Prosecution rests after focus on blood evidence in 4th day of Fairfax Co. ‘au pair affair’ murders trial
Jurors in the Fairfax County, Virginia, trial of Brendan Banfield, who is charged with aggravated murder in the deaths of his wife and another man, focused on blood evidence in the fourth day of the so-called “au pair affair” trial.
Blood stain analyst Iris Dalley Graff described what she saw from the crime scene photos in the February 2023 deaths of Christine Banfield and Joseph Ryan during Tuesday’s hearing in Fairfax County Circuit Court.
Prosecutors said Brendan Banfield killed them both, as part of an elaborate plot with au pair Juliana Peres Magalhães to kill his wife and blame it on Ryan.
Initially charged with murder, Magalhães pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of manslaughter, and testified last week against Banfield, with whom she was having an affair.
During Tuesday’s testimony, Graff described to jurors that blood leaves different stains based upon several factors, including whether it was airborne or transferred by contact.
In opening statements, Fairfax County prosecutors told jurors blood evidence would show that after stabbing his wife, Brendan Banfield purposely dripped her blood onto Ryan’s body to make it appear as if Ryan had stabbed Christine Banfield.
Graff testified that blood droplets found on Ryan’s forearm were consistent with “blood drops from above” on a horizontal surface.
Magalhães testified Brendan Banfield shot Ryan in the head, then she shot Ryan in the chest, before dialing 911.
In cross examination, defense attorney John Carroll challenged many of Graff’s expert opinions, saying she contradicted many of the findings gathered by homicide detectives.
In addition, Carroll questioned Graff’s observations about police body camera footage showing Brendan Banfield’s hands covered in blood, with his hands on his wife’s neck as police arrived.
Carroll pointed out that Brendan Banfield’s actions at the time would be consistent with someone trying to provide first aid until first responders arrived.
After the prosecution rested, defense attorney Carroll asked the judge to throw out all of the charges against Brendan Banfield.
“We haven’t heard a word from a single homicide detective, though there were at least 12 in place at the time,” Carroll said.
“There’s nothing that would implicate my client,” Carroll said. “It was a situation not of my client’s making.”
Carroll said Magalhães changed her story many times.
“I’d ask that you strike the five-count indictment,” Carroll said.
Prosecutor Jenna Sands countered the killings were “staged by the defendant with the assistance of the nanny.”
Judge Penney Azcarate ruled against the defense, determining that the jurors should be able to consider the case brought by the prosecution.
After Azcarate’s decision, Carroll told her he had “four or five” defense witnesses when the defense begins making its case Wednesday morning at 10 a.m.