FAIRFAX, Va. — Expert bloodstain-pattern and forensic analysis helped investigators pursue charges against a Virginia husband accused of killing his wife and another man at the married couple’s Fairfax County home, prosecutors said Friday.
Earlier this month, a grand jury indicted Brendan Banfield on charges of aggravated murder in the February 2023 killings of Christine Banfield and Joseph Ryan. At the time of his arrest, which occurred more than a year after the incident, Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano said new information found in officials’ investigation was “instrumental in securing today’s indictment,” but he declined to elaborate further.
During a Friday bond hearing, Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Eric Clingan said police received in August “two definitive reports from expert forensic investigators” who spent more than a year reviewing evidence. Clingan said the reports were foundational in supporting prosecutors’ theory that Ryan and Christine Banfield’s bodies were moved and repositioned after they were fatally wounded. Clingan also said Ryan’s arms were moved and smeared with the wife’s blood.