The Herndon man accused of killing his wife and another man while having an affair with their au pair denied planning to take his wife out of the picture in court yesterday (Wednesday).
Though Brendan Banfield was forthcoming about his months-long affair with co-defendant Juliana Peres Magalhaes, he firmly rejected the idea that he had planned the killing of his wife, Christine Banfield.
“I think that it’s an absurd line of questioning for something that is not serious, that a plan was made to get rid of my wife,” Brendan Banfield said. “That is absolutely crazy.”
Prosecutors have long contended that Banfield crafted a plot that resulted in the deaths of his wife and another man, Joseph Ryan, at the couple’s Herndon home on Feb. 24, 2023.
Banfield and Peres Magalhaes used FetLife, a fetish-focused social network, to lure Ryan to the home under the guise of a knife-play sexual encounter, prosecutors claim.
Though the exact timeline is still unclear, Fairfax County police officers responding to the home located Ryan with two gunshot wounds and Christine Banfield with numerous stab wounds.
“There was no plan with Juliana on Feb. 24,” Brendan Banfield said. “As far as I knew, Juliana was going to be going to the zoo with [our daughter].”
Banfield also testified that Peres Magalhaes had initiated the affair, recalling a night in August 2022 when she discussed her dating history with him.
“Juliana showed me quite a few screenshots of her dating app … and the people that were in the app all had similar names to me,” Banfield said. “Their names were Brendan and Brandon and Brennan, and these were people that she had matched with on the app.”
That same night, Banfield says Magalhaes explicitly came onto him and alluded to a sexual encounter taking place.
“I did not stop her advances,” Banfield said.
But Banfield said he was committed to his wife, despite the affair with Peres Magalhaes and numerous others that he admitted to engaging in during the course of the couple’s 12-year marriage.
“Did you love your wife?” defense attorney John Carroll asked Banfield.
“Very much,” he responded.
“Did you want to continue your marriage with your wife?” Carroll asked.
“Yes,” Banfield said.
Peres Magalhaes, who has pleaded guilty to manslaughter as part of an agreement with prosecutors, testified earlier in the trial against Banfield that he had suggested a “plan to get rid of” his wife in October 2022 and took her to a shooting range so she could practice using a gun.
Banfield is expected to continue his testimony today (Thursday), taking the stand when court resumes at 10 a.m.
He has been charged with four counts of aggravated murder and faces life in prison, if convicted. He also faces separate charges of child neglect and cruelty.
