23: The Au Pair Murders: The Bodycam, 911 Calls, & Bizarre Footage

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Today's case is one that so many of you have been asking me to cover, being like, Annie, why aren't you talking about this? Everybody's talking about this case. Like, I want to know what your opinion is. And I will say, technically, I did cover it before. However, it was right when the case first happened years ago. It was back before there were any real big updates in it, any big arrests made even. And since then, not only have we received so many updates, but there is plenty of body cam footage. A lot of very bizarre footage at that. There's also 911 calls that have been released. There is some very uncomfy, I wouldn't call it interrogation footage, but what's the word I'm looking for? Like, interaction footage, I'll say that, that also I want to share with you and go over. not to mention this trial actually just wrapped up and I think that's why so many of you were messaging me asking me for my take and for me to cover the case and so today what I want to do is not only go over the case but I want to share with you a lot of that footage and a lot of you know my thoughts on the footage and what feels weird about it and just talk through everything. So today we are going to be going over the double murder of 37 year old Christine Banfield and 38 year old Joseph Ryan, better known in the media as the Au Pair Murder Case. So here's what we're going to do today. We're going to briefly recap the case, go over the details in case there's any of you out there who maybe aren't familiar with it, and then we're going to go over some of the crazy things that have been released recently. We're going to look at new footage that has been released, new details that have emerged, and really just kind of like dissect it all. So with that, let's get right into it. On February 24th, 2023, the authorities were called to the home belonging to Christine Banfield and Brendan Banfield. And this call reported that an unknown man had broken into their home and had brutally attacked Christine with a knife. Now on the other end of this 911 call, the callers who were calling in, it was the couple's au pair, Juliana, and Christine's husband, Brendan. Now, I will say au pair is just like a fancy word for nanny, so if you get confused by that, I just want to like, you know, make that blanket statement now. So Brendan reported that he had shot the intruder who broke into their home, but that Christine was in really bad shape by the time that he got there. She had been stabbed multiple times, but the biggest concern to him on this 911 call is that there were stab wounds to her neck. What's your house number? Is there somebody else there that can give you the address? 13-230 Stable Brookway. Okay. And what's your name and what's going on? My name is Brendan Banfield. I'm a federal agent. This is my house. There's somebody here. I shot him. He stabbed her. She's bleeding. She's got several marks on her neck. What do I do? Okay. So what I need you to do is apply direct pressure directly to where she's bleeding from, okay? and if it becomes silk, just add more cloth to what is already there. How old is the person? I don't know. The person that's bleeding? 37. Okay. Okay, so the person that you shot, where is he? I don't know. I don't know him. Okay, where is he, though? He's here. He's on the ground. Okay. Okay. And the person that he stabbed, where are they now? Are they still in the cloth? I have nothing to come to you. He's bleeding. It's just what ended up. So he doesn't know what to do. Okay. So I want you to get a clean cloth and apply direct pressure to where you're bleeding from, okay? Yeah. Okay. Are you the one that's bleeding? Just keep applying pressure. Don't remove it. If it comes soaked, just add more cloth to what is already there. Do not use a tourniquet. If one is already on, don't remove it. And don't throw or flush any blood-soaked items, okay? And, sir, I need you not to touch the weapons or disturb the scene at all, and don't touch or remove any impaled object, okay? Sir, hello? Ma'am, can you hear me? Oh, who's at me? Okay. Are you the one that was injured? She's not responding. Okay. Can you tell me how her breathing is? She's still breathing. Okay. Just keep applying pressure to where she's bleeding from and just put her on her side, okay? On her side? Yeah, on her side. You said she's breathing normally, she's just not responding to you? She's got a very big hole in her neck. Okay. The authorities immediately rushed to the scene where the intruder was pronounced dead on arrival at the scene. Christine, however, was luckily still alive. I mean, barely, but she was alive. I can walk you if you want. I'm sorry. What's going on this morning? I was on a... I was going to lie. It's okay. Take a breath. It's okay. Take a minute, okay? We need some water. You want to sit down somewhere? I'm just eating water. Okay. I'm sorry, English is almost percentage. Oh, you're fine. I was going out with her daughter. Okay, yep, she's sitting there. And then I forgot our lunch to bring it. And I was coming back to the house to get the lunch. Okay. Then I saw this car, this strange car. And I called her, why the car is here? I don't know who it is, but it was a straight two voicemail, so I couldn't talk to her. Then I called Brendan, her husband. Okay. and then he said wait for me I'll go there don't go inside and then he came back here and we went inside and then we went upstairs and then I went to see what's going on and I heard who the guy was I don't know I don't know I don't know what he's doing It's too... it's clinking, I don't know. He went what? It's clinking here. I heard like, I don't know where it was at. And Brendan said, Police drop the knife, drop the knife, because he had a knife. And then he said, Drop the gun to Brendan, they were yelling. I couldn't understand. We were too, too fast. Okay. Ah, ah. It's okay. You want me to see if I can try to get you some water? Yeah? Yeah. Okay. Let me see if there's any water. Just wait one minute, okay? Hey, do you guys have any bottle of water I could give to a witness? I don't. No? Alright, thank you. Alright, if they don't have any water, if you give me a couple minutes, I'm sure I can find someone that has some, okay? I don't know what they're all up. I'm being anxious. It's okay. So you live here? I'm an au pair. You're an au pair? Okay. Yeah. Okay. It's okay. It was a lot of blood. And I've never seen that. It's okay. I know it's traumatizing. Uh-huh. You're okay. Okay, take a minute. I'm dizzy. Okay. Do you need an ambulance? No. You want to be seen by the ambulance crew? No. Do you want to be seen by the ambulance crew? No, okay. I don't... no, I'm just... It's okay, it's the blood rush. It's the adrenaline. I just want to make sure the is okay. She's okay. She's with one of my officers. She doesn't deserve that. No, she doesn't. Neither do you. She's okay though. She's safe. She's not seeing any of this. So lives here? Yeah, she has a daughter. Who was the gentleman that just walked out? Who is the gentleman that just walked out? It's Brendan. It's her husband. He lives here? Yeah, we all live here. Okay. So you live here as well, but you're here and all pairs? Yeah. Okay. You want to see if there's a more medical equipment. Okay. Oh, there's some right here. Alright, Amala, just come in and grab that. Alright. Okay. So, I'll ask you to get it in a few minutes. I'll give you a minute, okay? It's okay. Yeah. It's okay. Let's take a nice deep breath, okay? Go. And out. We got to slow your breathing, okay? Right. It's okay. Take a nice deep breath in. Okay, you need to slow your breathing a little bit. That's going to help you feel better. Take a nice deep breath in with me. Okay, I understand. Do you want to take a nice deep breath in with me? Now there was a lot of confusion in the beginning. trying to figure out what exactly happened here and how everything unfolded, you know, what went down. Now, there are body cam videos of officers talking with the au pair, Juliana, like the one that we just saw. But there are also videos of officers talking to Christine's husband, Brendan. And the main thing that these two videos have in common is that both Brendan and Juliana have blood on their hands, literally, and as we'll get to figuratively too. But Juliana's just look kind of like a stain, like, you know, it was transfer, it's a stain on her hand, but Brendan's, it's clear as day. Now, on top of that, they are both completely freaking out, almost incoherent, which I have to say, it makes sense given the circumstances, right? Hey, can you check him out? Yeah, I got more units here, but we'll check him out. He's starting to break down a little bit. Stay with Sergeant, I'll just go walk through, okay? Yeah, I know. Can you give him a second? He won't touch anything else. I'm not. Let me change my gloves up. We can get him out of here. Knife's there. Guns are on the bed. I got you. We're gonna take him and stick him in a cruiser. Yeah, I gotta hook him up. Having a breakdown? Yeah. Just give him a second. I gotta put him on the monitor. Yeah, go for it. Is she okay? The fire department, they take over this point. We're kinda just here. Is she breathing? So, again, they're down there. just watch what you're kicking please alright does that work? I know, I know what you gotta do, I'm just You can't walk away, wait a minute Can you do it a minute? I think I'm just getting you some fresh air right now so we can get you outside Can you can you get a load on Can you help him Yep Whenever they called us. What's your name? Thank you. Say, this is Vienna? Easy. I'm sorry, say it again. My office is in Vienna, correct. Did you... Did you call my office? No. I need to call my manager at some point. It's the least of our words right now, man. We're just going to get you in a cruiser outside in the air where you can breathe. You're all going, okay? So because Christine was still alive and breathing at this point, she ended up being rushed to the hospital. Brendan, her husband, was also taken to the hospital. Juliana and the couple's daughter, Valerie, they were then taken to the police station for more questioning and to just, you know, hear about what truly transpired there. Now, unfortunately, as Christine was at the hospital, she did not survive her injuries. And new unreleased body cam footage shows the exact moment that Brendan was told that his wife Christine didn't make it. And also, it shows some of the aftermath of him praying and crying. But I want you to take a look. See him in the bed for me. He just said that she's... I didn't hear what he said, so... Can you have someone check with him again? Check what? The status of his wife, man. Hi, sir. My name is Dean. I'm one of the doctors here. Your wife has died. What is that? Where's the other? Where's that? She's still at the scene, sir. She's with the other officers. This bucket is cold. Gracious and loving God, I'm before you today in great distress. And Lord, we ask that you be with Christine and with her husband here. We ask that you surround her with your love. that you might feel that in the way that you are with her. Lord, we ask that you feel as only you can. We don't always understand your healing ways, but just ask that you feel with her. And be with her right now in such distress. Watch over him. Surround him with your love. and let him feel the marks of that love. To carry him through not only today, but days and weeks to come. Lord, if we're a family of friends who can support him this time, please let them open their hearts and arms and provide that woman's support with so much need. And this we ask in your name, Amanda. So if you've never heard of this case before, you might be thinking, oh my God, what a horrific, tragic, completely random act of violence this was. And he just lost his wife. Like how brutal. He tried to save her. He tried to shoot the intruder. Like, oh my gosh, this is awful. I mean, the idea of somebody breaking into your home for no reason and then brutally stabbing your wife to death is just incomprehensible. But this case, as you will soon find out if you are unfamiliar, it isn't at all as it seems. Because just eight months later, Juliana, the couple's au pair, she was arrested and charged with second-degree murder for the death of the intruder, whose name was Joseph Ryan. It seems like everyone is talking about GLP-1s, right? But what if there was a natural alternative? This episode is sponsored by Veracity, a drug-free, clinically proven, doctor-formulated way to support your metabolism and your overall health. Their metabolism, Ignite, is the number one doctor-recommended GLP-1 booster and GLP-1 alternative. It's designed to reduce hunger, support metabolism naturally, and in fact, it's clinically proven to help people lose, on average, 9 pounds in 90 days. 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I mean, couldn't she say that it was self-defense that she was trying to save Christine? And there were so many unanswered questions that just did not align and did not make sense. But probably the biggest one was why Juliana was arrested and Brendan wasn't. So Joseph Ryan had been shot twice, the first time by Brendan and the second time by Juliana. So was it the second shot that was the fatal one and that's why she was being charged and Brendan, the husband, wasn't? what was going on here. And the truth was, it was an ongoing investigation, and the investigators weren't saying very much. But Juliana's arrest was pretty shocking, I have to say, to everyone. But for months, it was just kind of silent. There were no real updates, no in-depth details as to why she was arrested. But then, there was a major bombshell dropped. Because Juliana, in the midst of all of this. She confessed to an entire insane murder plot that she claimed was concocted by both she and Brendan, and it was all orchestrated in an effort to get rid of Christine. The man who they killed, Joseph Ryan, he was unfortunately just a random person who was involved and at the wrong place at the wrong time, and I have to say, who was literally scouted by Brendan and Juliana to help execute their plan. Then I asked him, we're going to divorce her. He said, that's not what I'm thinking about. And then he explained that he was thinking about finding a way to just get rid of her out of the picture. Somebody that sounded like violent and was kind of playing the way he wanted the person to play. So then that's when he started talking to Joe. We told a lot of people before that it was kind of part of the game where the person gets in the bedroom and then I react to like scared, like try to run or try to scream. But like, so that, and what if the person starts doing something, she would just get kind of freaked out and try to resist. But it was like part of the game. Now what was so shocking about this entire confession was that Brendan wasn't even arrested until September 16th, 2024. So you've heard everything directly from Juliana's mouth. I mean, she and Brendan, I mean, they planned this murder. But why? What was happening in that house to ultimately end up in a double homicide? Christine and her husband, Brendan Banfield, were a seemingly normal couple living in Virginia with their young daughter, Valerie. Brendan worked as an armed IRS investigator, and Christine was a nurse, working all throughout the chaos during the pandemic and, you know, the after effects of that. And there came a point in time during that, around October 2021, when Brendan and Christine decided that they needed to bring an au pair into their home. And again, for those of you who might not be as familiar with that term as others, it's this really cool program where somebody who is from out of the country will come to the country stay with you as their host family and they will provide in-house child care in exchange for a free stay and for a weekly stipend. So typically au pairs are younger people, students, younger people wanting to just see more of the world. So with this program it's a benefit to them. They can check off a lot of those complicated boxes you know like finding a place to stay, finding a job, getting to a new country, all of those things. So it's not a bad gig all in all But it also seems like we only ever talk about au pairs in relation to true crime cases, right? So anyways, in the fall of 2021, Juliana, who was just 21 years old at the time, she moved into the Banfields' home. And Juliana was from Brazil. She was raised on the outskirts of Sao Paulo. So this was going to be something new for her, very exciting. And at first, everything was working out pretty well, too. It didn't seem like this nightmare situation where the host family and the au pair didn't get along and there was hostility and there were, you know, barriers they needed to overcome. It wasn't like that. Juliana seemed like a really nice girl and the Banfields' daughter Valerie really liked her as well. I mean, so what wasn't there to love? This was a perfect situation and mutually beneficial. However, we know how this case ends or a lot of us do, I should say. so about 10 months into juliana's stay with the banfields something shifted juliana and brendan's relationship allegedly turned sexual at that time and this wasn't casual okay this also wasn't just like a fling where whenever christine wasn't home they'd flirt or they would be like touchy-feely which i i get it that obviously wouldn't have been okay either but this was seemingly a full-blown relationship just happening. Not with Christine's knowledge, of course, but like they didn't have any sort of boundaries. They weren't really like trying to be ultra careful. They were in this full relationship with one another. Now the last time that I covered this case, we didn't even know for sure yet if there was any type of relationship going on between them prior to Christine's death. I mean, everybody pretty much figured that it was the case because of how quickly they seemed to get together after her death, but there wasn't any actual proof out there. Nothing had been confirmed. Now something that really shocked me about Brendan and Juliana's relationship, now that we know the full details of it, was that they didn't even try to hide it. I know I alluded to that a little bit earlier, but like they did hide it from Christine, but not from the rest of the world. They would pose together for pictures, some being very intimate. They would post these pictures on Juliana's Instagram with captions as like just a normal happy couple who were head over heels in love with one another. And these photos ended up being a huge piece of evidence in the case and in the trial. And unfortunately this whole time that this was going on, Christine was just absolutely clueless about the ongoing affair. And she made multiple different posts that really show just how truly blindsided she was by the entire situation. In one post, she wrote about the relationship between Juliana and her daughter Valerie, saying that Juliana was her best friend, her sister, her third parent, her everything. She loved Juliana. In another post, she uploaded a picture of Valerie and Juliana smiling together, and she wrote, A lot of people don't understand the au pair program, but this is it right here. It's opening your home and your heart to someone with big dreams of changing their life while in America. and in the process they changed your life more than you could measure. Which think about that, that is so incredibly like heartbreaking and infuriating. She loved Juliana, she thought of her as family, as a third parent to Valerie. She cherished her saying how, you know, in that post cryptically saying we just wanted to help Juliana but we got so much more in return, not even realizing that her sleazy ass husband was sleeping with her, that Juliana was sleeping with Christine's husband behind her back and on top of that that the two of them were plotting Christine's demise together. It's horrible. It's like the ultimate level of betrayal and Christine wasn't even aware of it. While Christine was at work literally saving lives and putting the needs of others before her own, Juliana and Brendan were just at home talking about how they couldn't wait to be married, how they loved each other, they wanted to have their own kids together, have a life together. Brendan also allegedly talked about how much he disliked Christine and how he felt like she was an awful mother to Valerie. So of course, I mean, when you're playing house together, you're sleeping together, you're making all these promises for the future together, there comes a point in time when one person in the relationship starts to ask, well, when are these promises going to actually become a reality? Now, to any normal person in their right mind, the next best steps would have been for brendan to file for divorce then he and juliana can like go off get married you know do your thing brendan and christine would go through an entire custody agreement or a battle maybe with valerie but everyone lives would be moving forward whether it happily ever after or not so happily ever after but they would be moving forward We always say, just get a divorce. But Brendan did not want to go down that route. Like I said, for whatever reason, Brendan thought that Christine was a bad mom. So he didn't want to split custody with her. And he knew that they would likely end up in a 50-50 type situation. There was also a money aspect to all of it too because Brendan said that if he and Christine divorced quote she would have more money than he would. So basically he wasn't about to go the traditional route and potentially only have half custody not have a lot of his you know the financial strength in the outcome so in his mind it's like oh well the best thing to do is kill Christine which why people jump to that conclusion I will never know. Now this was when Brendan allegedly began concocting a plan to get rid of Christine for good in a way that ensured that there would be no money issues, no custody battles, only a happy ending with Juliana. But Juliana isn't innocent in all of this because she was every bit his accomplice in all of it. Just listening to his devious plan with no judgments, just waiting for the day that they could officially be together. And look, I don't want to give Brendan and Juliana too much credit here, but I do have to say they were methodical. They thought through things and were pretty strategic in a way that hypothetically may not have gotten them caught. It's great that they did get caught, but they did think this through. Now their plan, the two of them, the pair, they decided to sign Christine up for an account on an online sexual fetish website. I know it's wild but stay with me for a moment. So both Juliana and Brendan would post on this website from Christine's laptop pretending to be her catfishing as her and they would only ever post whenever Christine was home so that it would really make it seem like it was Christine behind the screen so that in the event that forensic data was ever pulled off of these accounts, it would align with when Christine was in fact at the home, not at work. It wouldn't be obvious that somebody else was logging in and posing as her. And like I said, I don't want to give them too much credit here, but they did think through this pretty strategically. So they start posting on this online sexual fetish website, acting as Christine, looking for dates and experiences. And this is when Joseph Ryan comes into play because Joseph was messaging back and with Christine, well with Brendan and Juliana. He thought he was talking with Christine and they were exchanging messages for about a month and these messages consisted of making plans for Joseph and Christine to get together and start playing out a sexual assault fantasy. The agreement was that on February 24th, 2023, Joseph would come to the Banfield home while Christine was asleep. And I say that loosely because again, this was like their role-playing conversation. She was going to play like she was asleep. And he would come in armed with restraints and a knife. And remember, I'm using quotes around not only Christine, but also asleep because this guy thought that he was talking to Christine the whole time. So she was going to pretend that she was asleep, then wake up, see him, and be scared for her life. And like Juliana said, they had literally made sure in the messages to say that christine was going to scream for help and she was going to act scared and to still not stop because it was all part of the game it was all part of the fantasy and the role playing so no matter how hard you how loud you hear me scream no matter how many times i say no no matter how much i fight back it's all part of my fantasy seems like the perfect crime right if this guy is going in as a what he thinks willing participant in this with somebody else who is, you know, this is consensual. Those are the rules. That's the fantasy. But this is where Brendan and Juliana come into the picture. Neither one of them were going to want to be home when Joseph arrived because they didn't want it to be suspicious, right? So Juliana took Valerie in the car and she parked far enough away from the home that it wouldn't seem suspicious, yet it would be close enough that she could see when Joseph arrived. Brendan, on the other hand, he was parked at a local McDonald's parking lot, waiting for Juliana to call him and tell him, you know, Joseph's here, he's arrived, he's in the house, the plan's going, you know, it's all going according to plan. But what Joseph, of course, did not understand was that he was being set up just as much as Christine was. As soon as he got to the Banfield house that day, Brendan and Juliana rushed back to the house to finish the plan that they had started. Once they both arrived back at the house, they took Brendan and Christine's daughter Valerie down to the basement. And they told her, stay down here, play with your iPad. We will come back and get you when it's, you know, when we're ready. Then they went upstairs together to solidify their love for each other, I guess, in the most despicable way possible. When Brendan and Juliana got upstairs, they saw Christine on the floor with Joseph on top of her, engaging in this sex act that they had orchestrated. Christine was terrified, scared to death, yelling at her husband Brendan for help, saying, Brendan, he has a knife, he has a knife. And in that moment, that's when Brendan shot Joseph. I'm sure that we all know somebody who is still overpaying for wireless just because, you know, that's how it's always has been, that's how it's always going to be, they don't want to change it, But Mint Mobile is here to fix that. You get unlimited talk, unlimited text, and unlimited data at a fraction of what other carriers charge. Bring your own phone, your own phone number, activate with an eSIM in minutes, and skip the long-term contracts and hassle. I made the switch to Mint Mobile like a year ago. I've never been happier. 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Now remember, Brendan and Juliana set this whole plan up. They knew that Joseph was there. They knew that he would likely be on top of Christine playing out what he thought was this mutually shared fetish. So after Brendan shoots him, Christine thought that she had been saved, that her husband came to her rescue. She yelled out to Juliana saying, call 911, call 911. And what was so shocking was that Juliana actually did call 911, but she hung up right away. Then, according to Juliana, she went to the bathroom to grab some towels. and when she came back into the bedroom she saw Brendan on top of Christine and now he was stabbing her to death with the knife. Now I think what is so difficult about this case is that Christine was truly terrified in her final moments. She had so much fear thinking that some random guy broke into the house was about to assault her and kill her only to then feel a brief fleeting moment of peace for a split second when her husband shoots him before Brendan then turns on her. Which, imagine that moment where it's like, I don't even know how your mind could work that quickly to calibrate everything, but it's like, you're scared for your life. Oh my god, thank god he shot him. Then you see him turn on you and pick up the knife and jump on top of you, your own husband. The amount of betrayal that you would feel in that moment and just confusion, it gives me the chills every single time I think about it. And again, Juliana is not innocent in any of this. She said that she saw Brennan stabbing Christine point blank, and instead of stopping him or calling 911, she just squatted down, cowered, and closed her eyes. That is until she saw Joseph moving. So this was when she then took the gun and had that second shot fired off into Joseph, making that this you know again the second time that he had been shot and as we know the shot that ultimately killed him and he was dead when the first responders arrived and look I know that Christine is talked about a lot in this case especially during the trial and that she's highlighted quite a bit because she was the targeted victim but at the end of the day I mean Joseph was equally a victim in all of this as well and I'm not even going to try to get into the ethics or the opinions on sexual assault role play and things with that because that's an entirely different topic that I know will be really controversial. But all I'm going to say is this. He showed up at the Banfield house that day thinking that what he was going to be doing was consensual with Christine. And because of that, he ended up dead. His mother has also spoken out about his death and how it has just greatly impacted her. I remember when I got the from the detective. He called me and he told me that my son had been killed and I just know when he told me that I could hear my own voice screaming and I remember that moment and I remember where I was sitting and I remember his words but it was almost like it was outside my body hearing that he had been killed. Talk to me in the way you're most comfortable about what his role was when it came to sexual fetish websites. Did he ever talk to you about involvement in websites like that? Yes. This was kind of out of character, right? Not that he brought a knife but the idea of actually cutting a woman. Like he could bring a knife and you just sort of play, act. It's not, you're not using that knife. You're just brandishing the knife. And it's not intended, you know, it's role play. It's not the same thing. So we had discussed that in the past. It wasn't a strange topic. What do you want people to know who are hearing you say that, and they are passing judgment. What do you want them to know and think about before they pass judgment? I want them to look in the mirror. That's what I want. If they have issues, they're their issues. And maybe they're ashamed of their own sexual desires. So even though Juliana was charged with second degree murder, she very quickly took a plea deal, pleading guilty to manslaughter. Now what's interesting about this case that will get brought up again is that there were no agreements made on her sentencing. There was only a recommendation that had been given by the Commonwealth. And like I said, Juliana eventually confessed to everything. So she is definitely not an angel in this case, and personally, I think she's pushing a little too hard on the idea of Brendan being the complete mastermind behind the murders and the one who orchestrated everything. I think she was an equal party to that. Now as for Brendan, there were no tearful confessions after his arrest. Brendan has been adamant that what happened that day was exactly as it seemed. A random man came into their home, began stabbing his wife, so he did what he thought was right to do. He shot this man down. But would a jury believe that? January 2026 was when Brendan's trial began, and as if this case isn't already complex enough, the fact that both Juliana and Brendan have taken the stand during the trial, it has made it all the more like appealing, I think, for the public and the true crime community because very rarely do you see the actual defendants testifying on their own behalf, right? And it wasn't just wild the fact that both of these people testified, but their recollections of pretty much everything that happened were completely different from one another. And not only about the murders, but also to how deep their connection was with one another. Who liked the other one more? Who was more invested? They were just complete polar opposites. Juliana testified in court that she never thought that their relationship was that serious. Not enough to ever think about the future together or being together, which I have to say is definitely an interesting take because a planned double homicide over a relationship that isn't even that serious is pretty crazy. I mean, who am I to judge, I guess? But like, to now say it wasn't that serious of a relationship, yet you orchestrate this plan to eliminate his wife from the picture, it's given serious to me. It kind of reminds me how Nicole Kessinger said that she wasn't very serious with Chris Watts, but yet all on her search, she was searching for wedding gowns. Will a man leave his wife for his mistress? So it's like, uh, no, it's pretty serious. It's pretty serious. But according to her, it wasn't until Brendan started talking about the future that she even began thinking long-term herself. So you began a sexual relationship with the defendant in August of 2022. When you were how old? I was 21. And when this relationship began, did you ever think about how it might end? No, I didn't really think it was serious relationship. And did the defendant ever talk with you about any long term plans for the two of you Not initially Not initially Did he ever though Yes. When did that talk start? I think it started after he talked about his plan. Okay. And did he ever talk about the two of you getting married or the two of you having children? Yes. And do you recall when that talk began? Also after he mentioned this one. Then she testified about Brendan's relationship with Christine, all from her perspective and her alleged experience with the way he talked about her. Did he ever talk about his relationship with his wife, Christine Banfield? Sometimes he would have come up in our conversation and he would talk about it. And what did he say? He was to say that she didn't seem to care about what he was doing. She didn't seem to care about him at all. and that she was helpless and just lazy. Now the defense knows that Juliana's confession and version of events is pretty much the strongest piece of evidence in this case against Brendan. So the goal really is to make her look like a liar to the jurors, make them feel like she isn't credible. And I gotta say, They did a pretty decent job at this, honestly, truly. You see, the defense has been arguing that Juliana has made up this entire elaborate story all to benefit her. They go as far as saying, quote, Now, for one, she secured a plea deal. but apparently she's also been in talks with selling her story for a documentary. So the thought is that if she can successfully pin this murder primarily on Brendan, then she gets to one day be a free woman with a paycheck, you know, notoriety, a documentary maybe, all while this man sits in jail for the rest of his life. And I'm not saying that I actually believe this, but I always have to give credit where credit is due. sometimes these defense lawyers definitely can come up with pretty compelling evidence for their arguments, right? So while Juliana was on the stand, the defense made her read a jailhouse letter that she sent to Brendan in December 2023, around two months after her arrest. This is a letter that you wrote, it looks like on December 8th, 2023? Yes. And that would have been about two months after you were arrested on this charge? Yes, correct. and calling your attention to the highlighted portion did you ask something i'm sorry i was reading i was asking you to read it yes have you read it yeah i read it okay and the yellow portion there can you read that please yes well now that you know parenthesis I mean they already knew close parenthesis that I'm not going to cooperate with them there is nothing I can do so I don't know what they are going to use I mean everything they have and can't I don't know everything I just have the feeling they might hold me here until my trial it can take months there are many theories of what had happened set up by you us or I wasn't supposed to be there and etc. Okay um in this letter um which you wrote it suggests that someone from the Commonwealth had been talking to you about cooperating against Brendan is that correct? no they never talked directly with me okay how would they communicate that to you through my lawyer how would they commute that communicate that to you through my lawyer okay and so this is two months after you were arrested um and were they were you given an opportunity to plead guilty and cooperate at that time? Yes. Okay. And what was it that they were offering you at that time? At that point, my lawyer had said that they were offering, in exchange for my cooperation, they would offer me a misdemeanor and I would be released on time served. Okay. So here, the defense was pretty much saying, you know, why the switch up? They feel like she's turning on Brandon for her own freedom. But it's also important to remember that she didn't make a deal on her sentencing. Her freedom is still up in the air, which makes the defense's argument kind of seem a little less likely, in my opinion. Finding a therapist should not mean long wait lists or paying out of pocket. And Rula partners with over 100 insurance plans, making the average copay just $15 per session. That's real therapy from licensed in-network professionals without the stress of navigating at it alone. And Rula matches you with providers that are aligned with your needs and your preferences. 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Now, obviously, if things go a certain way, there's going to be arguments and discussions with regards to that. But as things are right now, there is no agreed sentence in this case. That's an important point. So in other words, whether the prosecution believes at the end of the day she testified truthfully or she didn't testify truthfully, there's no promise to her whatsoever. Not at this stage, no. And that can change, and I don't know whether it will. So then Brendan took the stand. And like I said, he and Juliana's testimonies, they could not have been farther apart. So let's get into some of the conflicting details, okay? Now, when it comes to he and Juliana's relationship, he did not deny their affair, though he did essentially say that she's the one who came on to him, not the other way around, as if it matters. We spent maybe an hour and a half or two hours talking about some random things, but also about her dating history. during this time she when she was talking about different people she was described people that she was interested in, people that were taller, people that were older and it appeared to me that she was along with the photos, the screenshots that she had shown me of people that she had matched with that she was basically describing me Also, I guess when we were having this conversation, we were sitting at the island in the kitchen, and she scooted her seat closer to mine a couple times. And so what did you do at that point? I did not stop her advances. At some point I told her that I was going to go upstairs, indicating that I was going to go to bed. And she said that she was tired and that she was going to do the same. A little bit of information about the upstairs of my house. Once you go upstairs, the master bedroom is to the left and all the other bedrooms are to the right. So her bedroom, guest bedroom and Valerie's bedroom are to the right. When I went upstairs, I went to the left and she also took a step towards the left with me. We had a brief conversation there. And then she came with me into my bedroom. So even though he admitted to their affair, he really minimized the importance to him and his life. And he refused to admit that they ever had feelings for each other prior to Christine's death. That it was only after she passed during the summer of 2023 that he said that they were in love. though still not as in love as he and Christine ever were. And again, you describe here in the very first paragraph-ish, you came here and we fell in love. But you're suggesting that that love didn't happen until after Christine was dead. As I said, that we did have feelings for each other prior, but I would not describe them as the level of feelings that I had for my wife of 19 years. As for his relationship with his wife, Christine, he admitted that he had cheated on her many times. Yet, despite the affairs, he said that he felt that they were still a strong and happy couple. How would you characterize your relationship with Christine? For the most part, we were pretty inseparable. We were together the entire time. We didn't break up at any point. We were from college to our first jobs after college to buying our first house together to marriage to getting a dog and a second dog. And then moving down here, we were always together, always planning for the future. This was part of our life. Did you love your wife? Very much. Did you want to continue your marriage with your wife? Yes. Do you love your daughter Valerie? More than anything. When Brendan was asked about Christine's relationship with Valerie and how she was, you know, as a mother, he only had positive things to say, which again was very different from what Giuliano was saying that he felt about Christine. How did you observe the relationship between Christine and Valerie? Christine loved Valerie very dearly. And Valerie was very attached to her mother. This is, you know, it was tragic, their separation. But, you know, when Valerie was always very excited as soon as Christine would get home from work, you know, she would run up to her mother and say, be happy and call her mama. They spent quite a bit of time doing art-related projects. Christine would often bring Valerie to dance when she was not working. So the jury began deliberations on Friday, January 30th, 2026, but they didn't reach a verdict that day. So deliberations went over the weekend into Monday, and the jury ended up deliberating close to nine full hours on two different days before they finally ultimately did reach a verdict. And the jury found Brendan guilty of two counts of aggravated murder, also a firearms offense, as well as child endangerment. Now, as of right now, he is scheduled to be sentenced on May 8th, 2026. And I will be honest, I watched a little bit of the trial. I'm not shocked that the jury came to this conclusion and this verdict. I think it was pretty obvious, but I am going to be curious to see what goes down with Juliana. I don't think that she was just some innocent bystander in all of this and he orchestrated this and he manipulated her. I mean, yes, she was young, but also old enough and an adult to understand right from wrong. And she carried on an affair with him. They plotted this together. She admitted to, you know, light-handedly her role in things, but I think she is just as culpable. Truly, I do. But I'm curious to know what you guys think. So let me know in the comment section. Thank you again for tuning in to another episode of 10 to life don't forget to subscribe follow do all of the things so that you do not miss future episodes and until the next one stay safe bye