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(FAIRFAX, Va.) — A jury has reached a verdict in the double murder trial of a Virginia man accused of killing his wife and a stranger lured to their home under false pretenses in an elaborate plot to get rid of his spouse so he could be with his au pair, with whom he was having an affair. 

Brendan Banfield, 40, is accused of stabbing his wife to death in their home in Fairfax County and fatally shooting a man he allegedly “catfished” on a fetish website. Prosecutors said he pretended to be his wife to lure the man to their home for what was believed to be a consensual fake rape scenario in order to frame that stranger for his wife’s murder.

The jury deliberated nearly nine hours over two days, starting Friday, before reaching a verdict Monday afternoon. The verdict is expected to be read in court at 5 p.m. ET Monday.

The former IRS agent was charged with aggravated murder in 2024 following a monthslong investigation into the deaths of his wife, 37-year-old nurse Christine Banfield, and the man, 39-year-old Joseph Ryan.

Prosecutors accused Brendan Banfield of plotting the murders with the family’s au pair, 25-year-old Juliana Peres Magalhaes, who was initially charged with second-degree murder in connection with the deaths. 

Ahead of the trial, Peres Magalhaes pleaded guilty to manslaughter. Under the plea agreement with prosecutors, she will receive time served for testifying against Brendan Banfield.

During closing arguments on Friday, the prosecutor made the case that the murders were premeditated.

“He was in love with Juliana. He can pretend that this was a fling and affair — he’d had them before, no big deal. He was in love with Juliana,” prosecutor Jenna Sands said. “He was afraid of losing her. He needed to get rid of his wife so that they could be together, so that they could marry, so that they could have those babies that he was picking out names for.”

Sands said there was no evidence that Christine Banfield had previously used dating or fetish websites, argued that there were signs that the crime scene had been “manipulated,” and reminded jurors that during the au pair’s testimony, Peres Magalhaes “told us how the plan was crafted and how it played out.”

The defense, meanwhile, pushed back on the catfishing theory, questioned the thoroughness of the investigation and argued that there were conclusions made based on confirmation bias. The attorney, John Carroll, claimed that prosecutors pressured Peres Magalhaes to change her story and that she “secured herself a deal that benefited her.” Carroll also said Brendan Banfield didn’t have to testify, but he did as they sought “to get the truth out there.”

“Is it reasonable, after a six- to eight-week affair, that someone is going to try to get rid of their companion of 19 years, wife of 12 years? Is that reasonable?” Carroll asked the jury. “You heard from my client: He thinks it’s absurd.”

During his testimony, Brendan Banfield called the allegations “absolutely crazy” and said his affair with Peres Magalhaes was just that and nothing more.

He said he came home on Feb. 24, 2023, after the au pair called to alert him about a stranger in the home. He said he went up to his bedroom with his gun drawn and found his wife naked with Ryan and that she called out, “Brendan, he has a knife!”

“I was extremely terrified,” Brendan Banfield told the jury. “I don’t think I’ve ever been more panicked in my life.”

He said he fired his government-issued firearm, striking Ryan in the head, after the man appeared to stab his wife. 

Prosecutors said Christine Banfield was stabbed seven times in the neck.

Peres Magalhaes testified that Brendan Banfield expressed his desire to “get rid of” his wife in October 2022, saying, “At first, I thought he was joking.”

She testified that she had helped Brendan Banfield catfish Ryan on the fetish website to lure Ryan to the home.

Peres Magalhaes told the court that Brendan Banfield told her he wanted to marry her and have children with her, and that he didn’t want to divorce his wife because “she would have more money than he would” and because he wanted custody of the couple’s daughter.

Brendan Banfield was additionally charged with using a firearm while committing or attempting to commit murder and child endangerment. The couple’s then-4-year-old daughter was in the house at the time of the killings, in the basement.

“He left her in the basement, knowing that Joe Ryan was upstairs,” Sands said during her closing argument. “He left her in the basement while he shot and killed Joe Ryan. He left her in the basement while he stabbed his wife.”

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(MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md.) — Maryland and federal authorities announced Monday that they have shut down three Indian call centers linked to a gold bar scam that stole millions of dollars from American consumers.

Authorities said the operation netted almost $50 million from more than 600 victims across the U.S. through wire transfer, cryptocurrency and gold bar schemes. 

The six alleged leaders of the scheme were also arrested, authorities said. 

An ABC News investigation previously found that as the value of gold surged, grifters posing as federal agents convinced people — mostly older Americans — to convert their life savings into gold bars. 

As part of the scheme, scammers sent “couriers” to pick up the bars in person to allegedly keep them in a secure location.

Last year, ABC News interviewed a suspected courier from jail as he faced charges in two states for his alleged involvement in the scam. He claimed he was hired by an individual in India and paid between $800 and $4,000 per job to pick up packages, some of which contained gold bars.

John McCarthy, the Maryland state attorney for Montgomery County, announced Monday that his office had indicted 10 couriers accused of collecting money from victims, and said that several of those cases have already resulted in convictions.

“They’re targeting people who have retirement money, who have pensions, who have investments, who’ve maybe sold their homes and have that money in reserve,” McCarthy said.

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(WASHINGTON) — Department of Justice officials say they have taken down “several thousand documents and media” from its website containing files on the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein that “may have inadvertently included victim-identifying information due to various factors, including technical or human error,” according to a letter filed on the dockets of two federal judges Monday.

The government’s update comes after attorneys for Epstein’s victims asked the judges late Sunday to urgently order that the DOJ site be taken down because of redaction failures exposing the names or personal information, they said, of “nearly 100 individual survivors whose lives have been turned upside down by the DOJ’s latest release.”

The DOJ’s letter — submitted by Jay Clayton, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York — also notes that the Justice Department has “further expedited its processes” for responding to Epstein victims’ concerns and for removing documents to be reexamined for additional redactions.

The letter gives no indication that the government intends to pull the site offline, but it says they are continuing to engage with victims and their counsel to identify and remove materials, and are “making further enhancements” to best address victims’ concerns while also complying with the disclosure requirements of the Epstein Files Transparency Act that mandates the release of the files.

“As of the writing of this letter, all documents requested by victims or counsel to be removed by yesterday evening have been removed for further redaction, and the Department is continuing to process any new requests and to run its own searches to identify any other documents that may require further redaction,” Clayton wrote.  He noted that the DOJ had also removed a “substantial number” of documents identified independently by the department.

Clayton wrote that the DOJ has “iteratively revised its protocols” and has “teams of personnel” monitoring requests by victims and their lawyers.  

The Justice Department is not “relying solely” on the victims to identify specific documents, Clayton said. A team worked through the weekend, according to the letter,  running “supplemental searches to identify missed redactions.”

“The first 24 hours of engagement on these issues, as well as the Department’s own internal review of its processes, following the release of documents on Friday led to significant enhancements to and streamlining of the Department’s processes for addressing victim concerns,” Clayton wrote.

Three million pages from the DOJ’s files on Epstein were being released to the public, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said Friday. Blanche said in total there were 6 million pages of Epstein documents in the DOJ’s files, but that nearly 3 million pages were being withheld for various reasons including the presence of child sexual abuse material and the obligation to protect victims’ rights.

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(NEW YORK) — There is evidence of a crime at the home of the missing 84-year-old mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie, according to authorities in Arizona.

Nancy Guthrie was last seen in the Catalina Foothills area on Saturday night, according to the Pima County Sheriff’s Department. Her family reported her missing on Sunday around noon local time, authorities said.

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said investigators processed her home on Sunday and “saw some things at the home that were concerning to us,” and that it is considered a crime scene.

“She did not leave on her own, we know that,” Nanos said during a press briefing on Monday.

Nancy Guthrie is described as having some physical ailments and limited mobility, but does not have cognitive issues, her family said, according to the sheriff.

She takes medication that if she doesn’t have in 24 hours, “it could be fatal,” Nanos said Monday.

“So we make a plea to anyone that knows anything about this, who has seen something, heard something, to contact us, call 911,” he said, urging residents to check any home security cameras.

The search and rescue effort for Nancy Guthrie, which was conducted late into Sunday night “to no avail,” has ended for the time being, Nanos said.

“Right now, we don’t see this as a search mission, as much as we do a crime scene,” he said.

The FBI said it is assisting in the investigation.

There’s no indication at this time that the public is in danger, authorities said.

Nancy Guthrie was last seen Saturday night by family members, Nanos said. Her children brought her home, where she lives alone, around 9:45 p.m. local time, according to Nanos. The following morning, her family got a call from their mother’s church saying she wasn’t there, he said.

“The family went to the house. I’m thinking they spent some time looking for her themselves before they called us,” he said.

Investigators found “circumstances on scene that we believe are suspicious in nature,” Sgt. David Stivers from the sheriff’s department’s homicide team, said during the press briefing Monday, though he did not go into further detail.

Authorities said they are reviewing the home’s security cameras and have Nancy Guthrie’s cellphone.

It is unclear if this was targeted, Nanos said. When asked whether Savannah Guthrie has received any threats, the sheriff said his department has been in touch with her security team and is unaware of any such threats at the moment.

“We’re not going to dismiss any angles for sure, but right now, immediately, we don’t know of anything like that,” Nanos said.

An NBCUniversal spokesperson confirmed early on Monday that Nancy Guthrie is missing and said the family is “working closely with local law enforcement.”

“On behalf of our family, I want to thank everyone for the thoughts, prayers and messages of support,” Savannah Guthrie said in a statement read by Craig Melvin on the “Today” show on Monday. “Right now, our focus remains on the safe return of our dear mom.”

“We thank law enforcement for their hard work on this case and encourage anyone with information to contact the Pima County Sheriff’s Department at 520-351-4900,” the statement continued.

ABC News’ Cecilie Larcher contributed to this report.

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