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The trial of Brendan Banfield, a man accused of plotting to kill his wife and a stranger with his au pair, started with jury selection Monday.
FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. — Seven women and nine men were selected from a group of 80 potential jurors in the au pair affair murder trial in Fairfax on Monday.
Judge Penney Azcarate swiftly pushed through voir dire Monday morning, picking a jury far sooner than expected in the high-profile case.
Former IRS agent Brendan Banfield entered the courtroom with his head lightly bowed, wearing a gray suit. His parents were in the stands just a few rows behind him throughout the day. Banfield is accused of murdering his wife, Christine Banfield, and a stranger, Joseph Ryan, back on Feb. 24, 2023. He allegedly had an affair with the family’s Brazilian live-in nanny, Juliana Peres Magalhaes, and conspired with her to frame Ryan for his wife’s death.
He pleaded not guilty to all four counts of aggravated murder, one count of using a firearm in the commission of a felony, one count of child endangerment, and one count of reckless disregard for a child’s life. He was actively involved in discussions with his attorney as they went through the possible jury.
Defense attorney John Carroll asked potential jurors if they or anyone they knew had ever been involved in the sexual fetish of bondage, discipline, or domination, sadism, and masochism, also known as BDSM.
He then asked jurors if they or anyone they knew had been involved in marital infidelity. Lots of buzz came from the stands from potential jurors after Carroll’s questions on Monday.
Carroll’s queries reflected allegations that Brendan Banfield and Peres Magalhaes lured Ryan to the house by messaging him on the sexual fetish website Fetlife. Police believe Ryan came to the house with a knife to play out the violent sexual fantasy set up online with an account created under Christine Banfield’s name. Brendan Banfield claimed he shot Ryan in self-defense.
The prosecution took a different route Monday, focusing instead on their trust in the police investigation. Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Jenna Sands asked several questions about how the potential jurors view law enforcement officers, such as whether they believe police jump the gun when they have a theory on a case, whether they believe police often get cases wrong or if flaws in an investigation automatically create reasonable doubt.
Carroll followed up Sands’ line of questioning, asking if jurors would automatically believe a police officer over a citizen if they contradicted each other.
In July, the defense argued that there was discord amongst investigators over the theory that Brendan Banfield catfished Ryan, pretending to be his wife, Christine, on Fetlife. One report from Master Police Officer Brendan Miller, a member of Fairfax County’s digital forensic unit, concluded that the account belonged to Christine. Miller wrote that it doesn’t appear she lost control of her devices and that the account had been chatting with more accounts than just Ryan’s.
Of the 80 people, 14 said they had heard of the case from news reports ahead of the trial. Several of them brought up concerns about the alleged affair between Brendan Banfield and Peres Magalhaes.
Potential jurors were also asked whether they spoke Portuguese, Peres Magalhaes’ native language, and if they had ever or were currently employed as live-in childcare.
The final 16 jurors selected for trial include 12 jurors and 4 alternates. Azcarate asked jurors not only to avoid news reports but also to turn off any news alerts they may receive to avoid hearing anything about the case.
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