911 call from Banfield, au pair captures moments after murder: 'I shot him'
"I SHOT HIM" | 911 call played in court during au pair affair murder trial
Brendan Banfield is accused of killing his wife, Christine Banfield and Joseph Ryan amid what prosecutors describe as an affair with the family’s au pair. During day 2 of the au pair affair murder trial, a 911 call was played from the day the Christine Banfield and Joseph Ryan were killed.
FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. - The 911 call from Brendan Banfield and Juliana Peres Magalhães following the murder of Christine Banfield and Joseph Ryan was played during the ongoing murder trial Tuesday morning.
What we know:
The couple called 911 at 7:47 a.m. on the morning of the murders in February 2023. They hung up, and Fairfax County 911 called them back at 7:49 a.m.
At 8:02 a.m., the pair called 911 again.
"I need help," Magalhães can be heard saying on the call.
"There’s somebody here, I shot him," Banfield can be heard saying. "He stabbed her. There’s several marks on her neck, what do I do?"
The first witnesses on Tuesday are 911 dispatcher Alicia Dale and Officer Justin Hugh, the patrol officer on the scene.
Big picture view:
In opening statements Tuesday, the prosecution shared that they are not relying on Magalhães, the couple's au pair, testimony. Instead, "blood evidence" would be central in the case to show Banfield stabbed his wife.
The defense argued that Magalhães was coerced into giving a testimony, and that the timelines do not add up.
The backstory:
Banfield is accused of killing his wife and another man amid what prosecutors describe as an affair with the family’s au pair.
Court records say Banfield and the family’s au pair, Juliana Peres Magalhães, were with Christine and Ryan in the primary bedroom the morning they were killed. Investigators say the pair initially told police they saw Ryan, whom they described as a stranger, stab Christine after entering the home, and that both then shot him.
Prosecutors say Banfield and Magalhães lured Ryan to the house and staged the scene to make it appear they shot an intruder in self‑defense. Authorities say the two had been romantically involved since the year before the killings.
Both were arrested between 2023 and 2024 and originally faced murder charges. Magalhães later pleaded guilty to a reduced manslaughter charge after giving a statement that supported parts of the prosecution’s theory.