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FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. - The murder trial of Brendan Banfield is now underway in Fairfax County. Banfield is accused of murdering his wife and another man — all amid an alleged affair with the family’s au pair.
Find live updates below. Watch the trial live in the player above, on FOX LOCAL, FOX 5 DC's YouTube page and on TikTok.
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Brendan Banfield murder trial: Au pair testimony resumes Wed.
The Brendan Banfield murder trial heard dramatic testimony from a key prosecution witness on Wednesday who described what investigators call a yearlong plot to kill two people. Juliana Magalhães, the family’s former au pair, returns to the stand Wednesday.
3:57 p.m. - The night before the murder
Carroll is asking Magalhães about the night before the murder and asking her to say whether she took Christine Banfield's laptop on the night before the murder. Magalhães says she took the laptop that night.
2:52 p.m. - Details about Fetlife messages
Defense attorney John Carroll has been pressing Magalhães about messages sent on kink social media app Fetlife. Carroll has been asking Magalhães details of the messages and asking whether she or Brendan Banfield wrote the messages. She has mostly been answering that she doesn't know which messages were sent by her and which by Brendan.
2:24 p.m. - Streaming deals
Letters from Magalhães indicates she has been in negotiations for a deal with Netflix. She says in the letters "we deserve something" and clarified on the stand that she believes she and her family deserve compensation for "everything we've been through."
2:13 p.m. - Testimony resumes
After a series of breaks, the cross-examination of Juliana Magalhães is continuing with an examination of her letters with friends and family.
12:16 p.m. - Au Pair says producers are paying support
On the stand, Juliana Magalhães says after Brendan Banfield's family stopped covering her costs in jail, news producers have started paying her expenses. She says they've paid for her commissary and other needs in jail in exchange for rights and access to her story.
11:10 a.m. - Juliana's letters
Cross-examination this morning from the defense has centered on Juliana Magalhães letters from jail.
In those letters, she talks about her depression, about feeling isolated from her family, and saying she would do anything for Brendan Banfield.
10:30 a.m. - Au pair cross-examined
Magalhães is being cross-examined this morning by the defense.
She was arrested in October 2023 and pleaded guilty one year later. She said she felt guilt and shame, but she was worried that she'd lose her lawyer and financial support from Brendan Banfield and his family.
Here's what happened on the first day of witness testimony.