RICHMOND, Va. (AP) 鈥� Jurors began deliberating Friday on whether a former IRS law enforcement officer in Virginia , with whom he was having an affair, to kill his wife and pin it on a stranger.
Brendan Banfield allegedly spent months plotting to get rid of his spouse so he could be with their nanny, Juliana Magalh茫es, who is now the key witness for the prosecution and testified against him earlier this month.
Magalh茫es alleges she and Banfield created a social media account in the wife’s name on a fetish-focused platform and used it to lure a man, Joe Ryan, to their home for a sexual encounter involving a knife on Feb. 24, 2023. Prosecutors say the lovers shot Ryan and staged the scene to look like he was a predator stabbing the wife.
Christine Banfield, a pediatric intensive care nurse, was mortally wounded with stab wounds to her neck. Prosecutors and the defense agree that Brendan Banfield and Magalh茫es both shot Ryan.
Banfield , denying any plot and saying he shot Ryan to stop him from stabbing his wife. He also claimed he and his wife each had affairs during their 19-year relationship, but decided in couples therapy to stay married.
He could face life in prison if convicted of the murders. He is charged with because his then-4-year-old daughter was in the basement at the time of the killings.
In closing arguments Friday, prosecutor Jenna Sands told the jury they did not have to rely solely on Magalh茫es鈥� testimony, pointing to what she called a 鈥減lethora of evidence.鈥� That included expert testimony that blood stains on Ryan鈥檚 hands suggested Christine Banfield鈥檚 blood had dripped onto him from above.
Banfield鈥檚 lawyer, John Carroll, countered that the state鈥檚 case was built on a 鈥渇antastic story.鈥� He used a different blood expert to say the stains were inconclusive.
The defense also argued police leadership had fixated early on the theory that Banfield 鈥渃atfished鈥� Ryan and killed his wife, pressuring investigators to support that conclusion while disregarding conflicting evidence.
The defense also attacked Magalh茫es鈥� credibility, arguing she tailored her testimony to fit the prosecution鈥檚 theory in order to avoid a lengthy prison sentence. She is to be sentenced after Banfield鈥檚 trial, and attorneys have said she could be released. Magalh茫es was originally charged with murder but in 2024.
During the trial, Carroll brought as witnesses forensic analysts who said evidence suggested Christine Banfield created the social media account and communicated with Ryan. One police digital forensics examiner was later transferred, and the defense argued he’d been punished for disputing the catfishing theory. Carroll also raised questions about why some detectives were not called to testify.
Sands, the chief deputy commonwealth鈥檚 attorney, dismissed the dispute over digital evidence, telling jurors it could never be a 鈥渟moking gun鈥� on its own because it shows what a device was doing, not who was using it.
Sands also said Banfield鈥檚 credibility was undermined by testimony from his boss, who contradicted Banfield鈥檚 claim that he left home early on the day of the killings for an important meeting.
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Loller contributed from Nashville, Tennessee.
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