Inside The Banfield Trial: Au Pair Testifies | Forensic Files

We're going to start things off with [music] a trigger warning. Some of the reporting is disturbing, so please
listen and watch [music] with care. So, welcome to a special episode of the 48 Hours podcast, [music] Inside the
Bfield trial. I'm your host, 48 Hours correspondent Ann Marie Green. And today we are taking you inside the court case
of Brendan Banfield, the former IRS agent charged with the February 2023 stabbing murder of his wife, Christine,
and then the fatal shooting of another man, Joseph Ryan, in the Banfields Northern Virginia home. Brandon pleaded
not guilty to all of the charges, and he maintains that it was Joseph who stabbed
his wife while he shot Joseph in self-defense. This is one of the most talked about uh
trials in the country right now. It's even sort of being dubbed the Opair affair because uh Brandon had been
having an affair with the family's Brazilian Opair. Her name is Juliana Perez Magalles. She pleaded guilty to
involuntary manslaughter for shooting Joseph Ryan. Here's prosecutor Jenna Sans describing what she says was
Brendan's plan to kill his wife. He wanted her out of the picture. And he convinced young Juliana, 22 years old,
not from the United States, living in his home in love with him, that they should get rid of Christine. He talked
about hiring a hitman, finding someone to kill her for money, but he was concerned that that would tie back to
him, that there would be too much evidence against him and that he could end up at risk. So, they crafted a plan.
They would use Christine's email accounts to create a fake profile to lure someone in who was into kinky sex,
violent sex. and they would get this guy to come into the house and fake rape Christine.
Brendan would be the hero of the day. He would show up, kill the guy, kill his wife, pretending that it had been that
guy. >> And that guy was Joseph Ryan. So, joining me now to discuss this case is
48 Hours producer Michelle Sigona. Michelle, it's great to see you. >> It's great to see you, Emory.
>> So, this is one heck of a case, boy. I mean, I understand why the entire country has been watching and you've
been following this case basically since it started. And I just want to point out
that this trial, the uh Brendan Banfield trial is taking place in the same courthouse as the Johnny Depp Amber her
defamation trial >> and it's the same judge. Uh cameras generally usually are not permitted.
>> Um but like the Depp trial, there's a lot of interest in this case. So, as for
this trial, uh, Manfield's Opair, Juliana, she's now 25 years old. Um, she was originally charged with the murder
of Joseph Ryan, but then she pleaded guilty to a lesser charge, involuntary manslaughter, and she decided to
cooperate with the government. She is the star witness, which is why I expected her to show up maybe later on
in the trial. I was really surprised that she was called so early in the trial. What was it like when she walked
into the courtroom? It was um first it was very surprising. I mean openings were a little more than
a half hour. There were some other witnesses who had testified and then they talked about the codefendant like
on the first day. Oh my goodness. >> She walks in through a side door, has to walk past the defense table and all the
way up um to be sworn in to sit down. And she looked drastically different. We've seen photos of Juliana throughout
these, you know, these last few years. Um, her hair is long, blonder, different style clothing. This was a a version of
her that we have not seen before. Her hair is now completely dark. She had glasses on. It was a um a muted version
of her. >> Okay. So before she testifies though, we have the opening arguments and we hear
the prosecution sort of lay out the case that they believe they have against Brendan. What What do we hear? As we
heard earlier, the prosecutors alleged in February 2023, Brendan and Juliana were having an affair. This is inside of
of their property. And by the way, the defense doesn't dispute this relationship at all from what we've
heard so far. U Brendan and Christine also had a young daughter. Her name is Valerie. And Juliana said Brendan wanted
out of this marriage. Now they weren't together at first. This was something that evolved over time. She had from
what she testified to had spent about a year in the house and then renewed for another year in her program. And um but
he felt a divorce was not an option. He wanted full custody of his daughter. And
Juliana said money was also involved in part of the issue. >> Interesting. And then so how do things
unfold? >> So the alleged catfishing scheme comes about using this website called Fetife
and as in fetishes and they would take Christine's laptop and and phone to message the people while Christine was
in the house. This is incredibly important um point because Christine being inside of the house, according to
Juliana, was the reason why they would message these other men at home and from her laptop because um Brendan told her
if there's some sort of investigation, it would always look like the messages were coming from Christine, coming from
her phone, coming from her computer. Um, and according to Juliana, Brendan was looking for someone who would be
aggressive and would bring restraints um, and also a knife to this meeting at the house. Um, she said they were also
looking for someone to agree to come to the house before ever meeting Christine in public.
>> So then, who's doing the messaging to all of these men? Are both of them? When
the defense asked Juliana who who was doing this, there were times when she couldn't remember who was doing the
messaging, but she did say it was both of them at different times on different days.
>> So ultimately, after, you know, messaging several men, they finally messaged Joseph Ryan, who is open
>> and we see the messages in the court presented to the gallery on the Telegram
app between Joe and Christine's account. Uh, and that account used an alias as well, Anastasia.
>> And there are exchanges between them about cuts and bruises. And Anastasia uh messaged that quote, "Some marks are
okay." I said, "As long as they are covered by my clothes, I have a few days to heal up."
>> Yeah. And this character is sort of in encouraging a certain level of violence.
and she I don't know if she asked for a photo of the knife, but he eventually sends a photo of a knife, too, right?
>> Yes, Joe did share an image of a knife. >> Um, so it's one thing to have this
communication online, but this is part of a bigger plot. Can you tell us how things were supposed to unfold in the
house when Joseph Ryan shows up? I still cannot get over the level of detail that went into this alleged plot
according again according to to Juliana. And here's the prosecutor explaining how
this day started. >> On February 24th, 2023, Brendan Banfield's birthday, the plan was put
into action. Knowing that Christine had the day off, Brendan and Juliana arranged a fake
outing for the zoo with sorry, a fake outing at the zoo for Valerie. Juliana and Valerie packed a lunch, prepared for
this fake outing. Christine, still in bed, asleep at 6:00 a.m. Brendan takes her phone and Valerie
downstairs. He chats with Joe to confirm a 720 arrival for the execution of the fake
rape. And Brendan then disables the door lock, preventing it from automatically locking, turns off Christine's phone,
and puts it in a drawer in the kitchen where she couldn't possibly find it to call for help when she finds an intruder
in her home. Brendan leaves the house, followed shortly by Juliana. Brendan drives to a nearby McDonald's.
Juliana waits in the culde-sac. The plan to give a call out to Brendan as soon as
she sees Joe. Valerie's in the back seat and Juliana has a gun in her pocket. When Joe arrives, Juliana calls
Christine's cell phone first to create a record of a fake warning. even knowing that the phone is turned off.
She then calls Brendan to let him know that Joe is in the house. Brendan leaves the McDonald's, drives
directly to the home, meets up with Juliana, and with Valerie and tow, they reenter the house through the basement.
Okay. So, just to make it sort of clear to everyone, the plan, and it's unfolding exactly as Brendan had
planned, is to have uh Joe come into the house. Christine has no idea what's going on.
And so, you know, she's still in bed. Juliana is supposed to be taking care of Valerie. Valerie did re from what we
learned from Juliana's testimony on the stand, she remained downstairs while Brendan first went upstairs to the
bedroom. A few minutes later, Juliana said she also went upstairs and told Valerie, "Look, stay behind." And here
is Juliana on the witness stand. >> When I got um to the bedroom, Brendan said um he yelled, "Police officer."
And Christine's first reaction. That was the first time I heard she say anything at
that point. Then she yelled back at Brendan saying, "Brendon, he has a knife." And
yeah, that's um that's when Brenda first shot Joe. So Brendan shoots Joe. This is part of
his plot, right? He's going to sort of come in and save her, but Christine is still alive. she is alive. And
allegedly, she tells Juliana to call 911, which Juliana did, but then hangs up quickly after. Uh Juliana claims
Brendan gave her some sort of gesture to hang up the phone. She hangs up the phone. A period of time goes by. Um the
911 center calls the phone back, leaves a message, and so this is where the prosecution says everything sort of
falls apart a little bit. U because Juliana wasn't supposed to call 911 until later. Juliana said Brendan then
got on top of Christine and told her Juliana to get a towel. Um, so she left, she came back and that's when she saw
Brendan allegedly stabbing Christine with this knife and she testified um Juliana said she covered her ears and
her eyes and at times um would look up and saw more of this stabbing taking place. Juliana says Brendan then told
her to go to the safe in the closet because that was also part of his plan and but for reasons that she can't make
sense of now when she returned and saw Joe moving um she warned Brendan >> and I just start telling him he's moving
he's moving he's behind you and that's when I fired the the shot That's when you Could you say that
again? >> I fired. >> And when you say you fired, you fired what? >> A gun. >> The gun that that was where?
>> In my um that I had in my pocket. The the handgun. >> Did you hit anyone? >> Yes.
>> Who'd you hit? >> Joe. Juliana says she shot Joe and Brendan gave her the go-ahad to call 911 this
time for real. This is 15 minutes later. >> 911. Where's your emergency? >> I need I need help. There is
my my friend. He just was stuck on the mic now. She's hurting my lot. I don't know what to do anymore.
>> Then Brendan gets on the phone. >> My name is My name is Brendan 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 ble She's bleeding. She got several several marks on her neck. What do I do?
What do I do? >> And again, Valerie is in the basement while all of this is happening. I mean,
she must be hearing it. >> It's It's hard to tell what she heard. I'm a mom to three young children and I
can't even imagine this child being in this house in this particular situation. And just so you know, in addition to the
aggravated murder charges, Brendan Banfield was also charged with one count of felony child abuse and neglect
[music] and one count of felony child cruelty related to everything that transpired [music] that day.
And so the investigation begins and unfolds. But before police go after Brandon, they actually arrest Juliana in
October of 2023. Why did they arrest her first and not Brendan? >> That's a great question. They may have
been building this case behind the scenes against Brendan. Investigators like to take their time. They like to
build their case and be able to to do this just the once. That's it. That's all you get. And
>> so by the time Juliana was arrested, she was not only living in the marital home,
um a place that she was supposed to be an employee, but she had moved directly into the bedroom with Brendan Banfield.
>> You've got to be kidding me. I mean, I it's hard to say how people should behave, but that certainly raises some
eyebrows. That behavior is going to make people very suspicious. Look, I've been doing this for 25 years
and I have seen cases across this country of all different magnitudes. And this is the level of
detail and the things that have happened and the things that have come out in this courtroom about what went on
allegedly behind those, you know, behind those walls of that house. It's it is it's really hard to understand. It
really is. It's almost like she sort of slipped right into Christine's place. >> It's exactly what it seems like. And
then not only does she do that, but according to Juliana, this relationship continues after her arrest.
>> His mom apparently uh according to Juliana is paying for her defense attorney at this point.
>> Wow. And so, but then when is Brendan arrested? >> So, Brendan is then arrested in
September 2024. and Juliana decides to cooperate with authorities in October 2024. She had
some sort of medical emergency. She was in the hospital for a number of days. When she came out a couple of days
later, she decided to sign this paperwork. That's what she testified to. And she said that's when the financial
support from Brendan's family ceased. >> So, this to me is a challenge for the defense. What is the defense's response?
Well, the defense attorney, John Carroll, questioned her decision to take this plea, the timing of it all um
months after her arrest, and there were letters that were read inside of the courtroom this week. Um, and that she
had written to Brendan and other people while she was in custody. She wrote about how she couldn't live without
Brendan, but she also wrote that she had given up hope and this was torture for her. um she's in ter she was in terrible
pain, saying um in part that it was killing her while she was incarcerated and she was considering taking her own
life. Juliana said she began medication while she was in jail. This was for depression and anxiety to help her. And
later she writes to Brendan saying that she knew the Commonwealth wanted her to cooperate against him. Um, she wrote to
Brendan's mother that she'd give her life for him and that she would never do anything to hurt him. Going on to say,
quote, "I'll take the blame for both of us." Okay, so that is an intense type of
connection. I don't know if I call it love, whatever. I I can see how, you know, as she's sitting in jail, though,
like her commitment is starting to weaken. Um, but but when do things go from I'm willing to take the blame for
everything to I'm going to I got, you know, there's a plea deal on the table. I'm taking it. Well, remember Brendan is
arrested in September 2024, and Juliana took the plea in October, the very next month, the end of the very next month.
She messages that she's scared and she later talks about being disheartened. Then there's a set of days in October
when Juliana is in the hospital. We spoke about that briefly. just days before the plea. That's, you know, when
all of this has sort of taken place. The defense asks if this was just a coincidence, and she said it was.
There's also a message from Juliana's mother to Juliana saying, quote, "Please tell her not to cut you off from your
mom. Please tell her it was all Brendan." Seeming to be referring to Brendan's mother not cutting off this
support. because, >> you know, not only was she apparently funding this defense attorney, but she
was also funding her account to be able so she could have communication with her
mom and other people and buy extra food from the commissary and things of that nature.
>> Um, Juliana had mentioned uh to her earlier that she was thinking about taking the plea and that this message
was written around the time she actually did it. >> Okay, so this is kind of a standard
thing for the defense to do, right? like question the motives and the motivation
of a witness. >> Um, so we that's fine, but what is the defense saying about this plot that
Juliana alleges that she was involved in with Brendan? >> Brendan Banfield's defense attorney, uh,
John Carroll, disputed this whole catfishing story. This was in his openings. Uh during the cross-
examination, he tried to get Juliana to share exact details from setting up that
account in Christine's name, but she said she wasn't able to uh remember a lot of the details. Oftentimes, you
would hear her say, "I don't know. I don't recall. I things like that." Or, "I've I told you that before." And there
was clearly tension between her and Mr. Carol. >> Yeah. In fact, the defense attorney sort
of asks her about that, about her sort of weak memory. I want to play some sound from that.
>> I mean, with all due respect, you don't remember a lot of details. >> Yeah. >> And that's what's um really concerning
about this. >> Well, if you were in my shoes, you don't remember either. You know, your brain
has a way to defense mechanism it's called. >> Okay. And it protects you from losing your mind, losing yourself and
many things our brain blocks out. And I guess everybody can relate to that at some point.
>> Okay. Um I I mean it's reasonable. It's been a number of years and so if she doesn't remember details, it's also
something conveniently that witnesses often seem to forget in crucial details >> sometime. Yes. And I and you know I
think sometimes in I know if I'm messaging you know there's a lot of things going on with work or messages
and things like that I may not remember certain you know certain dates and things of that nature but when there's
something um as important as what happened here on that day um you would probably I would venture to say possibly
be able to remember some of those things leading up to it and after >> absolutely and and the Other thing that
the defense sort of tried to do as well is kind of, you know, be critical of her
character. And they bring up the fact that, you know, she needs money. She's dependent on Brendan's mother for money,
but she's looking for money elsewhere, too. >> And he dissects all of her messages and
but obviously pulls out the ones that are most important to what he wants to bring forward. And there's talk about
how Juliana could profit from all of this. and the defense asks her about this, you know, exchanges that she's had
over this time of incarceration with the media specifically. Now, full disclosure, a 48 hours producer was
mentioned during this trial since we are covering the case um and seeking an interview, but we made it clear that CBS
News does not pay for access ever. It's also important to note when we're working these cases and stories,
especially over long periods of time, um, sometimes we don't do them, sometimes we do move forward with them.
We reach out to everyone. It's very important. We want to be we want to be accurate. Um, and that's just it's what
we do. It's what we've always done at 48 hours and it's what we'll continue to do.
>> Yeah, I think that's underline and highlight that. So, this case is starting off with, you know, well,
fireworks for sure. Um, what can we expect now in the coming weeks? >> Well, the defense attorney, John
Carroll, in his opening statement referenced the fact that detectives who didn't agree with this catfishing theory
were transferred. So, we may hear more about that. I also have a witness list here. This is from the Commonwealth. It
was filed with the court. I was in the clerk's office earlier this week going through some of the the filings, some of
the old ones, some of the new ones. I don't have a defense witness list right now. This trial is slated for 4 weeks.
Whether it will go four weeks or not, it's anyone's guess, but we will be tracking this and we will be keeping a
very close eye on this case. >> So, we don't know if we'll see Brendan uh on the stand, but boy, things are
starting off really, really [music] interesting. Thank you so much, Michelle, for joining us.
>> Thank you so much for for having me here [music] with you today.

Brendan Banfield is on trial for the murder of his wife Christine and another man, Joseph Ryan -- but it's the family au pair's role that has drawn attention in court this week as she testified against him. Juliana Peres Magalhães, who was romantically involved with Banfield, detailed an elaborate catfishing scheme meant to lure Ryan to the Banfield home and make it look like he stabbed Christine. Magalhães pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the murder of Joseph Ryan and is now cooperating with the government. In a special episode, 48 Hours correspondent Anne-Marie Green breaks down the latest developments in the trial with "48 Hours" producer Michelle Sigona.

Crime. Social justice. Impact. "48 Hours" investigates the most intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all areas of the human experience including greed and passion. "48 Hours," which premiered in 1988, has developed a rich history of original reporting and impact journalism that has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, caused cold cases to be reopened and solved, and along the way changed lives.

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Brief Summary

The episode covers the Brendan Banfield trial for his wife's murder and the role of his au pair in the events leading up to it.

Key points

Inside the Court Case of Brendan Banfield. Explore the shocking details of the trial involving Brendan Banfield, accused of murdering his wife and another man.
The Alleged Murder Plot. Brendan and his accomplice Juliana allegedly crafted a detailed plan to murder his wife.
Juliana's Transformation. Witness Juliana's dramatic change as she testifies against Brendan in court.
The 911 Call. Brendan's frantic call to 911 reveals the chaos following the shooting.
Juliana's Plea Deal. Juliana's decision to cooperate with authorities raises questions about her motives.
Trial Expectations. The trial is slated for four weeks, but its duration remains uncertain.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

This is one heck of a case, boy.

Commenting on the trial's intensity

2:22WatchJan 16, 2026

Tension

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