Overview
- Jury selection starts Monday at 10 a.m. in Fairfax County, launching a trial expected to last about four weeks for the former IRS agent held without bond.
- Banfield, 40, has pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder and a firearm charge in the 2023 deaths of his wife, Christine, 37, and Joseph Ryan, 39, and faces up to life in prison.
- Prosecutors allege he conspired with au pair Juliana Peres Magalhães to lure Ryan via a fetish website and stage a fake home invasion, citing coordinated 911 calls, gun-range training and a framed photo found in the bedroom.
- Peres Magalhães pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in Ryan’s death, agreed to cooperate in exchange for a recommended time‑served sentence, and is expected to testify.
- The defense highlights disputed digital evidence, noting a former county examiner and a University of Alabama review that attribute online contacts to Christine, as separate child-abuse and cruelty counts are heard with the case.