Husband testifies he did not plot wife's killing in double murder trial connected to au pair affairA man charged with killing his wife and another man testifying in his case about his relationship with his family's au pair in the months before the killingsByOLIVIA DIAZ /REPORT FOR AMERICA Associated PressJanuary 28, 2026, 5:57 PMRICHMOND, Va. -- A man testified on Wednesday that he loved his wife and did not want to end his marriage, despite having an affair with his family's au pair in what would become a sprawling double homicide case centered around the two of them. Wearing a gray suit and a plaid tie, Brendan Banfield testified in a Fairfax, Virginia, court under oath about what happened the day he began cheating on his late wife, Christine Banfield, with Juliana Peres Magalhães in what he said was a casual affair. He described Magalhães scooting her chair closer to his while eating dinner one night, while his wife was out of town.
