conviction for him. He'll have a really hard time wiggling out of it, which I think is, in the end, what justifies it. And I do think it's justifiable. It's just a real fucking kicker that.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

She got away with it. It really is. He won't get out of prison now. I mean, you know, double first degree aggravated homicide, like, he's done. But I'd be pissed if I were Christine's family. That Juliana just gets to swan off back to Brazil. It's a bit unsatisfying.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

Yes.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

The end. But.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

But, yeah, we did it. Less than 24 hours after the verdict. Don't say we never give you nothing. There you go.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

That is it, guys. And I know a lot of people have, like, reading the comments under, like, a lot of the trial footage, a lot of people have very, like, complicated feelings about sweetheart deals and about, like, the prosecution using Juliana to make it happen. It is tricky. I'm not gonna deny that. But, like, if only one of them was going to go to prison or if only either of them was going to go to prison, I'm glad that it's Brendan Manfield, and I'm glad it's for the rest of his fucking life.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

I agree. I do think without her, it could have been neither of them.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Yeah, absolutely. Because it's not one of those cases where you're like. Where I was particularly like, oh, did he do it? Didn't he do it? Like he fucking did it? Yeah.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

It's just how to prove that in court.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Absolutely. And Juliana was totally the linchpin to make that happen, unfortunately. So that's it, guys. That is the case of the murder of Christine Banfield and the murder of Joe Ryan, who, again, I feel like Christine is barely spoken about, really, as most victims end up not being. But Joe Ryan is like a completely fucking random, uninvolved person in this. And I watched an interview with his mother, and it's just completely heartbreaking. Like, he did not know what was going on. And obviously, it's a bit tricky with people maybe feeling unfavorably about people having rape fantasies. And knife play and stuff like that. But I have to reiterate, he 100% believed, if you read the messages, that he was taking part in something, consenting with another adult.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

Which happens.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Which happens. So, yeah, that's it.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

There you go.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Thank you for listening.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

Be good.

[Male Host (Sirutti)]

Thank you for watching. And we will see you next time for something.

[Female Host (Hannah)]

Goodbye. Bye.