Brendan Banfield convicted of aggravated murder in double homicide case

A jury found Brendan Banfield guilty on all counts, convicting him of aggravated murder in the stabbing death of his wife, Christine Banfield, and the shooting death of Joseph Ryan.

(NBC)- A jury found Brendan Banfield guilty on all counts, convicting him of aggravated murder in the stabbing death of his wife, Christine Banfield, and the shooting death of Joseph Ryan. Banfield remained impassive as the verdict was read aloud in court.

Prosecutors said Banfield orchestrated the killings by luring Ryan to the couple’s home through a fetish website, then attempting to frame him for Christine Banfield’s murder. The double homicide unfolded while the Banfields’ four-year-old daughter was downstairs in the home.

During the trial, Banfield took the stand in his own defense, denying any plan to kill his wife. “That a plan was made to get rid of my wife — that is absolutely crazy,” he told jurors. But body camera footage played in court showed Banfield being informed at the scene that his wife had died.

A central witness for the prosecution was Banfield’s former lover, Juliana Peres Magalhaes, the family’s Brazilian au pair, who testified as part of a plea agreement. Peres Magalhaes told the jury she and Banfield were having an affair and had logged onto the fetish website posing as Christine, inviting Ryan to the home for what she described as a “rape fantasy.” She admitted to shooting Ryan after he entered the bedroom and described seeing Banfield stab his wife.

When asked by prosecutors where Christine was stabbed, Peres Magalhaes responded, “The neck.”

Banfield, however, claimed Ryan was the attacker, testifying that Ryan was stabbing Christine during a struggle. Prosecutors rejected that account, calling the crimes “monstrous” in closing arguments.

Banfield is scheduled to be sentenced in early May.