Blood-spatter analysis helped investigation into husband charged with killing wife and another man

FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — Expert bloodstain-pattern and forensic analysis helped investigators pursue charges against a Virginia husband accused of killing his wife and another man at the married couple’s Fairfax County home, prosecutors said Friday.

Earlier this month, a grand jury indicted Brendan Banfield on charges of aggravated murder in the February 2023 killings of Christine Banfield and Joseph Ryan. At the time of his arrest, which occurred more than a year after the incident, Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano said new information found in officials’ investigation was “instrumental in securing today’s indictment,” but he declined to elaborate further.

During a Friday bond hearing, Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Eric Clingan said police received in August “two definitive reports from expert forensic investigators” who spent more than a year reviewing evidence. Clingan said the reports were foundational in supporting prosecutors’ theory that Ryan and Christine Banfield’s bodies were moved and repositioned after they were fatally wounded. Clingan also said Ryan’s arms were moved and smeared with the wife’s blood.

John F. Carroll, Brendan Banfield’s attorney, argued in court that Clingan’s narrative of what happened was not evidence of the husband killing his wife. “It just doesn’t add up, judge,” Carroll said.

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At the end of the hearing, Fairfax Circuit Chief Judge Penney S. Azcarate denied Banfield bail, requiring the defendant to remain in the county jail until his trial, which is scheduled for February.

The blood-spatter evidence is one piece of officials’ sprawling investigation into Banfield and Juliana Peres Magalhães, the family’s au pair who was also charged with second-degree murder in Ryan’s killing. Magalhães was arrested last October and will face a trial this November.

Authorities have said the killings were part of a larger scheme between Magalhães and Brendan Banfield, whom officials alleged had begun a romantic relationship in August 2022.

In the six months before the killings, Magalhães and Banfield went on a trip to New York City together, and took romantic pictures together, Clingan said. The prosecutor also said other women had informed detectives that Banfield participated in multiple extramarital affairs during his marriage.

“Multiple, credible women confirmed this fact including one, in particular, who told them that during the course of her affair with this defendant a few years ago he would constantly promise to leave his wife,” Clingan said. “Eventually he told her, ‘It would be so much easier for us if she was not around.’ ”

On the day of the killings, authorities have said Magalhães called 911 at least two times within minutes. But authorities said she ended the calls before speaking with first responders.

More than 10 minutes later, authorities have said in court, Magalhães called 911 a final time and reported the emergency. Brendan Banfield then spoke into the phone and said he had shot a man because that man stabbed his wife.

Authorities soon arrived at the Banfields’ home in Herndon, Virginia, and found that Ryan had been fatally shot and Christine Banfield was suffering from stab wounds. She was taken to the hospital, where she died.

Clingan said following the killings, Magalhães told authorities that she and Brendan Banfield left the house early that morning, leaving Christine Banfield home alone. Magalhães said she and Brendan Banfield returned later that morning after the au pair saw Ryan, who she alleged was trespassing, enter the home.

When Magalhães and Brendan Banfield went inside, the two found Ryan holding a knife to Christine Banfield’s throat, Magalhães said to detectives. She alleged Ryan stabbed Christine Banfield and that Brendan Banfield then shot Ryan. Magalhães also told authorities that she shot Ryan once with a second firearm.

During court hearings for Magalhães, prosecutors questioned her account of events, arguing that Ryan was not known to be violent. In court Friday, Clingan said Ryan came to the house after matching with an online profile portrayed as Christine Banfield on a website for people interested in sexual fetishes.

Authorities allege Ryan came to the house after messaging the profile’s user on Telegram and scheduling a sexual rendezvous. Ryan told a friend Christine’s marriage was not entirely monogamous, adding that Brendan Banfield was aware “of the extramarital activity of his wife,” Clingan said.

In the 11 months between Magalhães’ arrest and the indictment of Banfield, authorities said they monitored their phone conversations at the Fairfax County jail.

A few weeks ago, Clingan said Magalhães and Banfield had a brief phone call, in which she said: “I hope you are not just staying with me because you are afraid I’m going to turn against you.”