How Did a Secret Online Relationship End in Murder? | Forensic Files

February 24 223 74 473 32 Fairfax County 911. Where's your emergency? >> Hello, Fairfax County 911.
>> That few second 911 call that came in to Fairfax County might not sound like a
lot. I mean, the caller hung up right where it cut off after that groan. So, it tells a firsttime listener almost
nothing. But that call would turn out to be everything. Prosecutors say that those few seconds are among the
strongest pieces of evidence that a man named Joseph Ryan was murdered. And if that's true, then he was lured there and
executed as a part of the same plan that got Christine Banfield killed. You can be the judge, but the legal systems
already made up its mind. And two people are now serving time related to one of the sickest, most twisted premeditated
plots I've ever heard of. A real reminder of crime junkie life rule number one. You never really know anyone
ever. I'm Ashley Flowers. And I'm Brit. Let's dive into the case. Crime junkies.
After that odd 911 call came in, the dispatcher in Fairfax County, Virginia, tries calling the number back, but no
one answers. And because it came from a cell phone, they can't pinpoint where to
send police. So, they're kind of just stuck until 15 minutes later when the same phone number calls back. And this
time, a frantic young woman is on the line. >> I need I need help. There is my my friend. She just wasn't attacking
the mic. Now she's hurting my lot. I don't know what to do anymore. >> Okay. Where are you located? What's your
address? >> Um at the Oh my god. >> Take a deep breath for me. Just let me know your address.
>> 13. >> Okay. 13. >> Take a deep breath for me. You're you're on Stable Brook.
>> Yes. >> What's your number? >> It's um um >> Is there somebody else there that can
give me the address? >> Okay. And what's your name and what's going on? >> My name is My name is Brennan Banfield.
I'm a I'm a f I'm a federal agent. This is my house. There's somebody There's somebody here. Uh, I I shot I shot him.
Um, but he stabbed her. She's bleeding. She's got several several marks on her neck. What do I 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, just add more cloth to what it's already
there. >> How old is the person? >> I I don't know. >> The person that's bleeding,
>> uh, 37. >> Okay. So, the person that you shot, where is he? >> I don't know. I don't know him.
>> Okay. Where is he, though? >> He's here. He's on the ground. >> Okay. Okay. And the person that he stabbed,
where are they now? Are they still in that? >> I have to see you. >> EMS and Fairfax County police head to
the Bfield's home, a large brickfront colonial tucked into a quiet culde-sac in the DC suburb of H.
They're let in and led upstairs by the family's opair. She is who called 911 and she directs them to the main bedroom
where they see the bed is stripped with bloody linens on the floor. Two guns are
on the bare mattress and Brendan is kneeling on a towel beside the bed next to his naked wife, 37year-old Christine
Banfield. and he's using his bare hands to stop the bleeding that's coming from stab wounds in her neck. And lying at
top a dog bed against the bed frame, the officers see the stranger that Brendan said he shot. Under the dog bed by his
head, they find Christine's underwear ripped at the crotch. And nearby is what's believed to be one of her shirts
with a jagged cut down the back. Now, paramedics go to each person, but the man is already beyond saving. There's
still hope for Christine, though. She is breathing. So EMS rushes her to an ambulance waiting outside while
responders inside try to get a handle on this chaotic scene, including tending to
Brendan, who seems unable to even stand on his own. >> Can you check him out? >> Yeah, I got I got more units here. We'll
check him out. >> Stay with me. What did you say? >> We're going to have to get him out of
here. >> Yeah, I know. >> Can you give him a second to talk about anything else?
>> Let me change my gloves out. We can get him out of here. >> Knife's there. Guns are on the bed.
Right here, the officer standing closest to Brendan mouths in the direction of the body cam. He doesn't know. He says
it twice, but it's not totally clear what he means cuz Christine was still alive at the house. But I mean, it's
possible that anyone with medical training would know that her injuries were bad, likely not survivable.
>> I think I'm just giving you some fresh air right now at the globe. Yeah. So, we can get
you outside. Can you glove on? >> Can you help him just >> whenever they called us whenever
>> you say Vienna? >> Easy. >> Sorry. Say it again. >> So, you my office is in Vienna. Correct.
Did you could you call my office? No, >> I need I need to call my manager at some
point. It's >> the least of our worries right now, man. >> We're just going to get you in a cruiser
outside in the air where you can breathe. >> Brendan is escorted out to his front
lawn. They want to get him in an ambulance to make sure that he's not injured at all. He's limping a little,
but he says he doesn't know what's wrong. He seems to just kind of be in shock as he hangs his head and stares at
the ground. Just take some deep breaths. All right. You need to sit down somewhere.
>> Is there a way to get an update >> right now? Right now. >> They're handling everything from here.
>> You can. >> Is anything bothering you right now? >> Uh, I just chilling and steady.
>> Okay. Were you hit with anything? A knife? Anything? >> No. I I took I took the knife. I took
the knife from him. >> Okay. All right. So, you're not hurt anywhere. Is that not your blood?
Correct. >> I I think it's >> all right. You want to slip this jacket off for me so we can evaluate.
>> They check him out, but Brendan is basically physically unharmed, although he thinks maybe the stranger struck him
once. But when they get to the hospital, he overhears someone talking about his wife. Christine,
>> stay seated on the bed for me. He just said that she's >> I didn't hear what she said. So
>> the um stuff probably needs to be switched out. >> Okay. >> Can you have someone check with him
here? >> Okay. What is the nature of the incident? >> Check what? >> The status of his wife, man.
>> Sir, my name is D. I'm one of the doctors here. Um your wife has died. The doctor stays with Brendan as he
cries and she offers to try and answer any questions he has. >> Um, so is there any part that I can
help? You know, I can explain what happened when she arrived here, but you were there and it sounds like there was
a lot of blood loss. >> Yes. >> So, I think that um she died of blood loss. Um, her airway was actually okay.
I'll call the medical examiner, of course, and we'll we'll um do an autopsy and make sure we know for certain, but
um >> I was trying to apply pressure. >> Yeah. >> I mean, those were enormous wounds and
you know, it's not >> there was so many there were so many. >> Yes. And the neck is not compressible.
So, it's not possible really to stop all the blood loss and uh her airway it seems like was in the midline. Okay. She
was able to be intubated. Everything that was possible to be done was done for her right away. You did a wonderful,
you know, you did everything that was possible. It's not a survivable injury. Brendan had just turned 38 the day
before this. Now he's a widowerower and a single dad to his and Christine's four-year-old daughter. Police want to
give him some space, but they need to know what happened. Except Brendan isn't just going to be an open book. Like I
don't know if you caught it on the 911 call, but he said that he was a federal agent, works for the Internal Revenue
Service, IRS, criminal investigation division. So he knows the life rule that we preach. Always get a lawyer, right?
>> He has already given a little bit of information, like kind of jumbled in the
911 call and a little bit to first responders that an intruder was attacking his wife. he shot the intruder
and he confirms that the two guns that were sitting on the mattress were his. But that is about all he's ready to say.
Police aren't totally in the dark though because while Brendan was at the hospital, the family's opair and the
Banfield's little girl who she nannies for, are at the police station. Her name is Juliana Perez Magalanis, a 22year-old
Brazilian woman who came to the US through an OPAIR program nearly a year and a half prior. like back in October
of 2021. And since then, she had been living with the Banfields, caring for their daughter.
>> They're almost a year and a half. >> Um, tell me about the family. >> Oh, I don't have anything to complain
about them. They are amazing. They they always amazing. Um, the sweetest ever. Uh, they always treat
me really well as a family. We always did things like family. Um, what about the relationship between
mom and dad? >> Oh, they are really good with each other. They have a they are super
stable. I never seen like anything like you know discussing or anything. It's still positive. It's they are super
I don't know how to say super. >> They get along well. They're friendly. You don't see them fight very often?
>> No. No. I never I never seem they fighting. No. You never seen him fight? >> No. There at home, everyone is calm and
we talk. We don't yell. We don't, you know, don't have uh fights. We never do. >> Like when you say fights, do you mean
yelling fights or physical fights? >> Yeah. Or fights. Yeah. I >> either verbal or physical.
>> No, never. >> Never heard anything. >> Okay. >> Juliana tells police that Friday was
supposed to be a normal day. Brendan had left for work early and Christine planned for Juliana to take their little
girl to a zoo in DC. It opened at 8:00 a.m. So, they headed out at around 7:20, 7:30 a.m. But before they even left the
street, Juliana realized that she had forgotten their lunches. So, she was just going to run back in. But then she
saw an unfamiliar gray jeep pull into the driveway like before she could. and a man that she had never seen before
parked got out carrying a backpack or something and walked inside like he owned the place. Now, she said she tried
calling Christine, who was still inside, but it went straight to voicemail. So, that's when she called Brendan, who was
at a nearby McDonald's. He tries calling Christine, too. Same thing, got her voicemail. So, he came home and all
three went in together. Now, Juliana said that she heard a slapping or like a spanking type noise upstairs. So, the
two adults told the four-year-old to stay in the basement while they went up to investigate. But by the time they got
upstairs, what she says they walked in on was a shirtless man over a naked Christine on the floor. And before she
even fully realized what was happening, Brendan was standing in front of her in the doorway with his gun, like his
service weapon drawn. >> And they were yelling to each other. Didn't really understand what they were
saying. It was too fast. And Brendan said, "Uh, drop the knife. Please drop the knife." That's what I heard. And
that strange guy, he was saying, "Drop the gun. Drop the gun." They were yelling each other. And then he the the
guy, he said like, "Drop drop the gun. I'm going to kill her." he had. And when he said that, I I was
for me, I didn't I didn't believe that somebody was going to do that. I was okay.
And I don't know what he he did. I I can't when he started, I kind of I covered my
ears. I co closed my eyes. I I didn't want to see or hear anything because they were
getting serious, I guess. Like he was saying, "I'm going to kill her." He kept saying that. Um
then he I I didn't want to say that, but I he started stabbing her with the knife. And
when I saw that, I just closed my I never seen that. So I What's happening? Then I um
Brendan shot him. Um and I was even more scared. She says Brendan then told her to go
open his safe and grab his other gun so that she could be his backup while he helped Christine. Now Juliana knew how
to handle a gun because Brendan had taken her to a shooting range before. So she did what he asked.
>> Yeah. >> And then >> then I got the gun. >> Okay. And uh he was trying to help
Christine with the her neck and he was she was bleeding a lot and uh he was reacting so he was
going to do something with Brendan also. >> Mhm. >> And then I shot him also. I did.
>> Detectives knew there were two shots to their male victim. One in the head, one
in the chest. And they knew there were two guns found on the bed. But this is the first time that they get
confirmation that both Juliana and Brendan shot this guy basically to stop a threat, as Juliana put it. But they
didn't actually stop it. Christine had been stabbed in the neck six times. She had even more cuts on her neck and
shoulder, bruises on her arm and hands and legs and chin, and an abrasion on her wrist, possibly from being
restrained. And it looks like the male victim had come with both restraints and intentions. His pants are undone and he
has a backpack with him. In that backpack, police find zip ties, chains, padlocks, clothes pins, electrical tape,
saran wrap, a gag lube, and strangely a single apricot. I mean, the timing alone, he had to have been like lying in
wait for Juliana to leave. >> You would think that, right? Because everything happened so quickly. Yeah,
but they're actually able to identify this guy from his car and his cell phones as 39-year-old Joseph Ryan from
nearby Springfield. And in his wallet, they also find a receipt from Walmart timestamp 7:13 that morning. And that
had just three items on it. So, toothpaste, the same lube that was in his backpack, and apricots. Based on
that drive from Walmart, the earliest that he could have arrived at that house is 7:25. So, he's at the store before
this, not stalking the house. And if this was some highly planned attack, why does it seem so amateur? I mean, he did
nothing to hide his identity. He parked his Jeep right in the driveway. His wallet is there in the room.
>> And Brendan and Juliana didn't know him at all. >> Not that anyone can tell. But there are
other reasons that this just doesn't sit right as a random crime. I mean, this is
an affluent low crime neighborhood in general. There are no signs of forced entry to this house. And the house has a
smart lock system that as far as they can tell, no one tampered with. So, how would this guy have gotten in unless
someone from the house let him in? Unfortunately, the only people that they can't ask about this are Joe and
Christine, but they do have their phones. Now, they find Christine's downstairs in the drawer of this bar
cart that's like pushed up against the wall. and Joe's is right there in his Jeep. Now, on Christine's phone, they
see one of the open apps is the smart lock system, showing that the front door lock had been disabled. And Joe's phone
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It turns out that Joe had been messaging someone called Anastasia 9 on Fetife, which is this social networking site for
people into BDSM and kinks. And Anastasia 9 appeared to be Christine, at least based on the profile selfie pick
of her in a bathing suit. Just her body, no face. Now, she described herself as a
married woman who cheated before whose husband was too gentle for the rough roleplay that she craved. She wanted an
aggressive dom. No dates, no coffee, just sex. Anastasia 9 and Joe had started talking back in late January,
but they'd recently moved their conversations to an encrypted app and actually planned an encounter, basically
a violent fantasy where she would play a sleeping woman and Joe would play an intruder who forces himself on her. Now,
they picked that Friday because Anastasia 9 said that her husband was going to be out of town and her
instructions were specific. Come over at around 7:20 a.m. Park in the driveway. Leave your phones in your car. The
door's going to be unlocked. My dog is going to be put away in the basement. He was to come upstairs, pin her down,
restrain her, cut her clothes off with a knife, blindfold her, and gag her. Anastasia 9 had even asked Joe for a
photo of everything he was bringing, including a knife. It's the exact one detectives found in the bedroom, the
same one used to kill Christine. Everything police were being fed fit together neatly. This woman, married to
a federal agent, was living a double life. She invited the wrong man into her home and into her bed, and she paid the
ultimate price. Her husband was so close to being the hero, but he just couldn't
save her in time. Except for every part of the story that makes sense, there are
10 that don't. I mean, take Joe. Like, what on earth is his motive here? The communications have made it clear that
there wasn't some like ongoing affair. As far as Joe seemed to be concerned, this was supposed to be just like two
adults meeting up for a firsttime encounter. What the hell happened? He doesn't seem like some violent guy who
got carried away. When they dig into his background, the man that they discover doesn't match the scene that they found
him in. I mean, he had some criminal history, but like nothing major. And while Joe didn't have a spouse or kids,
he was devoted to the family he did have. His grandparents raised him, and when they got older, he became one of
their primary caregivers. He was at his mom's side through cancer treatment. Loved ones described someone
compassionate and kind. But I mean, people are more than one thing, and Joe also had an interest in BDSM and rough
sex role playing, which he tried to engage in responsibly. You can see it through his chat history with Anastasia
9. Since the plan involved gagging her, Joe set up a non-verbal stop signal and asked about her boundaries so he
wouldn't overstep. Our reporter Nah even spoke to a former partner of his and she
told us that during the me too reckoning, Joe contacted this person to make sure nothing about their
experiences was bothering her, even in hindsight. And it wasn't. But >> I mean, he was mindful about it.
>> Exactly. Now, as far as we know, he didn't have any other encounters that got out of hand or instances where he
just like snapped. Like, that wasn't him. And none of this was like Christine. Everyone agrees that she was
a devoted nurse, mom, wife. And not like a mom can't have a kink, but like as far
as they could tell, Christine had never even been unfaithful. I mean, they check
years worth of her data. I mean, back to the mid 2000s, there is nothing. No flirtations, no affairs, not even like
mainstream porn, let alone anything in Anastasia 9's wheelhouse. >> So, this would have been like a real 0
to 60 for her. >> And of all things, to have some sexual assault fantasy, it makes even less
sense when you realize that she had spent her career doing some of the hardest work in medicine. She was a
pediatric ICU nurse when she died, but before that, she was a sexual assault nurse examiner. Oh my god. Then
>> that's what I'm saying. I cannot imagine a world where you work with people who
have been the victim of sexual assault. See firsthand the trauma of that, the brutality of that, the way that it can
destroy people. And then we're like supposed to believe that like that's the fantasy she lands on. Her first time
ever cheating on her husband and this is how like she's going to have a good time
on a Friday morning at 7:20 like with some stranger. And like listen, don't anyone dare come for me like I'm king
shaming. Like this was not her kink. >> And that is what becomes painfully obvious when police look at her life as
a whole. Christine Banfield and Anastasia 9 do not feel like the same person. Detectives go on an allout
digital blitz pulling terabytes of data off dozens of devices. And piece by piece, they start to rebuild the life of
this Anastasia 9 account. They also build out a portrait of everyone who lived in the Bfield house. But before
they even do, there are hints about what they're going to find. As Fairfax County
Detective Thomas Goodell told us, there were red flags from the beginning. the rehearsed sounding law enforcement lingo
that Juliana kept using when she talked about what happened. She had to stop a threat. Remember, he got the vibe like
she had practiced that story. So, investigators started asking hyperspecific questions about body
positioning. Where was the man's head, his hands, the knife? And what Juliana ultimately described is a man who was
defenseless by the time she shot him. I mean, the way she tells it to them, he was partially like on his back moaning.
The knife wasn't even near him. It was on the floor away from him. That means that the shot she fired could be
considered murder. They could have charged her right then and there, but they didn't. Instead, they begin
collecting their mountain of evidence while at the same time keeping an eye on Brendan and Juliana who are staying in a
hotel since the house was a crime scene. And interestingly, that very first night
when they go to the hotel, there is this undercover officer in the lobby who overheard something that stopped him
cold. Brendan's daughter asked Juliana two questions. Can she call her mommy now? And is
Juliana going to marry her daddy? The first answer is yes, she can call her mommy. As for marrying her daddy,
Juliana says, "I wish." Now, in her interview with police, Juliana had described her relationship with Brendan
as strictly professional. But like, doubt it. Because on Juliana's phone, detectives find a trove of photos
documenting her relationship with Brendan. In some she slapped an emoji sticker on his face, but it's like
undeniably him. Friends, she'd sent them to confirm. Juliana and Brendan had been
involved since summer 2022. Was Christine suspicious at all that something like this was going on?
>> Unlikely. Like, she and Brendan had been together since college. They'd been married nearly like 13 years. He had
actually cheated on her before, like this long-term affair that she had learned about that sent them to
counseling, but they stayed together and on paper they'd worked through it. However, police learned that Brendan had
other affairs that Christine likely never knew about. And that probably includes Juliana because Christine
recently encouraged her to extend her Opair contract. A friend of Christine's told us that she actually thought
Brendan and Juliana's dynamic was cute. Like she thought they had a big brother little sister thing, but like obviously
that's not true unless this is Game of Thrones. And it seems like she was completely in the dark about what was
happening right under her nose in her own home. And that home is where investigators began to trace the
creation of the Anastasia 9 Fetife account. It started with a brand new Gmail account being created in early
January. Then on January 17th, that email registered the Anastasia 9 Fetlife profile. That same day, Christine took
that bathing suit selfie and sent it to her husband. And within a few days, the Anastasia 9 account was chatting with
multiple other Fet Life accounts, telling them she had a sexual assault fantasy. But over and over there was a
blocker. Every guy wanted to meet in person first. Like it's too dangerous not to, right? Like it could be anyone
behind that keyboard, >> right? >> But there was one person who agreed to forego the face toface meeting and that
was Joe. Now, this had to have seemed risky to him because he kind of tried to arrange an in-person meeting first, but
in the end, he settled for a long late night call through an app 3 days before the murders. Maybe that call put him at
ease, but there's no recording, so we may never know. What we do know is that Joe and Anastasia 9 were still working
out the details. Thursday night, February 23rd. Early the next morning, Friday, at 5:47 a.m., Christine's phone
was used to disable the front door lock. About an hour later, her phone gets shut
off. But the conversation with Joe kept going from Christine's laptop. He said that he was running behind. At 6:48,
Anastasia 9 sent a final reply. Okay, I'll be waiting for you. And what's wild is over the course of weeks, at the same
time that the Fetife account stuff was being accessed or used from her laptop, her phone was doing like completely
ordinary things, shopping for scrubs, researching vacations, looking up TV shows.
>> I mean, that doesn't sound like two sides of the same person. And that sounds like two completely different
people. Especially when police find out Brendan and Juliana took trips together.
And each time that they were gone, the Fetife account would go dark. >> Even though Christine was home with her
devices. >> You would think that this would be like the perfect time for her to be accessing
that account. >> If you have a liaison with a stranger, do it while your husband is away rather
than while he is just like grabbing breakfast at McDonald's. >> Yeah. On top of that, not long before the
killings, Brendan and Juliana both got new phones and iCloud accounts set to sync almost nothing. Like, their old
cloud accounts were wiped clean. So, investigators quickly land on a theory. Brendan and Juliana did not interrupt a
home invasion. They orchestrated one >> using a fake online persona to lure Joe to the house. Then they killed him and
Christine and staged it so that Joe would take the fall, >> which is diabolical.
>> Well, it is also so convoluted that when police lay it out for prosecutors, the
reaction is basically like, "No way." I mean, don't get me wrong, they were suspicious. But when we spoke with the
Commonwealth's chief deputy, Jenna Sans, she told us that at the time it seemed more likely to them that Christine and
Joe were having an affair and Brendan and Juliana walked in on them and killed them. I mean, how that was the AAMS
razor version, I think. Like the whole catfishing thing is just so over complicated and digital evidence has
limits. Christine was always in the house with Brendan and Juliana or both like when the account was active. So,
they can't prove who was using any given device. They needed more. But when you're talking this much forensic
evidence, more takes time. And since prosecutors don't think that there was like a public threat, the priority was
getting it done right, not fast. But Fairfax Police Chief Kevin Davis told us that the department was keeping close
tabs on the Banfield family the entire time. So they got to watch as Brendan, his daughter, and Juliana move right
back into the house where Christine and Joe were killed along with Brendan's mother who becomes kind of like his
mouthpiece while he stays quiet. The problem though is after a few months they start to worry that Juliana and
Brendan are a flight risk. They see that Juliana has applied for a new Brazilian
passport to replace the one that they confiscated. And Brendan started learning Portuguese, but Juliana is, I
think, the bigger concern because Brazil generally won't extradite its own citizens. If she makes it home, they
might never get her back. So, they decide to roll the dice. And in October 2023, they decide to charge Juliana with
Joe's murder. >> Why just Joe? >> Well, cuz that's what they can prove. Like in her initial police interview,
she admitted that he was incapacitated when she shot him that second time. And according to the medical examiner, that
second shot is the one that killed him. Although, I mean, the first shot that Brendan fired at a downward angle, by
the way, could have been fatal as well. Now, don't get me wrong, they think that
there's way more to this story, >> but this is like the surefire solid. >> This is what they have. This is what
they know they can use to hold her. They're in for another shock, though. Would they make the arrest and go back
into the Banfield's house with a search warrant? Christine has essentially been erased. Her photos are gone from the
bedroom, replaced by pictures of Brendan and Juliana together. Her clothes are gone from the closet. And Julian's are
hanging in their place. >> Are they sleeping in the room where Christine and Joe died? Like a bedroom.
>> Christine who is the vibe. Yes, they are. >> Oh my god. and her arrest only makes it
clearer how deep she is in with Brendan. Once she is sitting in jail, they are monitoring all her communication. Yeah,
obviously letters, emails she's exchanging with Brendan, exchanging with his mom, her loved ones in Brazil. She
and Brendan are planning for the future at this point, planning a family of their own. All while Brendan's mother is
funding Juliana's legal defense. It's like, I love my kids, but how is his mother supporting this? It I don't know.
It seems so toxic. And listen, I kept looking for the thing that like, oh, like, did Christine's friends hate this
guy? Like, was Brendan abusive? Like, there had to have been signs, right? In this case, not really. I mean, he was
actively cheating. We know that. But like, I think he hid it well. No one in Christine's life so far has been like,
"Oh, I always had a bad feeling about that guy." If anything, Brendan barely registers for most people. His
co-workers don't seem to like him much, but not because he's threatening. He's just sort of like there, easy to forget.
I mean, Fairfax Commonwealth attorney Steve Dano referred to him as a walking saltine.
But he's mommy's saltine, and I imagine she will do anything to protect him. So,
as prosecutors gear up, investigators go back to the beginning. Problem is, they
know the crime scene was compromised almost immediately. I mean, first responders were trying to save
Christine, checking Joe's vitals, coming and going. The knife was stepped on and
kicked. It was chaos. But luckily, they have body cam footage, which they go through frame by frame. And the more
they look at Joe, the harder it is to believe he did what Brendan and Juliana say he did. I mean, one of his legs was
wedged so far under the bed frame that responders struggled to pull it out. His hands were like folded neatly across his
chest, like what detectives call a funeral pose. And when an officer lifted Joe's top hand to check for a pulse, a
swath of his skin underneath and in between his fingers were clean, like there was no blood. And that only makes
sense if Joe's hands were already folded when blood landed on them, not like he was in the middle of a frenzied knife
attack. >> Yeah. >> And blood patterns tell a story. >> Joe had small round drops on his chest
and arms that look like they fell straight down when he was lying still. But Brendan's clothes tell a different
tale. I mean, those stains are longer and messier. The way blood lands on someone who's moving while blood is
flying through the air. Bottom line, the blood on Joe doesn't point to him as the
stabber. >> The blood on Brendan does. And when testing confirms that, prosecutors
finally have what they need. So, in September 2024, almost a year after Juliana's arrest, they finally charged
Brendan with Christine and Joe's murders. And ultimately with felony child abuse and cruelty since his
daughter was home when it happened. Now this whole time Juliana's been away, she
has not flipped on him. I think she was probably telling herself that cops didn't know the full story, right? Like
otherwise they would have arrested him. But now that he's in a cell, too, it's all crashing down. Plus, he stops
communicating with her after he's arrested. And she'd also been reading discovery files for her upcoming trial,
which detail all of the affairs that Brendan had while he was with Christine. At least all the affairs that they knew
about. And she had likely known that he cheated before her, but I doubt she knew
how much. And now she is probably no longer feeling special. She's feeling used. So Juliana agrees to plead guilty
to involuntary manslaughter and testify against Brendan. In exchange, prosecutors will recommend time served.
>> Time served, like the time that she's been in since they first arrested her. That's what, like a a year?
>> Well, I mean, by the time they actually get to Brendan's trial, it's going to be
a little bit more than that. But they need her. They need her to help lock down the case against Brendan. That's
what her testimony will do. So that October, she gives them a full account of what she says happened.
>> 911 emergency Bryant. >> For 40 minutes, a man held six women captive inside Elaine Bryant store in
Tinley Park, Illinois. Five were executed and the killer escaped. >> The search continues for the gunman.
>> Authorities have his face, voice, and possible DNA. But 18 years later, this case is still unsolved.
>> There was no doubt in my mind that we were going to get this guy and I was wrong.
>> I'm Dillia Deira and this is Counterclock season 8. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts.
According to Juliana, the murders of Christine Banfield and Joe Ryan weren't impulsive. Planning started in October
2022 when she traveled with Brendan and his daughter to New York to visit his family. I think Christine had to stay
back and work. They had been involved for a few months by then. And Brendan mentioned wanting to get rid of his
wife. He told Juliana that Christine was a bad mom who didn't care about his needs. But a divorce would mean custody
battles, child support. In his mind, killing her would just be easier. He didn't want to hire a professional. He
was worried about the money trail. So instead, he came up with something far more elaborate. Create a fake profile on
a fetish site, pose as Christine, and lure a man to the house under the pretense of a violent sexual fantasy.
They would frame that man for Christine's murder. And Brendan would get to play this heroic husband who
tried to save her. How did he even think of something like that? Well, Juliana says she doesn't know where he came up
with the idea, but Chief Deputy Sans later learned that it mirrors the plot of a TV show, The Closer, season 1,
episode 6, for anyone interested. And I don't know if Brendan ever saw it, but I
watched it. And the similarities are hard to ignore. And as Juliana lays it all out, details that never made sense
before finally start to like click into place. Even the things that once meant nothing take on new meaning. Like months
before the murders, the Banfields got new windows installed. Police figured that, you know, that's just like a
routine house renovation thing, whatever. But Juliana says that Brendan upgraded to triple pane near soundproof
windows, then tested them by standing in the bedroom and screaming while she listened outside. Brendan was so
meticulous about the digital trail. I mean, they only used Christine's devices when she was home so that everything
would be traced back to her location. Juliana says she was the one who did the long call with Joe to get him
comfortable before the meetup. And he commented about her having an accent because like I mean the picture he saw
was of a white American woman, but it obviously didn't scare him off because a few days later he showed up. That
morning, Christine was sleeping in with her daughter since she had the day off. Brendan brought the little girl
downstairs, handed Juliana his second gun, which she slipped into her hoodie pocket. They disabled the front door
lock with Christine's phone, powered the phone off, and stashed it in that bar cart drawer. Then Brendan drove to
McDonald's while Juliana settled his daughter in the car, parked by the house. She waited. She watched Joe pull
in. That's when she called Christine's dead phone to create a record of her trying to warn her. And then she calls
Brendan and tells him to come home. And according to Washington Post reporter Tom Jackman, this whole time they put on
a show for Brendan's daughter so that she would repeat it to police later. Like, "Oh no, we forgot the lunches.
Look at that strange man going inside." When Brendan got back, they went in through the basement, left his daughter
downstairs, and headed up. And in the bedroom, Christine was on the floor with Joe behind her, and she yelled something
like, "Brendan, he has a knife." And like, when you think about what this must have been like for Christine, she
woke up to a stranger with a knife trying to sexually assault her. A man who believed that her fear was fake,
just like part of the fun. Joe is inside for at least 5 minutes, probably more before Brendan and Juliana came in. So,
she is fighting hard, which explains the sheets being ripped off the bed and her
bruises. But importantly, this is the thing to focus on. She has not been stabbed yet. Then Brendan walks in,
which in that moment, Christine must have felt so much relief. I right like her husband is here. She is safe. Thank
God. >> But that relief was short-lived. Brendan shot Joe in the head and Christine told
them to call 911. Now, for some reason, Juliana dialed before Brendan gave the go-ahad. That is when that first call
was made, the one that was just a few seconds where you hear like a moan, but Brendan motioned for her to hang up like
it wasn't time yet. He told her to go get a towel, then to go to the gun safe, even though she had the gun she needed.
And then when she came back, Brendan was on top of Christine, stabbing her in the
neck. Then Joe stirred. So Juliana shot him like she'd been trained to do. Remember, he took her to the shooting
range. And he'd actually bought that second gun just weeks before everything went down. That doesn't feel like it's
for protection. >> He wanted her to be implicated. >> More of a reason for her to stay silent.
She watched Brendan drip Christine's blood onto Joe's body. And once the scene was set, 15 minutes later, this is
why she had to hang up the call, right? They're not ready. Once the scene was set, he has her call 911 again.
Detective Goodell noticed something important about this telling of the day. Now, unlike Juliana's first interview,
which felt scripted and hollow, this time Juliana gives sensory details. Christine's warm blood on her hands, the
deafening crack of the gunshot. Her account matches the evidence. They finally got him. But Brendan is not
going down without a fight. His defense doesn't just say that investigators got it wrong. They say the evidence was read
backwards and that nearly every detail used to make Brendan look guilty points just as easily toward Joe and Christine.
And I could spend 10 episodes unpacking everything, but I want to walk you through some of the big points of
contention. Starting with the knife. Joe's DNA couldn't be eliminated from the handle, and Christine's couldn't be
eliminated from the blade. Brendan's DNA is nowhere. Yeah, but Juliana said he was already dripping blood on Joe to
stage it. So, he was basically controlling where his DNA went. >> Yes. But Joe also had a puncture wound
on his thumb, which the defense says could have happened when like a hand slipped down onto the blade, like
midstep. We know that like knives can get slippery. Brendan didn't have a scratch on him. And those bloodfree gaps
between Joe's fingers that I pointed out, according to the defense, that just shows that Joe's hand was like clenched,
like shut as he's like gripping the knife when Christine's blood got there. Oh, and Christine's blood on Brendan's
clothes, a nothing burger. They say a husband is trying to help his dying wife. While a mix of Christine and Joe's
blood on the back of Brendan's jacket shows, they say that Joe hit Brendan from behind. The defense also takes aim
at the investigation itself. Key evidence was never tested for DNA. Major blood stains in the carpet, the gun
safe, even Brendan's personal gun. How does that happen in a double homicide? >> Well, I mean, the lab decides what gets
tested. Some items, I guess, weren't considered useful. Others, like the gun, weren't eligible. Still, the defense
thinks that adds up to some big unanswered questions. But honestly, the physical evidence in this case is the
least of the prosecution's worries because this case sets off an internal [ __ ] storm at the Fairfax County PD.
Because it turns out the department's own digital analyst had actually pushed back on the catfishing theory. He
thought that if someone hijacked Christine's devices, there would be a time gap, like breathing room between
her normal browsing and the explicit sexual conversations. Instead, he says they basically like over overlapped. So,
his initial conclusion was that Christine was in control. But isn't that what other investigators think shows the
opposite? like that it's not her. >> Yes. And to police leadership, they think that this analyst crossed a line.
And at the end of the day, data can show what the devices were doing, not who used them,
>> right? >> So, that guy got reassigned as did others who apparently clashed with the
brass over this case. Now, Chief Davis says that this whole thing was blown out of proportion publicly, but multiple
officers say that higher-ups pushed the catfishing theory before the evidence backed it up. To the defense, it was
textbook tunnel vision. And here's the weird kicker when it comes to digital data. There was a security code text
sent to Christine's phone by the chat app that the Anastasia 9 account used with Joe. That text was still in her
messages. So, if Brendan and Juliana were running the account, wouldn't they have like deleted it? Then there were
some ground rules that Anastasia 9 account set that don't really make a ton of sense for a frame job. No visible
marks, no bodily fluids. Like, if the goal is to lure a psy, why bother with those boundaries? Like, that only makes
sense if Christine is behind the account. >> I mean, or if they're trying to make it
seem like more legit. >> I don't know. But strip everything away. And really, the most solid thing they
have in this case against Brendan is Juliana, the woman who spent a year proclaiming her innocence and pledging
loyalty to Brendan. To the defense, she had every reason to make up a story like
this. She's miserable in jail. You're going to offer her time served if she gives up Brendan on a silver platter?
Like, that is a sweetheart deal. And the defense says, "Of course, her account matches most of the evidence now because
she got to read all of the discovery." >> Basically, as Brendan's trial begins in
January 2026, the defense's case boils down to this. The Fetlife account was Christine's. She was arranging these
encounters for herself. Tragically, she got more than she bargained for with Joe. And Juliana is lying her way out of
a prison cell, leveraging her testimony and a potential Netflix deal. By the way,
>> Netflix? Who's calling Netflix? When'd they get here? >> She'd been shopping her story to
producers with Netflix ties, although she was holding out for more after they initially only offered her $10,000. And
something like that appears to actually, by the way, still be in the works, even
though her lawyer stopped her from signing anything before Brendan's trial. Meanwhile, you got to remember this
whole time like that this is going on, she's been in jail. They've been investigating. Brendan has barely said a
word about what happened that day. So, imagine the jolt in the courtroom when he takes the stand.
When Brendan gets on the stand, he tells the jury he loved Christine and was committed to his marriage. but they had
problems, especially around sex. He wanted it more often. And he says that she wanted something very different from
what he was into. He alleged that Christine had affairs and at least one of them involved BDSM and he knew that
she was into that. On his end, most flings stayed casual. Then he and Juliana got involved in August 2022 when
Christine and their daughter were out of town. But he made it clear to Juliana he's a married man. he wasn't going
anywhere. By February 2023, it had pretty much run its course, he said. He says Juliana was jealous of Christine,
didn't want to deal with it anymore, and told him that she was seeing other people.
>> Well, that obviously didn't stick because why is she having Christine's daughter call her mommy the night her
mom died, was killed. >> It doesn't track. But according to Brendan, they were still off on the
morning of February 24th, which he says started earlier than usual. He says he wanted to prep that morning for this big
meeting tied to one of his IRS cases. If it went well, he might get a promotion.
By the way, spot the lie. His supervisor testifies after him, but I'll give you the goods at the top so you have the
right lens in which to view his testimony. What do you know? There was no meeting. The entire foundation of
Brendan's story is BS. >> Cool. But anyway, Brendan says that Christine was awake in bed with her
phone and laptop when he left around 7 that morning. >> Another lie. Didn't you say her phone
was turned off earlier that morning? >> He has a response to that. He is claiming that she had it with her. He
didn't know if she was actually like doing anything on it. >> Then why would she stash it downstairs
in a bar cart drawer? >> It makes no sense. So Brendan says that he goes to McDonald's, got breakfast at
the drive-thru, then went inside just to use the restroom for more than 7 minutes. According to surveillance
footage, >> cuz you've got to sell the lie. >> And that's when Juliana called. A
strange man had just walked into their house. He tried Christine, got voicemail, headed home. He said that he
thought he was probably going to be walking in on an affair, which is why he didn't call 911 initially. That's also
why he says he used the basement door to get into the house. The front door would
have been noisy and he didn't want Christine to know that she was basically caught. Or you didn't want Joe to get
startled and stop and have her realize that this was all a setup. >> Yes. Then he says while he was
downstairs, the noises which sounded sexual changed. They started sounding forceful. So he drew his weapon and went
upstairs to the bedroom where he found Christine naked on all fours. Kneeling behind her was a man who he later
learned was Joe Ryan. And that guy was fully clothed staring at him. And Christine warned him, "The man has a
knife." He told Joe that he was law enforcement and to drop the knife. Joe told him to drop the gun. It was
basically like a standoff. And at some point, Joe also asked to leave and asked Brendan to leave. Brendan told him that
he was under arrest. And Brendan tells the jury that he was scared at this point. Never been more terrified in his
life. And he just repeated that he wanted him to let her go. And then there's this moment where the attorney
asks, "And did he say anything to you?" And I need you to hear what he says in his own words. So here is an excerpt
from Brendan testifying at his trial from Court TV. >> And he did he say anything to you?
>> He did. Um he he told me that she was hers. That that Yeah. that she was hers
and that she gave herself to me. And Christine kind of yelled, moaned >> at this at this point also.
>> Okay. I'm sorry. You said she was hers. >> She was his. Sorry. She was his. >> Can you stay say the whole statement of
what? Um, he st he said that that she was his and that she gave she gave herself to him. To me is what she
gave herself to me is what he said. >> Okay. And and uh I'm sorry I interrupted. What happened then?
Christine kind of yelled or moaned and or both and uh it seems that she went to her left,
my right a little bit. Is he fumbling on the stand because there is a lot on the
line and he's recounting a very high stress trauma moment? Possibly. But it's also hard to remember what words to use
if it didn't really happen. >> I feel like the only glimpse I saw of something real was when he was talking
about Christine like moaning. >> And you know that must have been a real moment at some point. No matter who is
holding the knife. Brendan says that when Christine moved, Joe lunged toward her with the knife. She cried out and
spun away, landing on her stomach on the floor. When Joe brought the knife down toward her again, Brendan fired one shot
at his head. >> Wait, how many times was she stabbed? >> Yeah, something's not adding up, right?
She stabbed six times in the neck. What he just described is two. And like what was he doing? Like just standing there
with his service weapon drawn, watching his wife get stabbed again and again and
again. Like >> yeah, >> his explanation is that he was scared to shoot, afraid that he would miss Joe and
hit Christine. But his timeline is also murky. Like Brendan says, maybe Joe stabbed her before he got in the room.
Maybe it was after. Like he's not sure. He just knows that after he shot Joe, he
moved the knife away from him, sets his gun down, and knelt beside Christine. She was still alive. Her own training
must have kicked in because she was already applying pressure to her wounds. And she was talking to him, she said,
telling him that she loved him. >> She's talking with six knife wounds to her neck. Dying words, Brit. She loves
him and she's sorry. That's when he says Juliana appeared. He says he was focused
on Christine, covered in her blood. So, he directed Juliana to call 911 and to keep an eye on Joe. Now, what he doesn't
know at the time, he says, is that Juliana got his other gun out of the safe. She knew the code because it was
the same one that they used for the front door. According to him, he is on the ground. Christine telling him she
loved him. When Joe hit him in the back, another shot rang out and he says that he was stunned. But the way he tells it,
he also thought Juliana may have saved his life. It's one of the reasons he fell in love with her, he says. But only
after Christine died, that's when things got really serious. And look, you can pick apart every piece of this case. You
can argue about the knife DNA. You can question why certain evidence was never tested. You can debate whether Juliana's
testimony is credible or self-s serving. And Brendan's defense gave the jury reasons to do all of that, but even if
you set aside every contested detail, every he said, she said, there is one thing that is hard to explain away, and
it takes us right back to where this story started. That 15-minute gap between 911 calls. Christine had a blood
clotting disorder that made her bruise easily and bleed more than the average person, which means two things. One, she
would never have consented to a violent knife play. The risk of uncontrollable bleeding was too high, and she knew that
about her own body. And two, once she was stabbed, she bled fast and hard. Prosecutors point out that Brendan knew
that that those 15 minutes weren't chaos or panic or confusion. It was the time he needed to stage the scene and to make
sure that by the time help arrived, Christine couldn't tell anyone what really happened and she wouldn't make
it. Now, Brendan says that he thought Juliana made the first 911 call on her own from the basement while he was
already upstairs. and that the groaning sound on the line wasn't Joe dying, it was the family dog. And they say that if
the moan was the dog and not a dying man, then the whole theory that Joe was already mortally wounded while they
spent that time staging, they say that falls apart. But the jury isn't buying it. They're out for nearly 9 hours over
2 days. And after that, Brendan Banfield is found guilty on all counts. According
to NBC4 Washington reporter Drew Wilder, Brendan's attorney tried to have the verdict tossed, but the judge didn't go
for it. And on June 5th, he was sentenced to a mandatory term of life in prison without the possibility of
parole. The judge told Brendan that his actions were driven by deep inherent evil. The kind of calculating,
remorseless evil she'd only seen a couple of times before this in her 18 years on the bench. and she reminded him
that he would have been facing the death penalty had Virginia not abolished it just a few short years ago. This case
may be closed, but a crime like this will have ripple effects for a lifetime. And I never want people to forget the
little girl at the center of all of this. Christine's daughter had lost her mother and now her father. And the pain
that she'll have to reckon with one day is something that people return to again
and again at Brendan's sentencing, including Christine's sister Danielle. She will eventually come to terms with
the fact that her father, the person who was meant to protect her above all else,
used her and put her directly in harm's way. Now, the little girl is at the center of a new legal battle. It appears
that Brendan's mother and Christine's family are fighting over custody of her. Meanwhile, a wrongful death suit filed
on Christine's behalf is pending. So much of the story has been about the plot, the legalities, the lies, and the
people who did this. And Christine and Joe aren't just names in a case file. They're people. Christine had an
infectious laugh and a huge smile. And she loved the simple stuff. her family's Italian food traditions, '90s boy bands,
but more than anything, she loved her daughter. She was warm and kind, the type who made others feel comfortable,
and she was honest. So when Brendan tried to recast her as someone else, her family knew better.
As Christine's sister, I didn't just lose her. I had to sit and listen to a version of her that did not exist. I
knew her in a way that he never could. I knew her honesty, her compassion, her refusal to live with secrets. Hearing
him attempt to rewrite her life and her character felt like losing her all over again, piece by piece in a room where
she could not defend herself. As for Joe, his best friend, Zulu, told our reporter Nina, that he was goofy and
loyal, a reliable friend, and a deeply compassionate guy. Like the type of person who did the right thing even when
no one was watching. And in all this, I still can't believe that Juliana got off
with time served. >> Well, hey, so actually that didn't happen. Prosecutors recommended it as
promised, but in a huge win for this case. The judge decided Juliana deserves the maximum, which was 10 years. And at
her sentencing, and again at Brendan's, Joe's mom and aunt spoke about the son and nephew that they lost. the rock of
the family, a guy who went out of his way to rescue old and injured dogs. They say that Joe wasn't only murdered in
that bedroom. His character was assassinated over and over again. Every time that Brendan and Juliana lied about
what happened. Here is his aunt Sangita. He didn't just take Joe and Christine from us. He tried to erase the truth of
who they were and in doing so inflicted further harm on the people who love them.
They're right because what Brendan did, what Juliana helped him do wasn't just about saving themselves. They were
selling a story where they were the heroes. But every hero needs a villain. So Joe became the violent predator and
Christine became the immoral cheating wife who brought this on herself. There is zero indication any of that is true,
but it's what Brendan continues to tell the world about Joe and about his own wife, the mother of the child both he
and Juliana claimed to love so much. And for what? So Brendan could dodge a child
support check so he could control everything and hold on to the house, the image, the lifestyle that he wanted to
keep while he banged anyone who would give him the chance. All told, Christine and Brendan were together for nearly two
decades. Like, after that much time, you shouldn't have to look over your shoulder or question your partner's
every move. And I don't know what the red flag was. I don't know what the warning sign was that something like
this was even possible. Christine's sister said that she's replayed every moment looking for something that she
missed. But Brendan hid so much, she doesn't think that anyone really knew him. And during our reporting, we kept
hearing the same word to describe Brendan. Narcissist. Now, I'm not a psychologist. I'm not going to try and
diagnose a man that I've never met, but it came up so much that it's worth taking a minute to talk about
narcissistic abuse. Advocates often describe it as a pattern of emotional and psychological mistreatment that can
include gaslighting, blameshifting, constant criticism, humiliation, isolation, and more. The through line is
control. Like wearing down another person's confidence, their independence, and even their sense of what is real. We
don't know if that's what Christine was dealing with. Like obviously Brendan was
unfaithful, but that doesn't tell us how he treated her in the ordinary moments of their marriage. What I do know is
that a person tells you who they are through their actions. >> So listen to them. I mean, words can get
distracting. You should feel loved and appreciated. And a person's relationship with themselves is like any other. Like
what you feed grows. Brendan fed his own ego again and again. And when that's the
trade someone keeps making, when hurting the people closest to them stops being the line that they won't cross, the next
line gets easier to cross and then the next and then the next. So for our crime junkies listening, above all else,
remember that you are valuable. You are not to blame and you deserve to be really loved.

On the morning of February 24, 2023, two separate 911 calls came from a home in Herndon, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, D.C. The first lasted only seconds. The second reported a violent attack inside the home.

When first responders arrived, they found 37-year-old Christine Banfield critically injured and 39-year-old Joseph Ryan dead in the primary bedroom. At first, it appeared to be a tragic confrontation involving an intruder. But investigators would eventually uncover a story far more disturbing than anyone imagined.

In this episode, Ashley Flowers and Brit Prawat examine one of the most shocking and complex recent homicide cases, a case involving deception, digital evidence, secret relationships, and a plan prosecutors described as calculated and deliberate.

You’ll hear about the events of February 24, 2023 in Herndon, Virginia, the mysterious online persona that connected Christine Banfield and Joseph Ryan, the evidence investigators uncovered from phones, computers, and encrypted messaging platforms, the conflicting accounts of what happened inside the Banfield home, the courtroom battle that followed, and how prosecutors ultimately reconstructed what they believe happened that morning.

As investigators dug deeper, they uncovered hidden relationships and secret communications, extensive digital evidence spanning months, contradictions between witness statements and forensic findings, questions surrounding the timeline of the 911 calls, and a case that would lead to multiple criminal convictions.

This episode also explores the impact of the case on Christine Banfield’s family and loved ones, Joseph Ryan’s life beyond the headlines, the legal proceedings that followed, and the lasting consequences for a young child caught at the center of it all. -------- Follow Crime Junkie: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crimejunkiepodcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CrimeJunkiePodcast/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/CrimeJunkiePod Crime Junkie is created and hosted by Ashley Flowers.

About Ashley Flowers Ashley Flowers is the top female podcaster in the U.S. and the host of Crime Junkie, the #1 podcast among women and the #1 true crime podcast globally. As the Founder of Audiochuck, she has built a top-tier podcast production company that has garnered over 2.6 billion downloads, captivating audiences with its gripping storytelling through 10+ chart topping podcasts. Ashley and her team are dedicated to creating responsible true crime content that respects victims and their families.

Follow Ashley: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ASHLEYFLOWERS/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ash_flowers TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ashleyflowerscrimejunkie Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ashleyflowers.af/

Check out these other great crime channels: @annieelise Anonymous Texts, Soundproof Bedrooms & The Affair Next Door | The Gregory Rice Case https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bOs07a1VvQ @kallmekris You Won't Believe How This Cold Case Was Solved https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8frEUNpHTw @KendallRae A Matching Towel, Missing Gun & Mother’s Testimony: The Case Of Halee Rathgeber https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLjDIVEYOSA&t=1s @christinaarandall These "Women" Aren't What They Seem & It’s SCARY! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MnyZ3qbzmc

Brief Summary

A twisted murder plot unfolds as Brendan and Juliana conspire to kill Christine and Joseph, leading to shocking revelations and a dramatic trial.

Key points

The 911 Call. A mysterious 911 call leads to a shocking murder investigation.
A Chaotic Scene. Responders arrive to a horrific scene with two victims and a frantic husband.
A Twisted Plot Unfolds. The investigation reveals a dark secret involving Christine and a planned encounter.
The Dual Life of Christine Banfield. Christine's life as a devoted nurse contrasts sharply with the fantasy attributed to her.
The Evidence Against Brendan. Blood patterns and digital evidence lead to charges against Brendan for the murders.
Juliana's Confession. Juliana reveals the elaborate plan to murder Christine and Joe, framing Joe as the attacker.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

You never really know anyone ever.

Ashley Flowers reflects on the case's complexities.

1:05WatchJun 29, 2026

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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