#387: Brazilian Nanny Moves Into Owner’s Bedroom After His Wife Is Mysteriously Murdered
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Amazon fall favorites are here to make you say, with low prices on home, beauty, and fashion brands like Amazon Essentials. So hold on to your pumpkin spice whatevers and save on fall favorites at Amazon. ...is likely trying to avoid. She comes every morning to drop off this adorable girl who is absolutely precious. It's her that's a problem. It's not the child. She just...

likely people don't want to get too friendly with her. I'm sure they try to play nice, they wave, they smile, and then they run back to their house glancing over their shoulder. The whole thing is eerie. She is the girlfriend of the federal agent that lives down the street. She moved into his bedroom just months after the federal agent's wife, the mother of this precious girl, was brutally murdered in that house, in that bedroom.

But it seems like everyone in that house is trying to act like none of that happened. And here she is just dropping off the murdered woman's child at the school bus stop months later. I mean, I'm sure the feeling is weird for the neighbors. It feels like she's trying to take her place. It makes you question, did she have something to do with the wife's murder? And what about the other guy that was found dead in their house? ♪

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As always, full show notes are available at rottenmangopodcast.com. Today's case has mentions of suspected SA, so please watch at your own discretion and take care of yourself. This case is still ongoing, and although a charge has been made, the defendant is...

waiting for trial so the trial hasn't even happened yet meaning that everybody that we are mentioning today is legally innocent until proven guilty and most of what we're talking about are police netizen assumptions speculations ideas theories and pure opinions on the case hopefully the truth will come out during the trial that is set to presume in november so with that being said let's get into it

February 24th, 2023, last year, a 911 call is placed from a million dollar home in Nova at 749 in the morning.

911, what's the location of your emergency? The operator is likely already on the edge of their seat by this point because they have an open line. This is crucial. That means that somebody dialed 911. The call went through. They can technically hear the other line. They can hear the caller, but nobody's saying anything.

That's called an open line? Open lines are considered high priority. Yes, they're called open lines, but they're considered high priority because the caller may be unable to verbally communicate for whatever reason. Maybe it's a medical emergency. Maybe it's domestic violence. Maybe they're being kidnapped somewhere. So they made that call, but they cannot communicate with you verbally. Wow. So if they pick up, nobody's talking to them, it becomes more important. Yes. Wow. Then let's say if you were to hear noises and it sounds like you were butt dialed.

Right. I see. It's a little bit more high importance because this might be a situation where they cannot tell you what's wrong. Got it. So they're quickly searching for that location. I mean, there is nothing the operator can hear on this phone call. The call ends. Then another call from the same number and it's another open line. Then for 13 minutes, nothing. Then finally, another call comes in from the same number. So this is their third time calling on a random Friday morning.

And at that point, they didn't send the police over. Not yet. A woman's voice is heard allegedly saying that a friend had been hurt or somebody's friend had been hurt. It was a little bit unclear who's the friend, who are we talking about before a man's voice comes over the line. So it seems like she passes the phone to a male or something. And he explains, hi, I'm the homeowner and an unknown male entered the home. So I shot him.

authorities are dispatched to this million dollar house in the safe suburbs of Nova and they're confused. I mean, they're believing that this is an intruder suffering from a gunshot wound type of situation. But when they get into the house, things are just weird. Instead of one person being gravely injured, there's two people inside the primary bedroom of the house. Christine Banfield, the owner's wife,

A mother, the wife of the 911 male caller, also a pediatric ICU nurse, is laying in the bed completely nude. Her upper body had multiple stab wounds near the neck area. She still has a weak pulse. They need to get her to the hospital now. Laying on the ground in the same room is this random man shot at least twice and he's dead. He's laying lifeless near Christine's body.

Christine, the wife of the 911 caller, is the only one with a weak pulse. She's rushed to the hospital, but she is pronounced dead at the hospital. The whole thing is bizarre. And police, they really only have two people's stories to go off of. The husband that spoke with the 911 operator and the lady that was on the phone before him. The family's au pair.

Juliana is the live-in au pair and I think nanny is usually the more recognized term in America but there are key differences. An au pair is typically there for a cultural exchange meaning they're coming from abroad they're coming to live with the host family who provides room and board while they exchange child caring services.

Au pairs are also financially compensated, but there's a huge emphasis on au pairs having that cultural exchange with the family as well as feeling more like the family. Nannies are typically professional caregivers who are hired to provide childcare and they may or may not have specialized training. Nannies are typically compensated a bit more on average and may live in or may commute to work depending on the agreements. So the au pair typically comes on a visa of being an au pair.

Got it. So obviously there's clear differences and me using the word nanny instead of au pair is not to diminish one side or one's role or the other. But I've just read so many articles during the research of this case and the comments are always, what's an au pair? So just to make it a bit simpler, nanny. Now, Juliana, the nanny, she says that morning she left the house around 730 a.m. She was on her way to take the four year old.

the Banfield daughter to the National Zoo. And she's in the car with the little girl when she realizes that she forgot to get the lunches that they packed for the zoo. So she turns the car back around, drives into the neighborhood, pulls up to this five bedroom house, and she sees a car parked outside the front that she's never seen before. She doesn't recognize this car. And she lives in the Banfield house. She's the au pair. So she lives with this family.

It's not the owners. It's not a friend of the owners that she's familiar with. So it's very strange. She calls the mom, Christine Banfield, who's the only one home because dad, Brandon Banfield, he already left for work. He's the federal agent. He's on his way to Washington, D.C. So she calls Christine. He's an FBI agent.

So he's a federal agent that technically. OK, so this is where it gets confusing. Some sources identify him as an IRS agent. Others identify him as an FBI agent. It seems that his official capacity is working under the Federal Bureau as an agent. But he is working under the National Treasury Department. He's an FBI agent that basically works for the IRS. He's fighting tax fraud with a gun.

Okay, so he is an FBI agent. Yes, it seems like that's his official role. But previously he was working for the IRS. That's where it gets even more confusing. Okay, got it. Now, she calls Christine. Christine is not picking up. She doesn't indicate why, but clearly Juliana, the nanny, feels so suspicious about this whole thing. Or she feels very on edge about it. She calls Brandon, the agent, the dad. Okay.

To tell her, hey, I came back for the lunches. There's this strange car and I think I saw a man in the house. Brandon Banfield rushes back home and he gets back in perhaps five minutes. Technically, he's supposed to be on his way to work, which is all the way in D.C., but he had stopped by a nearby McDonald's to get breakfast. This is near the house. So he just turns around, comes back home and Juliana is waiting outside for him and they decide that they're going to enter the house. Wait, so they saw a car?

And then they just freaked out? She saw the car. She freaked out. Why didn't they just call the wife? She did. She's not picking up. So she's like, oh, this is really weird. Who's inside that house? So then she calls the dad. Dad turns around. Dad comes home. So now dad, nanny and the child are going to enter the house.

There's no clear signs of a break-in or anything too strange, but when they enter the house, Juliana states that she and Brandon heard some sort of noises coming from the main bedroom. She didn't know if it was consensual or not, but there were some sort of interactions, she states. Brandon then goes into the primary bedroom that he shares with his wife, Christine. Juliana states she's taken the kid and they're going to go hide in the basement.

Now she calls 911. That's the first open line of the morning, but she doesn't really know what to say because she doesn't know if anything is actually happening inside this house. She just was so freaked out. She called 911 and then she's like, I don't know what to do. I don't even know why I'm calling. I'm just paranoid. She hangs up. Then she calls again and then she's like, oh, why am I doing this? Hangs up. And then she says that she hears someone quote, say, drop the knife. And then the sound of quote, flesh being struck.

What? It's stated that Brandon had made his way into the primary bedroom. He finds his wife naked in bed and this unfamiliar, fully clothed man holding a knife up to his wife and he tells him to drop the knife. Brandon, the husband, whips out his gun, a government issued federal weapon, and the man tells him to drop the knife and he tells Brandon, drop the gun.

but neither do and this unfamiliar man starts stabbing Christine several times near the neck area Brandon shoots the man in the head he gets knocked down but he's not dead

So he has a bullet through his right eyebrow, if I'm not mistaken. So he shoots the man. Juliana hears this in the basement, hears some sort of interaction, freaks out, runs upstairs, and this man is not dead. This strange man in this house is not dead. So Brandon, the federal agent, tells the nanny to hurry up and grab another gun from the safe so that they can make sure that this man cannot harm Christine anymore because she's about to die. They

They have to defend themselves. Juliana, the nanny, runs to grab the gun from the bathroom safe. He tells her the code. She punches it in, grabs the gun. She freaks out and shoots the strange man on the bedroom floor, piercing a bullet through his chest. Wait, what? They call 911 to try and explain what was going on. And thankfully, the Banfield's four-year-old daughter was physically unharmed.

But was in the house too? Yes. It's unclear if she was left in the living room or still in the basement when Juliana left her. It's unclear where in the house she was. I'm sure authorities know, but to the public, we don't know.

Now, one of the biggest questions authorities had early on is, who is this man that has been shot? Everybody else has a reason to be in this house. Christine, the wife that is now dead, deceased, killed, she is the mother. She is the owner of this house, along with her husband, the one with the gun that shot the man himself.

They own the house. Then you have the nanny who lives in the house. You have the kid who lives in the house. That's their child. But who is this man that's been shot? He's now dead. But what relationship does he have with this Banfield family? The people in this house? How does he connect with them? At first, it kind of made sense to assume that he was an intruder.

There's no connection. It's not a family friend. It's not someone she went to school with or he knew or that he worked on a case with. It's just a random guy. I mean, so random. They have no connections. They don't even have like a local church that they both attend. Zero connections. So intruder makes the most sense, but there's no signs of forced entry, no signs of a break in, no signs of any sort of intrusion. So who the hell is Joseph Ryan? That's his name.

And why was he killed inside the Banfields bedroom? Is he just like a serial killer that climbed in through the window or something? The police start searching through the computers in the family home and they find the link. The link between this random man, Joseph Ryan, and the Banfields. He's not a neighbor or a friend of a friend or even really a stranger. There's these fetish websites that you can create accounts on.

The way it's supposed to work is that you're an adult, you find another consenting adult, and you can potentially, if you hit it off, both meet up and arrange sexual dates together. Prosecutors believe that Joseph Ryan met Christine through one of these websites, the mother of the house. And perhaps both of them bonded over knife play?

So to give you some context, knife play is considered part of the BDSM world. It incorporates fear and risks. It's supposed to evoke strong emotions of excitement, but also honestly a lot of fear. There's definitely a power dynamic at play. Someone writes, it's a form of sensory fear play, which side note, please do not try this at home randomly.

Many experts state that they use super sharp knives as display knives. In the beginning, they will show off how powerful the knife is to whoever they're engaging in consensual activities with by cutting into fruit and show how sharp it is, how cold it is. But once the consenting adult that welcomes this activity is blindfolded, they will replace the display knife for a dull, basically dummy knife that's been chilled, thrown into the freezer to make it feel sharper and colder.

But even that, I mean, there should be rigorous protocols and full trust from both sides. So please don't just randomly try this at home. It's not really something that you just go online and try to meet a stranger for.

Typically, people who engage in knife play, it's after multiple times of knowing someone, meeting someone. It's it's not something that you're like, hey, are you into knife play? Let's hang out. Yeah. So the BDSM community, I mean, they're very good about making sure everything is safe. So this is already strange. You don't just meet someone online and be like, hey, bring a knife over to my house.

There's also no evidence that Christine Banfield was into knife play. So this is not me insinuating that she is. This is just the connection they find. There's a fetish website on the family computer under Christine Banfield's name. It seems like her account and she bonds with Joseph Ryan over alleged knife play. Okay.

So she just randomly woke up one morning as a married woman and mom and decided she was going to have an affair on a hardcore BDSM website with no mention of it to her friends or family. Nothing. It's just kind of weird. Prosecutors do not believe Christine Banfield set up that account on that website. They do not believe that she even knew she had an account on there.

They believe someone else set up that account, used her computer, created it to lure Joseph Ryan to the house that day, likely without Christine even knowing. That's their best guess. That's crazy. Why would they think that? Exactly. And why would anyone do that, first of all? Who would have a motive to do something like that? October 2023, seven months after the murders, an arrest is made.

For the charges of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, basically using a firearm to commit a felony, and second-degree murder. This person is facing 43 years in prison. 23-year-old Juliana Perez Magalienes, the au pair, the nanny, is arrested.

The medical examiner concluded that after the first shot from Brandon, the husband's gun, Joseph, this stranger in the bedroom, would have been blinded. He had been hit on his right eyebrow. He's not dead, but he's severely incapacitated. It is argued that he would have not posed any sort of imminent threat at this point to anyone in this condition. He would have limited vision and mobility, meaning Juliana did not need to go to the safe to grab that gun and fire that second shot.

at least not in the prosecutor's belief. They did not believe that her shot was in self-defense. They cannot prove that Brandon, the husband's shot, was not in self-defense, but her shot, not self-defense. Now, Juliana argues, and so does her attorney, that he could have possibly done something in that heightened emotional state that posed some sort of threat to somebody,

It's unclear what they're saying, but they're kind of insinuating. Let's say Joseph tried to get back up. He's trying to get help. He's holding his eye. He gets up. Maybe in that state, Juliana freaked out and then shot him to protect the family. Regardless, it doesn't really matter because the second shot is what killed Joseph Ryan. And it's up to the jury now to decide if it's self-defense or murder.

Now, there's a lot of reasons why Juliana might look suspicious to the prosecutors. The timing of everything just doesn't make sense. Brandon, assuming he works in Washington, D.C. or Arlington, which is where all the agents go, there's a 25 minute to 30 minute drive, which means if he was on his way to work, he would have been a lot further out unless he's casually eating breakfast at McDonald's, even though he might be late.

He wouldn't have been able to come home that quickly is what they argue, to which he states he was just grabbing breakfast. This is part of his daily schedule.

I don't know this man's exact schedule, so I don't know if he was for sure going to be late or anything, but it just seemed odd to the prosecutors. From all that I can gather from the sources, he was supposed to be at work. Why is he casually eating breakfast? Regardless, it's while he's eating breakfast, he gets that call from Juliana stating that she went back to the house to grab the lunches and she saw a stranger, a man inside the house. And she explained she tried to call Christine, but she didn't pick up, which is why now she's calling Brandon. And that is still a bit odd.

To a lot of prosecutors and the police, it's a weekday morning. It's Friday morning. Would you not just assume that maybe it's a maintenance worker or a neighbor or a visitor? Yeah. I don't know if at 8 a.m. on a weekday would be the time that I start freaking out. Yeah, and they're in the house.

And didn't look like someone broke into the house. It's not like he's peering through the bushes either. Yeah. Into the window. There's no signs of forced entry. So again, he's not actively breaking into the house. Why is Juliana so freaked out that she not only called Christine, but called Brandon?

Some netizens speculate that Christine might have been having an affair and Juliana had been suspicious. She's like, my boss is having an affair. I'm catching her in the act. She sees this man pull up and she knew that she was right. So she calls the husband to tattle on Christine. So the theory feels a bit icky. But also, it doesn't make sense why Juliana would call Christine first then, which is what she stated she did initially to the authorities. If she wanted Brandon to catch his wife in the act of cheating, why call and give her a heads up?

Regardless, she allegedly waits for Brandon to get back to the house, which takes about three to five minutes. She then proceeds to take the baby, the four-year-old that her whole job is to protect and make good decisions on behalf of, into the basement.

Which is very odd. If there was something in the house that was alarming enough for her to call both the mom and dad, specifically even making Brandon come back to the house, then would you not just wait in the car with the four-year-old? Instead, she brings the child into the basement to wait there? That is odd. The story is supposed to be that Juliana and Brandon are so scared for what's going on with Christine Banfield, the mom. This intruder is here. Brandon comes back home to investigate, and yet they bring the baby into the house? Yes.

It's just weird. Someone comments, hiding from a potentially dangerous situation by going indoors to face the unknown is bizarre. My biggest question was, you're saying the husband went to the bedroom and saw the man holding a knife towards the wife.

And then the guy, you know, proceeds to stab the wife. Like how many times did he stab? Okay. That is not public, but it says multiple stab wounds. So now there's a question of, was it Christine already stabbed when Brandon walks in? Brandon like refuses to say anything anymore. So we don't know, but I'm sure we'll find out during the trial. It's a question of the way that Juliana said it happened, made it sound like she wasn't stabbed.

But then later it only makes sense that she was already stabbed when he walked in. But even that doesn't really make sense.

So we're just kind of unclear right now. Then Brandon shoots Joseph once in the head, tells Juliana to grab the gun. She shoots Joseph in the heart. But that's weird too, isn't it? If Brandon was on his way to work, his gun is probably fully loaded. Typically, law enforcement weapons are fully loaded when they're on duty. And some law enforcement officers are even required to carry an additional fully loaded magazine to be fully prepared so they can quickly pull

put in another, I don't know how to describe it, a magazine full of bullets. Which means, why did he need Juliana to go to the bathroom safe and grab another gun? And if she had that amount of time, if you're the federal agent, wouldn't you be like, give me the gun? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like he's already took charge of the situation. Why would she need a gun? Yeah. And why would he trust her to shoot Joseph when he's the trained law enforcement officer? Either his father

firearm was out of bullets which if he had enough time for juliana to get the other gun didn't he also have time to get them all away from joseph ryan away from the situation if it truly is self-defense this part just feels even more suspicious when you factor in that just two months before this brandon the husband took the nanny to silver eagle shooting range in virginia

They allegedly went to the shooting range a few times that month leading up to this incident. And then on January 28th, 2023, just a month before the incident, he went to purchase, Brandon went to purchase a Glock for $558. That gun is supposedly the gun that Giuliana used to shoot Joseph Ryan.

Also, if he is a federal agent, a lot of netizens question if his wife hadn't been stabbed yet, which is kind of how Juliana's side of the story makes it sound. Isn't he trying to shoot before his wife gets stabbed? If anything, it would be more understandable if he's a little overzealous, if he shot too quickly because that's his wife, right? You're like, I'm not waiting for you to actually visibly do something. Yeah. Then this, this is very strange. But again, it could be that she was already stabbed at this point.

But earlier, the report was that Joseph, he told Joseph to drop the knife. Yeah. I mean, I guess you could still say that if she was stabbed and he's just holding the knife or he's actively stabbing. But still, it's just a little bit odd. Regardless, it just there's so many things that don't make sense when too many things don't make sense in a case. Usually the truth is that's probably not how it happened. And what about the missing 13 minutes?

911 is called twice in the basement. There's an open line both of those times. And then 13 minutes later, they call 911 again. And this time, Brandon tells dispatch what happened. So what happened during those 13 minutes? So what does all of this mean? Does that mean that instead of shooting for self-defense, Brandon shot in anger because his wife is having an affair in his bedroom? Not exactly.

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So the next reasonable theory is, OK, maybe he didn't shoot the intruder in self-defense. Maybe it's not an intruder. Maybe his wife, Christine Banfield, is having an affair with this man that she met on this fetish website and he catches them in the act. He's upset. He's angry. Somehow Christine gets stabbed by that man and she he shoots the man just in pure anger.

Well, that theory doesn't even make sense. And again, these are just allegations, theories, and opinions. But people believe that Christine Banfield absolutely did not know Joseph Ryan.

Authorities believe someone else in the house had set up that account pretending to be Christine. And they even say, sure, you like never really know what somebody's interests are in their private lives. But the way the account messaged Joseph sounded nothing like the way that Christine communicated. And I'm sure the authorities are somewhat smart. I'm sure it's not just, oh, well, she never talked about bondage at work. So why is she doing it now? I don't think it's that. It's just that it's not like the way that Christine communicated.

It's probably more so the way she spells things, capitalizes things, her punctuations, things that typically don't alter too much unless you're going from a very professional to a very personal setting. Those types of things. They say it's not consistent with Christine Banfield. We do not believe it is Christine Banfield. But the weirdest part...

would have to do with the fact that when authorities came to arrest Juliana, the au pair, she was still living in the family home, still taking care of the four-year-old daughter, but instead of all of her clothes being hung in her room, she had moved out. She had moved out of her room and moved into the primary bedroom. Her clothes were found hanging inside of Christine Banfield's closet. She had all of her things in the master bedroom. Wow.

Wow. Netizens dug up this picture that Juliana allegedly posted onto her Instagram stories a while back, allegedly posted after the death of Christine and Joseph, but it's a picture of her and Brandon. Allegedly the two look like they're on some sort of restaurant date. Listen, I could be just too demure, but I personally would not be comfortable wearing that type of shirt around my male boss that I live with. The pose of his arm is around her waist and,

it just feels very intimate. And beyond that, if you translate the words on the story, it reads, she asked people on Instagram to ask her questions. You know how you can do the question feature? Q&A? Yes, a Q&A. And she said that the most frequently asked question was, she literally writes, this question is from a few days ago that I posted but never answered. This was the one that most people sent me. Smiley face, smiley face. The

The question reads, are you dating a Brazilian or an American? Tell us more. Licking face emoji, licking face emoji, heart. She responds, no, he's American and it's been a month. I'm just living a bit more low profile. Laughing emoji, heart emoji. He's 38 years old, which is consistent with Brandon's age. Treats me like a princess and is handsome. He's a hottie. Laughing emoji, heart emoji. This is after the murder? Christine Banfield's murder.

That is crazy. Yeah.

She writes to satisfy your curiosity, laughing emoji. She also writes that both of them are crazy about the band Fallout Boy. The song that she used on the Instagram story is the last of the real ones by Fallout Boy. The lyrics go, I was just an only child of the universe. And then I found you and then I found you. You are the sun and I'm just the planet spinning around you. You were too good to be true because you're the last of a dying breed. You are just the last of the real ones. Be for real.

Yet after the initial incident, Juliana denied that she ever had an affair with her boss. I mean, with Brandon. I'm sure he probably denied it too. But after Christine passed, like I said, when authorities went to arrest Juliana, all of her clothes are now hanging in the closet of the master bedroom.

On top of that, they found really, really alarming stuff. They found framed pictures of her and Brandon placed on the nightstand next to the bed that was originally Christine Banfield's bed that she was murdered in. It's crazy. Wow. Prosecutors said that both Brandon, the dad, and Juliana, the nanny, got rid of their old phones and purchased new phones just four days before the attack.

Why is that you think? Probably getting rid of text message. I don't know, metadata, pictures. They're like, we don't even know if it's going to get rid of it if we just delete it. So we might as well just get new phones. So if they take our phones in during that time, there's nothing.

So both of them getting new phones four days before the attack is very odd. Now, after getting arrested, Juliana lawyers up. She said that she shot Joseph because Brandon told her to so that she could defend Christine and the family. Her attorney states that aside from Juliana's own statements to the police, the police have nothing to prove that she shot and killed Joseph.

At this point, Brandon Banfield has not been charged with any sort of crime. I do think the authorities are being quite careful about how they're handling this case, considering Brandon Banfield is a federal agent that works for the IRS. So like I said, think of it as a mixture of FBI and IRS. He's a criminal investigative agent for the IRS. So I'm sure he seems pretty familiar with how the law works.

When asked about if he returned to the shooting range to purchase the gun, the same gun that Juliana would be using to shoot Joseph, Brandon pled the fifth. When asked about why the both of them got new phones four days before the murder, he pled the fifth. For most things that he was just out here being asked about, he's invoking the fifth. I plead the fifth. I plead the fifth. I plead the fifth. Wow.

So as a federal agent, he knows that's the best thing to do, even though from the outside, it makes him look incredibly suspicious. But he knows that's the smartest move, right? And it's working because she was arrested October 23. It is now July 2024. He has not been arrested. From rumors of NOVA parents on NOVA parent forums, they believe that he's under administrative leave, which the taxpayers are funding.

Yeah. Oh, so he's still employed. Yes, because technically he hasn't been charged with anything, I'm sure. Wow. Again, not saying he's guilty, not saying he needs to be charged with anything. I'm just saying my personal opinion is that it's very suspicious. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, it's just a little strange. The judge stated that Brandon does seem to be a, quote, adverse witness, not cooperating. The only new thing that we gathered was that Brandon claims it's part of his routine to go to McDonald's every morning.

Other than that, he's just pleading the fifth for all the questions that he's asked. Giuliana's attorneys are talking a little bit more because they have to make up for all the talking that she did previously. And they refute the idea that she and Brandon created the fetish website profile for Christine. They argue it was all Christine. Christine was trying to have an affair. They argue that the profile was set up on Christine's computer and

And she even purchased tickets for Juliana to take their daughter to the zoo that day, thinking Juliana and the baby will be gone. Her husband's going to be at work. She thinks they think Christine thought that she's just going to invite this man over to have an affair. The lawyer argues the inference that prosecutors are trying to make is that it wasn't Christine Banfield that made the account. It just seems like a difficult thing for me to accept that somebody other than Christine would be going on her computer, which the prosecutors and netizens agree.

believe is highly doubtful also i'm not even sure these are good arguments my sister is a mom of two what used to be her computer her things her belongings is now the family computer she could be sending an email for work one second and now it's on the living room floor playing bluey but also like let's say let's just say let's say that happened they were having an affair and the guy comes over and they were trying supposedly doing whatever knife play right and

Why would he kill her in that kind of situation? If you get caught cheating, your first reaction is not to kill someone. It's like, oh, I'm sorry. Like, you know, like there's a million things to do, but to commit a murder and that ended up being killed. Like that story, that plot makes zero sense. Yeah. Even if we try to make it make sense with the lawyer saying it doesn't make sense. It's just there's no logic in it.

And additionally, I would expect Christine to buy tickets for the zoo. I don't expect the au pair to purchase it. And likely these days, places like it when you purchase online tickets rather than at the counter, it's just more convenient. So that doesn't necessarily mean that Christine is out here like, you guys need to go to the zoo today. You need to leave the house today. Here, I booked you tickets. Juliana could have easily been like, hey, we want to go to the zoo today. Mm-hmm.

I say all of this just to state those aren't necessarily the most convincing arguments in my personal opinion. Now, Juliana's lawyer argued that Christine was luring Joseph in, this strange man, for months on these websites. Would anyone else spend all that time doing that? The lawyer also states that, yes, initially Juliana denied having an affair with Brandon, but you know what? They did have a sexual relationship, but she's had many relationships, none of which were that exclusive or that serious.

stating that Juliana just likes to have a good time. I'm not sure how this helps to prove a point here because they're still having an affair. I guess the attorney is trying to make it look like a casual affair that took place, a casual thing that just happened here and there. But prosecutors hit back with statements that they found photos of the two of them taking trips to New York City together. They said, quote, this is not a mild thing that was going on in that home.

It did not look like a sexual affair. It looks like a full-blown relationship at this point. And the New York trip happened before the murder or after? It's unclear. They did not state. But the lawyer also accuses Christine of being unfaithful by stating Brandon and Christine were each having their own affairs and each being unfaithful to each other.

So he's trying to make it appear like, yes, Brandon is having intimate relations with the live-in nanny, but Christine is also having her affairs. And even if that were true, even if a couple were in an open relationship, I highly doubt on so many levels

So many different degrees of how wrong it is that you would keep employing the person that your partner is having an affair with just in terms of moral, the power exchange there, the legal ramifications, the emotional ramifications. I just don't see that happening. If you're in an open relationship, it would be more believable if they're going outside to have their own affairs with random strangers versus your employee. That's crazy.

There's no evidence to indicate that Christine was even having an affair. Juliana and Brandon passionately deny that they did nothing wrong. They're like, we did not do anything. This was all self-defense.

that Joseph Ryan was the one that killed Christine and they killed Joseph out of self-defense. Giuliana's attorney states he had just stabbed Christine Banfield. It seems perfectly reasonable that a second shot would be fired to make sure that he's not a threat to Brandon, to Christine, to Giuliana, to the child.

Clearly, the prosecutors do not agree, considering she's being held for second degree murder charges. If it was questionable self-defense, if they even thought it's a little unclear, we don't know exactly where we're going to charge her. She would have likely gotten manslaughter charges. The difference being typically in second degree murder charges, you're talking about an intent to cause serious bodily harm, extreme recklessness and disregard for human life.

Juliana has since been denied bail. And an interesting part of this is a lot of netizens believe that the authorities are using Juliana to get to Brandon, that the authorities need a slam dunk case on him because the ballistics, when he fired the shot, nobody else was in that room. So it's hard to say if it's self-defense or not. It's not a slam dunk case. He's lawyered up. He's pleading the fifth. They need someone to basically rat him out, which is why they're turning up the heat on Juliana.

Telling her, you got to tell us what happened. Tell us if Brandon played any sort of role in this. And she has not? Not yet. There's more theories about that as well. Now, it's pretty clear that police and prosecutors are very suspicious of Brandon. They're calling Juliana not the Banfield's au pair. But in relation to Brandon, they're calling her his girlfriend, his live-in lover.

They also said, we believe that all persons responsible for what happened here today are known to us and were inside the home. Again, two inside the home are dead and the other two persons were present as well. We're going to do what's right by that child. The truest victim of all is that four-year-old. The police chief, the Fairfax County police chief states, it's my expectation that we will eventually be able to hold more than just one person accountable for this crime.

Another law enforcement officer says, just because we've made an arrest does not mean that this case is closed. During COVID in 2020, so this is three years before Christine's death, Christine was actually working as a frontline ICU nurse during COVID. She has this Instagram picture trying to find the silver lining, and she writes, this is my COVID couture, which is not her taking things lightly, of course. A lot of COVID ICU nurses, they had to get therapy.

afterwards. Nurses, especially in the ICU, I mean, they're dealing with some of the most critically ill patients. And they said prior to this, a lot of the nurses said they took so much pride in doing the absolute best for their jobs. They did so during COVID as well, obviously, but during COVID, it's a different feeling. They said it felt like everybody they touched just died. It's not even about how hard you worked or how much you sweat trying to save someone. They were all just dying.

Another ICU nurse said it broke me as a human being, despite being in therapy all the way through it. Holy hell. It wrecked my whole life. Another one writes, I was a COVID ICU nurse back when we shared refrigerated trucks with the neighboring hospitals. We had so many bodies to load. It was awful. I remember people dying alone in their rooms, having to choose which one gets the ventilator because we were short on vents, trying to facilitate zoom calls so people could say goodbye to their parents. It was fucking brutal.

One person said about Christine being a nurse, I don't think I've ever met someone so passionate about being a nurse or a fiercer patient advocate. She mentored new nurses and took on every new challenge. And man, she was something to watch in the way that she could just connect with families. And above that, my God, did she love her daughter.

Christine served in the ICU during COVID, but still took time to try and protect other people's futures outside of work. So, for example, in 2020, the White House suspended the entry of a lot of visas that they felt were unnecessary into the U.S. during COVID. Now, unnecessary is subjective.

Christine wrote on Facebook, the executive order banning visas to America is also impacting young adults coming to America in programs for cultural exchanges such as au pairs. The role of an au pair cannot be fulfilled by an American as outlined by the Department of State's explanation of the program. So why is it included in this executive order? They are not taking any jobs from Americans. Our

Our au pair has become a part of our family and we share our love of America with her and she shares her Brazilian culture with us. They are not nannies or babysitters. They have education requirements while in America and live with the host family for the length of their stay. Au pairs with a J-1 visa should not be included in this executive order.

She linked a change.org petition, which aside from all the political connotations or how someone feels about this issue personally, I think a lot of this passion to try and protect the au pair programs is before Juliana, the couple had another au pair from Brazil, right?

She was like family to Christine. They were such good friends. She only left the family because she was getting married, which is why Giuliano was then hired. She spoke, the former au pair spoke so highly of Christine. It's unclear if she ever spoke about Brandon at all, but Christine called her the previous au pair. She is my daughter's best friend, her sister, her third parent, her everything.

Christine wrote on Instagram, 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 up to someone with big dreams of changing their life while they're in America. And in the process, they change your life more than you can measure.

After Christine's murder, her previous au pair posted on Instagram an excerpt from a book. It reads, the reality of loss. Here's what I most want you to know. This really is as bad as you think. No matter what anyone else says, it sucks. What happened cannot be made right. What is lost cannot be restored. There is no beauty here. Inside the central fact, acknowledgement is everything. You're in pain and it can't be made better. The last words on the page read, some things cannot be freed. They can only be carried.

One month after Christine's murder, her former au pair post. One month without your text, without your FaceTime. The same Friday, the same date. One month without you. I really hope you're having the best time of your life up there, Christine. The sky is so blue and beautiful today because I know you're right there. I'll see you again and you'll tell me everything when I get there.

I'll love you forever and I promise I will always be there for your daughter. Clearly, this was not a one-sided affection. Christine's daughter was the flower girl for the previous au pair's wedding. Christine was super emotional throughout it. She writes about the wedding. Nobody prepares you for this part of the au pair program. Now, I couldn't find a ton of information about Christine Banfield or Joseph Ryan. I did find Christine Banfield's Instagram profile, which is...

This Instagram profile feels like a reflection of everything she cared about. I think this was the first time in a case that going through someone's Instagram page made me emotional.

She was someone who liked documenting her life. And one of the biggest things you see is before she's a mom, all of her posts are about fitness. She's so passionate about working out and she did these mud runs with Brandon. She was very into self-development. But after having her daughter, she could not help but that her whole world just revolved around this little girl. She would be so proud of her. She's learning her ABC. She would post these videos about her constantly posting and even honestly constantly posting about Brandon. Yeah.

They were married in 2010 and in 2015, she posted her wedding pictures and she wrote, tomorrow will be our five-year anniversary. Oh my God, I still remember the day like it was yesterday. Till death do us part. I still love my dress.

They even did a photo shoot at a beach playground and Christine is in her full wedding gown. And I guess all the kids, they were playing on the little monkey bars. They were so curious. They all climbed into the picture to take a picture with Christine. These are random kids. These are not her kids. These aren't kids from the wedding. Brandon is also in the picture. Yeah, he's also in the picture. But in the picture, she hashtags till death do us part married life. I love my husband.

She went to football games with her husband and she would caption the photo. Went to the Cowboys versus Giants games last night. Did my research beforehand that you're allowed to bring in food as long as it's in a clear bag and one factory sealed 20 ounce non-alcoholic beverage. So sandwiches, pickles, clementines, bananas, cucumber slices, and portioned out trail mix get packed along with one drink each. The guy said,

The guys in the row behind us make fun of us as we eat our healthy dinner, but the joke is on them. We saved about $25 each and I probably saved 30 points from my husband saving himself from a bellyache from the stadium food. None to mention, we didn't have to miss any of the game by waiting on ridiculous lines for foods and drinks.

I mean, I get what people are saying about Christine as wanting her as your nurse. If I saw these pictures, I would want her as my child's nurse in the PICU. And when she's smiling and scrubs and she writes unexpectedly working a double hashtag nurse life, but it's OK because my hair is on point. Plus, I'm getting OT and an extra day off for it. Score hashtag nurse humor. Need more caffeine. Someone bring me a Diet Coke.

Even when they move into the house that she was killed in, she has this picture that's honestly a bit eerie now to look at, but she's sitting on the ground eating off a moving box. And she writes, new adventures wait. Just got the keys yesterday for the new house in Virginia and then start the new job on Monday. Brandon's still at the Agent Academy in Georgia, but will be joining us here soon. Hope to make lots of memories in this new home. This was November 2019. A few years later, Christine would be killed in that house.

There's another picture of Brandon and her daughter, and she writes, my whole world in one picture. Halloween is right around the corner, which means sweater weather is in full swing. Recently, I've been cleaning out my closet and making room for all of my winter stuff, just generally getting rid of things I've outworn and donating them. Naturally, I like to push things like this off, but I've been so proactive this year, and I think it's all because of Audible. My favorite recent title that got me through the sweater weather cleaning is this kind of

short story titled The Grown-Up by Gillian Flynn. Her name may sound familiar. She's the same author of Gone Girl and Sharp Objects, which were fantastic, also on Audible. And I mean, her writing just translates so well over audio. And guys, her short story that I was listening to while I was getting ready for spooky season was the perfect way to set that

Autumn, Audible, ambience. If you like the treats part more than the tricks though, I know that not everybody can do the horror or the scary spooky stories on Audible. That's fine. Audible has so many other genres and titles of audiobooks. I couldn't even name them all even if I wanted to. And that's not a figure of speech. I'm talking...

Literally, they have thousands of titles to choose from. Audible also offers podcasts like ours, guided wellness programs, theatrical performances, which one of our RMT members is obsessed with on Audible, comedy, and Audible originals. So if you want to switch up the cadence of a narrator or switch to a different type of storytelling than normal audio books,

Audible has you covered there too. My favorite Audible feature just in general is the customizable playback speed. It is a game changer for those commutes, getting ready, nighttime routines, and honestly cleaning out your closet. Audible members can keep one title a month to keep from the entire catalog. New members can try Audible now free for 30 days. Visit audible.com slash rotten or text rotten to 500 500. That's audible.com slash rotten or text rotten to 500 500 to try Audible free for 30 days.

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Christine did not die a painless death and experts stated that when you're stabbed, there's a lot of movement. People are typically conscious still and the first stab is even if it's fatal, you're not knocked unconscious typically. So you're trying to move away. You're trying to protect yourself while you're bleeding. She likely wasn't conscious when she was taken to the hospital, but still technically alive with a weak pulse indicating this was not a quick death.

In 2015, Christine posted the definition for her name and it reads, Christine, a deity, the best person to be in your corner, unlimited power and potential, a muse, someone that can change your life, someone that takes your side even when you're wrong, soulmate, serendipity. Example of Christine used in a sentence, if I only had Christine, I could do anything.

As for Joseph Ryan, I think netizens are having a hard time understanding his role in all of this. Most people believe that Joseph Ryan probably met Christine on a fetish website and he wanted to find like-minded adults that were into the same activities that he was in. The theory being, allegedly, he's under the impression that he's meeting a nice, consenting adult at her house where he's going to have fun with her. But he arrives and clearly things are not

going that way. That's what most people believe. So as for the knife used to stab Christine, I think it would be crucial to find out was it from Joseph's house or the Banfield residence. But even if it were a knife that Joseph had brought, a lot of netizens believe that he could have been asked to bring it. It wouldn't be the most alarming thing on a fetish website where the point is to meet like-minded people who have not as common interest in the bedroom as the general public. So if done correctly, safely, consensually, knife play is...

Not the worst thing in the world. I mean, who's to say, right? I guess my question is also, let's say he came here for this activity.

How did he get in the house and all the way to the bedroom? Because that part, I just don't imagine Christine open the door and just guide him to the bedroom. So netizens have some wild theories with it. And I don't know if it's netizens trying to fill in the gaps of this very mysterious case that we don't know much about, or if this is even probable, right? But some netizens believe that if you have someone that lives in the house, you expect them to lock the door on the way out.

So perhaps Juliana, if she's guilty of all of this, if she set it up, she could have left the front door unlocked. And in the messages, it could have implied, hey, the front door is unlocked. Come upstairs to the left bedroom. I'll be waiting for you. I see. And then as to how Christine was found nude, because if Joseph Ryan is not someone trying to assault her or kill her, right? Why was she nude?

There's a few split netizen theories about this. One is that in the website, in the fetish website, they were communicating about how she might have liked non-consensual play.

And he thought it was part of the act. And she probably did not at all because she doesn't know what's going on. And she believes she's being essayed, right? So it could have been that. Or people believe it wouldn't be too impossible for the husband to be like, hey, we've been having a rough time recently. How about I go outside, grab some fun stuff. You wait for me in the bedroom. Nude. The nannies go into the zoo. I'm going to take a day off work, take a sick day. Let's reconnect. Right.

I see. Right. So there's a lot of ways it could play out. And again, these are all just theories. They're just netizens trying to make sense of a case that doesn't make any sense because it doesn't make sense that Christine Banfield would willingly, willingly go on this website and do all these things. And it doesn't make sense that Joseph Ryan is there.

Yeah, yeah. So I would say the overwhelming theory is that Joseph truly believed he was just meeting someone online that he liked, got roped into something he probably wanted no part in, and he becomes the fall guy and gets killed. Even prosecutors state that that's what they think it is. The smaller theory that exists out there is that Joseph Ryan was a hired hitman that was hired to kill Christine. And when he was done with the job, he was killed so that there were no witnesses. Yeah.

This is highly doubtable because hiring a hitman usually requires some sort of communications and transfers of funds even before the act, which is not only risky, but eventually discoverable. And I would imagine as an IRS agent, he would probably know how traceable that is. On top of that, the coincidence of setting up the fetish website is also a lot. Mm-hmm.

And I feel like if he was a hired hitman, authorities would have probably found proof by now. I mean, maybe they have and they're just not telling us, but it just seems unlikely. It's probably a theory that exists since there have been many cases where unfaithful partners have hired hitmen to take out their spouses. But as far as law enforcement are concerned, they have consistently referred to Joseph Ryan as a victim.

Joseph Ryan's mom states that her son was taken from her, that he was not a violent person. He's never been violent. He would never strike a woman, let alone stab a woman. She says, this is ridiculous. This is beyond ridiculous. I can't even tell you. Like you don't just wake up all of a sudden and decide you're going to be a killer.

I want people to remember Joe for the good natured loving man that he was for the man who loved his family. He loved other people. He was socially aware. He was a kind person. She says it might be possible that her son went to meet up with someone he met online to which she says, I mean,

I think it's possible. Joe was an adult. He was allowed to do what he wanted. You don't get murdered for sexual activity. And if it was between consensual adults, he was a good man. That's what I want him remembered as. The beautiful person he was on the inside. How old is Joseph? I believe in his 30s as well.

Juliana's mother has also spoken to media and she states, they are saying horrible things about my daughter, that she only did this so she can stay in the country, basically trying to get rid of Christine to stay with Brandon and get a visa, which yes, does feel a bit icky to say, I guess. But her mom says, it's not true. She wouldn't hurt a fly. I hope all of this is resolved.

She also states that her daughter told her before the arrest, essentially, yes, her employer was killed, but the case has been closed and the police concluded that Joseph Ryan killed Christine because they used to date. They were exes. There's no proof of that. That's just what Juliana's mom claims Juliana told her.

There are some concerns that Juliana's primary language is Portuguese and the interrogations were in English, but the prosecutors argue that she never requested an interpreter and only asked for one term to be translated, aluminum foil. So there are a lot of theories about this case. One netizen theorizes, again, just a theory from someone who doesn't personally know the couple or the case, but they theorize given the limited information to the general public.

They guess. My best guess, the husband and the nanny, they started this relationship. They hatch up this plan to kill Christine. I don't know who stabbed Christine though. And I'm not sure the exact role that Joseph Ryan was supposed to play in all of this. But I think it's clear the nanny messed up during the act a few times. First by calling 911 too early and then shooting Joseph Ryan. Likely something unexpected happened during the incident that necessitated her shooting Joseph Ryan that second time. Because a lot of people are pointing out their story is almost too dumb.

For a federal agent who's pleading the fifth and lawyering up, the story is too dumb. Why would she shoot him when he's already incapacitated? And if you're a federal agent, why would you tell her to go get a gun from the safe when you just shot him with your law enforcement issued weapon? And if he had no more bullets left, a lot of the public believe we would know that by now. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like that would have been stated in the press releases or the press conference from the police. Yes. Like because he only, he had no more bullets. Yeah.

It just doesn't make sense. Another netizen comments them saying that they're defending themselves, yet she has time to get another gun out of the safe in order to shoot him again. I mean, they're probably lying, but also what a lousy story. It just doesn't even make sense.

So the original poster thinks they believe that something had gone wrong. It did not go according to the plan because the two open line calls this weird second shot from the second gun. It's just silly to state that this is self-defense. That is their opinion, not a fact. Do your own research. I'm not a judge. What do I know? Right. So the netizen is proposing that something happened that prompted her to shoot him once more.

likely something happened that she shot joseph and once they call 9-1-1 the second time 13 minutes later brandon the husband immediately recognizes he needs to tell the police he shot joseph and it wasn't the nanny he needs to get the focus away from the nanny as quickly as possible he does not want the potential of her squealing or getting questioned because while he's a federal agent who can somehow keep his wits intact which clearly it's working she might not be able to mm-hmm

The net is in further states. And honestly, judging by her social media posts, it sounds like she's pretty dumb. So he claims to have shot Joseph Ryan. He lawyers up. He won't speak with the police. And at this point, he knows that he has to keep the nanny around. So she's not going to confess, even though it's a bad look to the public.

still dating your nanny right she thinks that this is going to work out for them the husband claims he's keeping the nanny around he's probably telling the authorities for the best interests of the child to have some consistency for the child but they're all trying to basically stick it out together because they have no other choice and now that she's been arrested though she's going to flip on him it's just going to take time this is a theory now that would be wild yeah

Wow. But a lot of people seem to have this theory because nothing else really makes sense.

Some people don't even have the space for theories. They're just so angered by the situation. One au pair or nanny states, good Lord, I worked as a nanny for years. I always told the parents, whether you hire me or not, put in nanny cams. You should have nanny cams and your nanny should be the biggest supporter of them. If you wouldn't want it captured by the hidden nanny cams, you should not be doing it. That goes for the owner of the home and the

The nanny. If you would never do things like this in the first place, you would want nanny cans to protect yourself as a nanny and as the parents. Someone comments, Moral of the story is do not bring a strange woman into your home to take care of your children because she may also take care of your husband.

Which is a wild, wild victim-blaming statement to make, to which someone comments, or just don't marry the type of man asleep with a stranger and let harm come your way. Still victim-blaming. Another comment, or moral of the story, men should stop betraying their families. Someone else comments, absolutely disgusting and disappointing just how many people are victim-blaming the poor murdered wife and mother for her own death.

which is a very valid observation. There is another comment that reads, never bring strangers into your home to take care of things that you should be doing. Whoa. That clearly feels pointed at the murdered mother rather than at the father. Another comment reads, mothers and wives out there, here's a lesson, don't hire young pretty nannies.

Another reads, ladies, it's time to take care of your own kids. No one will ever care for your kids as much as you do. Don't let a job be the reason you lose your baby or your man. Too many crazies out here. To that, I just have to say, he works for the IRS. She's a pediatric ICU nurse. You tell me which job is more important. Another comment just reads, young nanny sees a beautiful home and wealthy husband. Oh, well, it's a tale as old as time.

Now, I'm not defending the nanny at all, but the comments are wild. Another comment reads Banfield, the husband needs to be charged. Clearly, they plan this together. If the nanny was smart, she would testify against him.

Now, Brazilian netizens have also reacted to the news. Some write from his behavior, the husband's behavior. You can see that he planned everything and he's using the nanny. She was dishonest, bad and deluded. And she's going to pay for it alone because that's what he's going to let happen. He's American. She's not. He knows the laws and he has them in his favor. So some speculate that second shot. Mm hmm.

Brandon did that so he wasn't the only... Okay, the theory is that Brandon wanted Juliana to fire the second shot so that she would get more of the heat, which I don't know if that makes any sense. There's other speculations, I believe,

are more in my personal opinion i would believe more is that he had her fire the second shot either something dramatic happened inside that we don't know about or because if she fires a shot then she's more likely to not say anything either because she too has blood on her hands

Yeah, that's the truth. It's going to be very interesting. Yeah, very. It's going to come up hopefully in November. Now, I don't think that Juliana should be excused for anything she's done. Again, not saying that she's committed second degree murder, just stating, I think if the trial proceeds and continues in the trajectory that people think it will, just based off the limited information we have, nothing should excuse Juliana. However, I did find it interesting. Who is paying for Juliana's attorney? Yeah.

Juliana's mom stated in an interview with a Brazilian news outlet that she has not spoken to Juliana's attorney, which I feel like if her parents were paying for it or if Juliana was paying for it, they would have access to the attorney.

Because Juliana, if she's the retained client, she could be like, hey, can you talk to my mom? Because I'm in prison and my mom needs to talk to you. Also, I don't know if Juliana even has the funds to retain an attorney. Maybe she does. But it would be a bit worrisome here if Brandon is the one paying for the attorney. Because then, would the attorney really be acting in her best interest or Brandon's? You can do that? Yeah. Really? Huh. Yeah. That would be crazy. This is actually...

kind of a problem when there's two defendants. It's very I think it's rare. Right. But in some cases where there's two defendants and they decide to have the same attorney, but maybe one of them is footing the bill, that attorney is looking out for one defendant over the other more. That's why even when you see couples go up as defendants, they try to retain their own attorneys that they personally pay for.

So that they have their best interests. It's like, oh, I'm protecting this partner. I'm protecting this partner. Whereas if you're protecting both partners, it's a bit tricky. So it's just, I mean, this would be very fascinating to know. I don't know. I don't think it's, I don't think it's a court appointed attorney from what I can tell.

Again, not defending her, just another layer of complexity here. It could be court appointed. I didn't find any indication of, but we'll just have to find out in November. Because even when the prosecutor called Brandon Banfield to the stand, Julianne, his attorney, stated, it's been clear from the beginning that Brandon is the target of this investigation, which I don't know, feels like he's defending Brandon, right? Yeah.

Because I feel like if I were Julianna's attorney, not that I would be qualified, but I feel like I'd be like, you know what? You're right. Bring Brandon. It's on Brandon. He's the husband. He's the owner of this house. He's the dad. Talk to him. My client just did whatever he told her to do because he's the law enforcement officer. Of course she listened to him. She just shot where he told her to do. That's it. Bring him on. But instead he's like, it seems like Brandon is the target of this investigation. Yeah.

Wouldn't you want that as Giuliana's attorney? Yeah. Another commentator agrees. I agree. He used her for the crime. She wanted to, but I'm sure he promised a thousand and one things and he might've realized that she was a fool.

These are from Brazilian netizens, and many of them don't agree. They write, deluded or not, she is a cruel criminal as much as he is. Even if she wasn't the main plotter, you have to recognize the lack of empathy and coldness when she takes over the master bedroom where the victim died and puts up photos of her with the dead woman's husband. It was the room where the woman died with her husband. Put yourself in Christine's shoes, a characterless husband like that, and a girl just waiting to pounce. Ugh.

I found the photos of the two of them in the room where his wife was killed extremely morbid. It seems like a way to mark territory with some sort of victory trophy, is another netizen comment. One Brazilian netizen agrees, writing, if she was innocent, even if she was having an affair up until the incident where they died, the

they're saying she can't continue that affair if she is a good person she would leave she'd be like you're suspicious this whole thing is weird i need to go cleanse my soul like i have sinned already and i need to go repent for those sins but i'm not going to keep doing more and they say if she was innocent she wouldn't be sleeping in the victim's room in the victim's bed and placing photographs of her with the victim's husband on the nightstand but

But many Brazilians, along with American netizens, agree that they find it extremely strange that Brandon Banfield has not been charged yet. One comment reads from an alleged Nova local. Stabbing is violent and visceral. She lived all the way to the hospital. She did not want to leave her little girl. I've seen posts by people who were in the ER that morning. Many were traumatized. The depraved indifference to human life is shocking. To think that people like this are among us in society is sobering.

Is there like conversations about the husband from the locals? Yes, they say that he's on administrative leave. There's some rumors. I don't know if these are accurate that immediately after he purchased a Tesla. So some of the locals are having these allegations, theories, speculations, opinions that he's going through this weird process.

midlife crisis purchased a tesla some of them were even conversating about it they'd be curious to know if christine was against purchasing a tesla because maybe she's fiscally more responsible or just thought we don't need another car like what's the point but purchased a tesla he has this young 23 year old girlfriend he's how old is he 38 she's 23 wow yes

Yeah. And the whole thing is just really, yeah. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. I feel like there's so much we don't know. And the locals actually speculate and theorize again. I don't know how I ended up on this like DC moms forum, but that's where I went down the rabbit hole. They were speculating that there has to be life insurance for

So they're trying to figure out what tier of government worker he is. And some speculate he's making anywhere between $100,000 to $150,000. She would make quite a bit in Washington, D.C. as a pediatric ICU nurse, close to $100,000, if not more than $100,000. So now half their income is gone. So they're like, maybe there is a life insurance policy involved as well. But again, these are just literally gossip, like neighborhood gossip. We don't know anything until November. Yeah.

Someone just comments, "There's like 20 twists in this story and after every twist somehow the husband and the au pair look even guiltier each time, especially since they went to the shooting range two months before the murders." Juliana's mom is interviewed and she says that she has a message for her daughter. She said, "She must tell the truth. She must tell them what happened that day. Not just say that she's the only one, but say that Brandon was with her as well." She would have only shot Joseph as a way to defend herself and defend the family.

Juliana is currently being held with no bond. The judge stated that she is too great of a flight risk. Her trial was initially set for July, so last month, but it has now been pushed to November of this year. Whether or not charges against Brandon Banfield will be filed is unknown, but there's still just so many unanswered questions. Like the weird part is, sure, there is this 13 minute delay from the initial call to 911. So when they call back, this 13 minutes fully unaccounted for.

And people speculate it has something to do with who stabbed Christine. Because Christine did not stab herself. Brandon and Juliana are stating that the other man, Joseph Ryan, did it. But law enforcement hasn't come out to say that. In fact, they're treating Joseph Ryan as another victim. I imagine if Joseph Ryan did stab Christine Banfield and then he was shot immediately afterwards, the forensic at the scene, the crime scene, would show that story.

And I think that the police would have stated it to the public. But the fact that they haven't and all their, the way that they talk about Joseph Ryan is truly in the sense that he is a victim here and not someone who committed a crime and then was shot afterwards. Yeah.

Netizens believe it would be pretty easy to tell if Joseph Ryan was the stabber. There would be clear evidence. So if Joseph Ryan didn't stab and kill Christine, then who did? The most low-hanging fruit suspects are the two other parties in the room, Juliana and Brandon Banfield. But how could they have cleaned up and gotten rid of all the evidence that they're involved in the stabbing before law enforcement arrive at the scene? Some netizens theorize that perhaps all of this happened a bit sooner. So here's another theory. Opinion, not a fact.

They could have hypothetically in a parallel universe, the two could have stabbed Christine Banfield, then shot Joseph Ryan way before the 911 call. And maybe the open lines were because they hadn't cleaned up something, giving them enough time to clean up again. Or they could have stabbed Christine prior to Joseph Ryan even getting into the house. So remember how people are speculating that he met her on the website and likely it was like, hey, the front door is open. Come in to the left bedroom.

Perhaps she was already stabbed. He walks in and they're laying in wait for him.

And he's shocked. He's like, this is not what I came here for. He's about to U-turn, but he gets shot. Again, these are just hypothetical theories that people have been putting together since there's such limited information out there and it just doesn't make sense. Now, side note about Joseph Ryan being shot twice. There are theories that it's weird, but maybe it's not. For example, let's say in a parallel universe, the husband stabbed the wife. Then out of necessity, he shot Joseph Ryan who walks in through the door. Perhaps Juliana was supposed to shoot him.

So the arrangement would have been, I kill Christine, you kill Joseph Ryan. So we each kill one. But maybe Juliana hesitated. Maybe she didn't shoot him for whatever reason. And so Brandon Banfield shot him. And now he only has blood on his hands is the theory. So he forces Juliana to shoot him as well. And also because another shot must be fired. Perhaps he's looking at Joseph Ryan. Again, this is...

Another theory, perhaps he's looking at Joseph Ryan and he sees that maybe he'll survive. He's not dead. And if we call 911 now, he's rushed to the hospital. What if he survives? They can't wait too long to call the police. So they need to do something.

So a lot of netizens right now are just curious as to who stabbed Christine and wondering if law enforcement has figured that out and they're just being tight-lipped about it. Also, if there's any evidence of life insurance. Another question that netizens have is where was the poor little girl during all of this? Was she left in the basement? Reports state that she's

physically unharmed from the incident, but I'm sure there's going to be lots of mental and emotional trauma. If not now, then later people wonder, I mean, why if Brandon Banfield, the father is somehow proven to be involved in all of this, it just makes him so much more sick and vile that you're willing to expose your child to lifelong trauma because of how evil and callous you are. Speaking of people in the house, the couple also had Huskies.

I know I saw one, perhaps even two huskies that look like they live in the house. So let's just say they just have one husky. I'm curious to know, was the husky in the house at the time of the incident? Again, I don't think the husky being home or not is some sort of evidence or smoking gun. But if Joseph Ryan had to come into the house, did they put the huskies into a crate? That would be more premeditation. Were the huskies at the groomers? I mean, it's just from what I know, huskies are pretty protective, if I'm correct. It would just be interesting to know.

Hopefully, we get answers to all of these questions in November when the trial starts, and we can only hope that every single person involved in their deaths will face justice. But what are your thoughts on this case? I feel like there's so many questions, and if he is a federal agent, I think he's

He must have thought about all of this. He must plan all of this. And it's very easy to find a clue that, hey, you guys are sleeping together and it makes both of you look very suspicious. And he still proceed with the plan. So that means he probably had a pretty good plan.

cover-up plan like for at least for him or her not to be in trouble so you think something went wrong and that's how everything fell apart so during the act like the netizen was theorizing your opinion is that something went wrong because otherwise he would have a solid tight-knit plan where juliana would also not have been arrested

Yeah. Because he probably thought things through as a federal agent. Yeah. That makes sense. Yeah. There's no, you know what I mean? Like he must, must know everything already. This self-defense theory just doesn't make sense either. Like go get the gun. She gets the gun from the safe to then shoot him at a self-defense. Yeah. It doesn't make sense.

But even at this point, I worry that if they still have a really good plan, let's say she's keeping very tight lips, maybe he truly will get away. Maybe, you know, like, I don't know. That's what a lot of people are worried about. I mean, a lot of people think that she deserves to be in prison as well if this is truly what happened. But it seems like she might take more of the fall for it if the attorney does not represent her well and if she doesn't start talking. Right.

What are your thoughts? Do you think if Brandon was involved that Juliana will turn on him? If the theories are correct, do you think that one party is more at fault here or they're equally evil if the theories are correct? What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments and I will see you in the next one. Please be safe.