Jan. 24, 2026
Get Your S--- Together!: Judge Scolds Defense in Au Pair Affair Murder Trial, Brendan Banfield Set to Testify NEXT Week
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RSS Feed It wasn't the day the judge hoped for in the Brendan Banfield double murder trial. In anticipation of the winter storm, the judge pushed attorney to wrap testimony by Friday (yesterday), but they didn't even get close. However, the defense began scoring some major points, poking significant holes in the prosecution’s catfishing theory, central to their case. But all eyes are on the defendant himself, Brendan Banfield, who is expected to take the stand next week as the final witness for the defense. For the jury, it may ultimately come down to who they believe: the au pair or Brendan Banfield.
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00:00:10
Speaker 1: Hey, that folks.
00:00:10
Speaker 2: It is Saturday, January twenty fourth, and what a day it was yesterday in the ou pair of Fair murder trial.
00:00:19
Speaker 1: And it wasn't the day we expected.
00:00:22
Speaker 2: It was full of objections, it was full of damning testimony, and it was full of moments that the judge had to smack the hand of the defense.
00:00:33
Speaker 1: For their behavior. And with that, welcome to this episode of amy. And TJ.
00:00:36
Speaker 2: Roat I said, it wasn't the day we were expecting because the judge desperately wanted testimony to be over on Friday yesterday, and Brendan Banfield is going to testify in his own defense.
00:00:48
Speaker 1: He ain't getting nowhere close to that.
00:00:50
Speaker 3: Standards, not even close.
00:00:51
Speaker 4: It felt like a race against the clock, against the storm that is now the talk of everyone, obviously even still Today's so many millions and millions of Americans are bracing for this huge swath of ice and snow and sub freezing temperatures.
00:01:09
Speaker 3: And that was very much on the mind of the.
00:01:11
Speaker 4: Judge and the jury there in that Fairfax County courtroom, and so it actually felt like the pacing.
00:01:17
Speaker 3: I was feeling stressed and anxious.
00:01:20
Speaker 4: As the judge was trying to hurry everyone along, and it is everyone one guy, yeah, the defense attorney. But the point is this, Brendan Banfield's life is on the line and they're actually getting somewhere now. The defense is actually scoring some major, major points to the point where now my head is spinning about what I think the jury is going to do based on what we've already heard and we still have yet to hear from Brendan Banfield himself, which is going to be.
00:01:47
Speaker 2: Remarkable, which is something we never He's close to saying never, but just and certainly in a homicide case, you do not see the defendant get up on the stand. So that is what we are anticipating, and we do anticipate him being the final person to take the stand in this trial. But we were expecting possible that was to happen yesterday that did not happen. What did happen yesterday in this trial the old pair affair trial when Brendan Banfield of Fairfax County, Virginia is accused of killing his wife and another man did this based on a whole plan that he and his old pair put together, an old pair that he was in a relationship with. What they had this whole plan to lure this other man through a fake fet life fetish website to the house, kill the wife, and then frame this man for it. Okay, we're all caught up there. So Robes yesterday was when we started watching. We said, Okay, when are they going to get to Brendan Banfield. He's coming up today because the judge wants this to end, because this storm is on the way.
00:02:40
Speaker 1: We're in the midst of it.
00:02:42
Speaker 2: We are now Robes ended trial yesterday, not knowing when trial is going to start again. They're anticipating maybe being out for five days.
00:02:50
Speaker 4: Yes, the judge very much said, look, if.
00:02:53
Speaker 3: The county is shut down, we are shut down.
00:02:56
Speaker 4: And look, having lived in DC for several years, and I don't know how much much they've improved their snow removal in that area, but it ain't great. I remember kind of being surprised at how terrible it was. So she's anticipating a heck of a mess because this storm is hitting.
00:03:11
Speaker 3: I think in the mid Atlantic it's tomorrow as well.
00:03:14
Speaker 4: Right, it's Sunday and to Monday, so very unlikely court would be in session on Monday. So she's thinking there's at least a three day delay, could be a four could be.
00:03:22
Speaker 3: A five day delay.
00:03:23
Speaker 4: And some legal analysts are saying, Hey, the jury doesn't just in their minds say, oh, we'll just pick up where we left off. They actually remember what they heard last and it's an impression that can actually sit with them for days. So I'm sure that was on the minds of the defense, certainly on the mind of the judge, and it didn't end where anybody wanted to have it, and it actually ended in a total mess.
00:03:45
Speaker 2: Yeah, maybe the defense doesn't mind having a couple extra days, Maybe the defense doesn't mind their case being stopped the way it did. But this was a disjointed defense day. You had I think at least three people that testified. One of them was up there for a fourth time, another guy was up there at least second or third time. And then somebody testified remotely that they had to interrupt other testimony to get him in because they were concerned because he's somewhere else in Tennessee and they might get power outed and he might not be able to testify if they don't have power. It was that kind of a message.
00:04:16
Speaker 4: Yeah, have you ever seen a judge, I mean, she literally jumped in the middle of the defense on a roll with this very important witness who is a forensic digital analyst who was working with the Fairfax County Police Department on this case. And he was absolutely completely bolstering the defense's case and ripping apart the prosecution's theory. And she just jumps in and says, yeah, we're gonna have to stop this because we need to get this other witness in. And it really disrupted the flow. I was surprised.
00:04:48
Speaker 2: It was fairly jarring, but it lets us know just how serious of a situation. She thinks, this storm, Well, everybody knows it's a serious situation, but she expects we might not be able to get this witness in because he might be with power for the next week.
00:05:02
Speaker 3: Yeah, so she said, this is so.
00:05:04
Speaker 2: Yes, the weather is playing a serious factor now, Ropes, we talked about what happened yesterday with the defense. They haven't quite as this the way I would put it, They haven't landed their plane yet, but you at least finally see.
00:05:17
Speaker 1: The what is their airport destination?
00:05:21
Speaker 2: Because I didn't know if they were going to Seattle or San Diego, But at least now I know which direction what airport we're going to.
00:05:28
Speaker 1: It looks like we're getting close ropes to what they're trying to prove.
00:05:31
Speaker 4: It is fascinating to watch the process play out, how they try to get the witness to say what they want them to say without the prosecution constantly, constantly objection, objection, objection, foundation, leading the witness speculation.
00:05:48
Speaker 3: I mean, it was just NonStop.
00:05:49
Speaker 4: However, we were able to piece together hopefully the jury did. But look, the defense had not won, but two members of the Fairfax Countyful Detectives where they were in charge of looking at the digital footprint, and they were the two who said what we see forensically does not match with the catfishing theory, and they have testified to that specifically, what was really of note in the afternoon and this happened after our last update. They it seems like, tell me if you got the same impression that they were able to say that Christine, that's the wife, Christine Banfield's computer was going onto fet life, or at least the Gmail account that was set up to use the theet life account, while Brendan's devices and the O pair's devices were in completely different locations, and that would imply or suggest that it was in fact Christine who was going onto the theet life account, who was utilizing that Gmail account that was set up to access the fet life account, while Brendan and the A pair, according to their devices locations, were not at home.
00:07:00
Speaker 2: You had to listen, Yes, you had to listen very closely, and I'm sure the jurors are to pick up those points. It was so disjointed. There was no flow to how the defense was going about it. He kept screwing up to the point of all those objections.
00:07:13
Speaker 1: It was hard. So why it was like watching a.
00:07:16
Speaker 2: Bad football game with a bunch of penalties, like you couldn't get a good flow to what was happening. So that was going, but the information was clear, and I said, finally we got a Perry Mason moment when you have the lead forensics investigator who was sitting up there saying, my evidence, my training, my history, my methods, and my expertise show me that the prosecution theory is wrong.
00:07:42
Speaker 1: That was the Marissa Tomay and my cousin Vinny shit.
00:07:45
Speaker 4: And if that's the case, and that was their theory that the defense is trying to prove. They began with and tried to make evidence fit into and that they then fed that theory to the O pair gave her a sweetheart deal that she regurgitated on the on the witness stand.
00:08:01
Speaker 3: The entire case is blown to bits.
00:08:05
Speaker 2: So, yeah, you make a good point. Not just about evidence that the jury gets to question. Now, they get to question the ethics and the investigation at all of the prosecution and their motivation. Now when jurors start looking and think there's some kind of OJ type investigation where they were after him or something was going on with misconduct, jurors.
00:08:25
Speaker 1: Don't like that. Yeah.
00:08:26
Speaker 4: And the other problem, so the defense was having it was weird. While they were having a great day from an evidence standpoint, he was having.
00:08:35
Speaker 3: A terrible day as an attorney.
00:08:39
Speaker 4: There is one point where the judge was getting so frustrated. She said everything short of get your shit together, John Carroll, Like that is basically what she said to him. She said, we are just spinning our wheels right now. She was so frustrated because he kept missing He couldn't keep track of his evidence and the numbers and what he was submitting and what the number was, and he kept messing it up up and that unfortunately, was the jury takes it all in. He seemed befuddled. And I don't know if he felt the pressure of the time crunch, because I will tell you the judge seemed so annoyed and so irritated, and she said so many times that she wanted the evidence to be wrapped by the end of the day Friday. Maybe that was adding pressure to him, that was making him get all disjointed and befuddled.
00:09:23
Speaker 2: Are you befuddled if the exhibit number is ninety seven and you say ninety six, right, this happened, If it happened once, it happened twenty times.
00:09:31
Speaker 3: You were laughing at what It was absurd.
00:09:34
Speaker 2: You could just predict, all right, And this is exhibit number seventeen, you mean eighteen.
00:09:38
Speaker 1: It was constant.
00:09:39
Speaker 3: Even the prosecution was correct.
00:09:41
Speaker 1: It was correct. It was embarrassing.
00:09:42
Speaker 2: It was This wasn't a good moment for him because it wasn't a matter of legal strategy. This is a matter of just performance and being efficient, being good at your job, just on the basics.
00:09:51
Speaker 4: Yeah, So she was like, take your time now that we have to stop testimony and pause because of this weather. Please take these days to get your evidence in or and let's not let this happen again.
00:10:01
Speaker 2: Didn't she make clear it didn't sound like she's going to be as tolerant. She has given him a warning. You just cost us a day in court, so hard he cost YEP a lot of times.
00:10:11
Speaker 4: Because now I'm actually confused when court does come back in session, who is actually going to be on this stamp because we don't even know where the audio video expert who was called in to interrupt the other expert. But then when the prosecution said that they didn't have foundation to enter a certain type of analysis, I mean, honestly, it was like, I don't even know what's happening right now.
00:10:35
Speaker 2: But here's the bottom line that we got, folks. These forensics experts are getting up there, and these are two guys who looked at the same evidence independently and came to the same conclusion that the prosecution theory of catfishing is wrong. So if that is wrong, it means they have no case. So you could certainly see what the prosecution maybe is jumping in and interrupting every chance they get. Maybe they do think he is making some inroads with the juror so presentation aside performance aside, with no critique of this guy in terms of his lawyering, because he is now starting to see them building finally and the direction they're going. But the moment when they say that prosecution theory, as a digital forensics expert, I believe is wrong. Jurors have to listen to that, Robes. These are two guys who aren't coming office. I mean, they were brought on to get the killer. Here's your evidence to help you get the killer, and you're rejecting the evidence we're giving you. Fine, you have the right to do that as police. But ro these guys are very credible.
00:11:43
Speaker 3: They're very credible.
00:11:44
Speaker 4: And the fact that we now know that they were both removed off of the investigation and reassigned against their will because the conclusions they came to did not match or fit the prosecution's theory looks bad.
00:12:00
Speaker 3: That is significant.
00:12:01
Speaker 2: Looks bad. All Right, stay with us here, folks. We will tell you what we are anticipating from Brendan Banfield. Yes, he is expected to take the stand and his own defense in the so called O Pair affair murder trial. Allright, we continue here on Amy A.
00:12:25
Speaker 1: TJ.
00:12:25
Speaker 2: Given an update on what we thought, well, we might we thought earlier this week we might be sitting here on Saturday with jury deliberations going on. Even the judge was hoping. But it appears nowhere close. And given now what's happening with the weather, this trial could continue for another week plus based on weather, if they're able to get back.
00:12:44
Speaker 1: Into the courts room.
00:12:45
Speaker 4: Yeah, everybody got this wrong in anticipation of where we would be. In fact, if you look at any because we jumped on yesterday because my goodness, hearing at ten am on Friday that Brendan Banfield was going to testify in his own defense, that everyone went wild. So all the news reports Brendan Banfield to testify this afternoon.
00:13:05
Speaker 1: We scheduled all day around him.
00:13:06
Speaker 4: We oh, we were so excited. We actually found a way to put the trial on our big TV.
00:13:13
Speaker 3: Got on the couch, pop some popcorn, like, we are gonna listen to this dude testify.
00:13:18
Speaker 4: This is going to be amazing, And it was everywhere they were all saying, please watch our feed.
00:13:23
Speaker 3: Brendan Banfield testifies.
00:13:24
Speaker 4: Yeah, we still have at least two more witnesses to go through because the digital expert who was testifying when court ended on Friday still has a lot more to go through. I think he said he still had two or three more days of evidence to go through for the defense to question him, and then the prosecution still gets to cross examine him, and then we have the audio video guy who has to then come back, and then Brendan Banfield.
00:13:53
Speaker 1: But then you told me the prosecution is going to call to more, didn't they say that?
00:13:56
Speaker 4: They said this earlier in the week that once the defense rests that they had two more witnesses, they wanted to recall. And look, I can see why the defense has made some massive inroads in dismantling frankly, their theory that they need to actually be believed by the jury for these charges to stick against Brendan Manfield, for the jury to believe the old Pair, their theory has to be believed. They're catfishing theory. That is the central part of their case.
00:14:27
Speaker 2: So the central part of the case is that someone set up this fat life account prosecution. The basis of their theory is that Brendan Banfield and the old Pair did that. These forensics experts are saying they have evidence and they firmly believe that Christine Banfield was aware of and was using the accounts associated with that fat life account.
00:14:52
Speaker 3: If that's the case, the case is over.
00:14:55
Speaker 4: Yet she was going between her work, or at least shouldn't say she her computers was going between within seconds her hospital website where she worked she was an icy U nurse, to this Gmail account that was set up specifically to access a fet life account. And so within seconds on Christine's computer, it was going from her work website that she would have to log into, that she would know because it's her, you know, it's something specific to Christine, and then going straight to this They kept calling it the suspect Gmail account and within seconds, so it couldn't.
00:15:31
Speaker 3: Have left her possession.
00:15:32
Speaker 4: And that was what these digital forensics guys were testifying to, like, we know people's habits. Yes, we can't say one hundred percent because we don't have visual corroboration as to who was on that computer. But logic should apply here, reason should apply, and how would anyone other than Christine be going on and accessing her personal work. It does for me, it definitely casts enough reasonable doubt as to who was in control of that computer for me as a human, Yes.
00:15:59
Speaker 2: But then you've not guilty because if you say you have enough reasonable doubt that it was her on the account, then that's the case.
00:16:07
Speaker 4: Right now, I am in that even though I think that, like it's very highly likely that Brendan Banfield killed his wife. But I'm confused now, and now I'm not sure what to think. And I do think, my god, hearing from Brendan himself, I get to see him, I get to watch him, I get to hear his explanation, that's going to be the that is going to be the decided guy.
00:16:29
Speaker 2: Maybe that's the calculation because it is confusing, and they they might want to lead believe the old pair, but he just didn't really like her. So if you're if it's in the balance, they're putting him up to possibly save his own.
00:16:42
Speaker 4: Life, and he's going to counter what the copair said. So either you believe the old pairs, where you believe.
00:16:48
Speaker 3: Brendan, it's here.
00:16:49
Speaker 2: If this is it, this case is a here sheet, period because now the evidence just said so confusing.
00:16:54
Speaker 4: The evidence is so confusing, and honestly, I feel like the defense has poked enough holes in it where I am now questioning the theory. So now it will come down to do you believe the ol pair or do you believe Brendan. I cannot wait for this testimony. It is going to make or break the defense period.
00:17:12
Speaker 2: Yeah, we say we can't wait for the testimony, and we do not know how long we might be waiting. Folks, we always appreciate you, and we know you all have been following this story along with us, so we will keep the updates coming because clearly you all this case. I guess as it's getting winding down, maybe more people are getting interested here. But folks, will continue to keep the updates coming to you as always. Top right corner of your Apple podcast app, where we see our show page that little button that says follow hit that and you can make sure all of our updates come directly to you. We always appreciate you spending some time with us on TJ. Holmes on behalf of my dear Amy roboc. We will talk to y'all so
Speaker 1: Hey, that folks.
00:00:10
Speaker 2: It is Saturday, January twenty fourth, and what a day it was yesterday in the ou pair of Fair murder trial.
00:00:19
Speaker 1: And it wasn't the day we expected.
00:00:22
Speaker 2: It was full of objections, it was full of damning testimony, and it was full of moments that the judge had to smack the hand of the defense.
00:00:33
Speaker 1: For their behavior. And with that, welcome to this episode of amy. And TJ.
00:00:36
Speaker 2: Roat I said, it wasn't the day we were expecting because the judge desperately wanted testimony to be over on Friday yesterday, and Brendan Banfield is going to testify in his own defense.
00:00:48
Speaker 1: He ain't getting nowhere close to that.
00:00:50
Speaker 3: Standards, not even close.
00:00:51
Speaker 4: It felt like a race against the clock, against the storm that is now the talk of everyone, obviously even still Today's so many millions and millions of Americans are bracing for this huge swath of ice and snow and sub freezing temperatures.
00:01:09
Speaker 3: And that was very much on the mind of the.
00:01:11
Speaker 4: Judge and the jury there in that Fairfax County courtroom, and so it actually felt like the pacing.
00:01:17
Speaker 3: I was feeling stressed and anxious.
00:01:20
Speaker 4: As the judge was trying to hurry everyone along, and it is everyone one guy, yeah, the defense attorney. But the point is this, Brendan Banfield's life is on the line and they're actually getting somewhere now. The defense is actually scoring some major, major points to the point where now my head is spinning about what I think the jury is going to do based on what we've already heard and we still have yet to hear from Brendan Banfield himself, which is going to be.
00:01:47
Speaker 2: Remarkable, which is something we never He's close to saying never, but just and certainly in a homicide case, you do not see the defendant get up on the stand. So that is what we are anticipating, and we do anticipate him being the final person to take the stand in this trial. But we were expecting possible that was to happen yesterday that did not happen. What did happen yesterday in this trial the old pair affair trial when Brendan Banfield of Fairfax County, Virginia is accused of killing his wife and another man did this based on a whole plan that he and his old pair put together, an old pair that he was in a relationship with. What they had this whole plan to lure this other man through a fake fet life fetish website to the house, kill the wife, and then frame this man for it. Okay, we're all caught up there. So Robes yesterday was when we started watching. We said, Okay, when are they going to get to Brendan Banfield. He's coming up today because the judge wants this to end, because this storm is on the way.
00:02:40
Speaker 1: We're in the midst of it.
00:02:42
Speaker 2: We are now Robes ended trial yesterday, not knowing when trial is going to start again. They're anticipating maybe being out for five days.
00:02:50
Speaker 4: Yes, the judge very much said, look, if.
00:02:53
Speaker 3: The county is shut down, we are shut down.
00:02:56
Speaker 4: And look, having lived in DC for several years, and I don't know how much much they've improved their snow removal in that area, but it ain't great. I remember kind of being surprised at how terrible it was. So she's anticipating a heck of a mess because this storm is hitting.
00:03:11
Speaker 3: I think in the mid Atlantic it's tomorrow as well.
00:03:14
Speaker 4: Right, it's Sunday and to Monday, so very unlikely court would be in session on Monday. So she's thinking there's at least a three day delay, could be a four could be.
00:03:22
Speaker 3: A five day delay.
00:03:23
Speaker 4: And some legal analysts are saying, Hey, the jury doesn't just in their minds say, oh, we'll just pick up where we left off. They actually remember what they heard last and it's an impression that can actually sit with them for days. So I'm sure that was on the minds of the defense, certainly on the mind of the judge, and it didn't end where anybody wanted to have it, and it actually ended in a total mess.
00:03:45
Speaker 2: Yeah, maybe the defense doesn't mind having a couple extra days, Maybe the defense doesn't mind their case being stopped the way it did. But this was a disjointed defense day. You had I think at least three people that testified. One of them was up there for a fourth time, another guy was up there at least second or third time. And then somebody testified remotely that they had to interrupt other testimony to get him in because they were concerned because he's somewhere else in Tennessee and they might get power outed and he might not be able to testify if they don't have power. It was that kind of a message.
00:04:16
Speaker 4: Yeah, have you ever seen a judge, I mean, she literally jumped in the middle of the defense on a roll with this very important witness who is a forensic digital analyst who was working with the Fairfax County Police Department on this case. And he was absolutely completely bolstering the defense's case and ripping apart the prosecution's theory. And she just jumps in and says, yeah, we're gonna have to stop this because we need to get this other witness in. And it really disrupted the flow. I was surprised.
00:04:48
Speaker 2: It was fairly jarring, but it lets us know just how serious of a situation. She thinks, this storm, Well, everybody knows it's a serious situation, but she expects we might not be able to get this witness in because he might be with power for the next week.
00:05:02
Speaker 3: Yeah, so she said, this is so.
00:05:04
Speaker 2: Yes, the weather is playing a serious factor now, Ropes, we talked about what happened yesterday with the defense. They haven't quite as this the way I would put it, They haven't landed their plane yet, but you at least finally see.
00:05:17
Speaker 1: The what is their airport destination?
00:05:21
Speaker 2: Because I didn't know if they were going to Seattle or San Diego, But at least now I know which direction what airport we're going to.
00:05:28
Speaker 1: It looks like we're getting close ropes to what they're trying to prove.
00:05:31
Speaker 4: It is fascinating to watch the process play out, how they try to get the witness to say what they want them to say without the prosecution constantly, constantly objection, objection, objection, foundation, leading the witness speculation.
00:05:48
Speaker 3: I mean, it was just NonStop.
00:05:49
Speaker 4: However, we were able to piece together hopefully the jury did. But look, the defense had not won, but two members of the Fairfax Countyful Detectives where they were in charge of looking at the digital footprint, and they were the two who said what we see forensically does not match with the catfishing theory, and they have testified to that specifically, what was really of note in the afternoon and this happened after our last update. They it seems like, tell me if you got the same impression that they were able to say that Christine, that's the wife, Christine Banfield's computer was going onto fet life, or at least the Gmail account that was set up to use the theet life account, while Brendan's devices and the O pair's devices were in completely different locations, and that would imply or suggest that it was in fact Christine who was going onto the theet life account, who was utilizing that Gmail account that was set up to access the fet life account, while Brendan and the A pair, according to their devices locations, were not at home.
00:07:00
Speaker 2: You had to listen, Yes, you had to listen very closely, and I'm sure the jurors are to pick up those points. It was so disjointed. There was no flow to how the defense was going about it. He kept screwing up to the point of all those objections.
00:07:13
Speaker 1: It was hard. So why it was like watching a.
00:07:16
Speaker 2: Bad football game with a bunch of penalties, like you couldn't get a good flow to what was happening. So that was going, but the information was clear, and I said, finally we got a Perry Mason moment when you have the lead forensics investigator who was sitting up there saying, my evidence, my training, my history, my methods, and my expertise show me that the prosecution theory is wrong.
00:07:42
Speaker 1: That was the Marissa Tomay and my cousin Vinny shit.
00:07:45
Speaker 4: And if that's the case, and that was their theory that the defense is trying to prove. They began with and tried to make evidence fit into and that they then fed that theory to the O pair gave her a sweetheart deal that she regurgitated on the on the witness stand.
00:08:01
Speaker 3: The entire case is blown to bits.
00:08:05
Speaker 2: So, yeah, you make a good point. Not just about evidence that the jury gets to question. Now, they get to question the ethics and the investigation at all of the prosecution and their motivation. Now when jurors start looking and think there's some kind of OJ type investigation where they were after him or something was going on with misconduct, jurors.
00:08:25
Speaker 1: Don't like that. Yeah.
00:08:26
Speaker 4: And the other problem, so the defense was having it was weird. While they were having a great day from an evidence standpoint, he was having.
00:08:35
Speaker 3: A terrible day as an attorney.
00:08:39
Speaker 4: There is one point where the judge was getting so frustrated. She said everything short of get your shit together, John Carroll, Like that is basically what she said to him. She said, we are just spinning our wheels right now. She was so frustrated because he kept missing He couldn't keep track of his evidence and the numbers and what he was submitting and what the number was, and he kept messing it up up and that unfortunately, was the jury takes it all in. He seemed befuddled. And I don't know if he felt the pressure of the time crunch, because I will tell you the judge seemed so annoyed and so irritated, and she said so many times that she wanted the evidence to be wrapped by the end of the day Friday. Maybe that was adding pressure to him, that was making him get all disjointed and befuddled.
00:09:23
Speaker 2: Are you befuddled if the exhibit number is ninety seven and you say ninety six, right, this happened, If it happened once, it happened twenty times.
00:09:31
Speaker 3: You were laughing at what It was absurd.
00:09:34
Speaker 2: You could just predict, all right, And this is exhibit number seventeen, you mean eighteen.
00:09:38
Speaker 1: It was constant.
00:09:39
Speaker 3: Even the prosecution was correct.
00:09:41
Speaker 1: It was correct. It was embarrassing.
00:09:42
Speaker 2: It was This wasn't a good moment for him because it wasn't a matter of legal strategy. This is a matter of just performance and being efficient, being good at your job, just on the basics.
00:09:51
Speaker 4: Yeah, So she was like, take your time now that we have to stop testimony and pause because of this weather. Please take these days to get your evidence in or and let's not let this happen again.
00:10:01
Speaker 2: Didn't she make clear it didn't sound like she's going to be as tolerant. She has given him a warning. You just cost us a day in court, so hard he cost YEP a lot of times.
00:10:11
Speaker 4: Because now I'm actually confused when court does come back in session, who is actually going to be on this stamp because we don't even know where the audio video expert who was called in to interrupt the other expert. But then when the prosecution said that they didn't have foundation to enter a certain type of analysis, I mean, honestly, it was like, I don't even know what's happening right now.
00:10:35
Speaker 2: But here's the bottom line that we got, folks. These forensics experts are getting up there, and these are two guys who looked at the same evidence independently and came to the same conclusion that the prosecution theory of catfishing is wrong. So if that is wrong, it means they have no case. So you could certainly see what the prosecution maybe is jumping in and interrupting every chance they get. Maybe they do think he is making some inroads with the juror so presentation aside performance aside, with no critique of this guy in terms of his lawyering, because he is now starting to see them building finally and the direction they're going. But the moment when they say that prosecution theory, as a digital forensics expert, I believe is wrong. Jurors have to listen to that, Robes. These are two guys who aren't coming office. I mean, they were brought on to get the killer. Here's your evidence to help you get the killer, and you're rejecting the evidence we're giving you. Fine, you have the right to do that as police. But ro these guys are very credible.
00:11:43
Speaker 3: They're very credible.
00:11:44
Speaker 4: And the fact that we now know that they were both removed off of the investigation and reassigned against their will because the conclusions they came to did not match or fit the prosecution's theory looks bad.
00:12:00
Speaker 3: That is significant.
00:12:01
Speaker 2: Looks bad. All Right, stay with us here, folks. We will tell you what we are anticipating from Brendan Banfield. Yes, he is expected to take the stand and his own defense in the so called O Pair affair murder trial. Allright, we continue here on Amy A.
00:12:25
Speaker 1: TJ.
00:12:25
Speaker 2: Given an update on what we thought, well, we might we thought earlier this week we might be sitting here on Saturday with jury deliberations going on. Even the judge was hoping. But it appears nowhere close. And given now what's happening with the weather, this trial could continue for another week plus based on weather, if they're able to get back.
00:12:44
Speaker 1: Into the courts room.
00:12:45
Speaker 4: Yeah, everybody got this wrong in anticipation of where we would be. In fact, if you look at any because we jumped on yesterday because my goodness, hearing at ten am on Friday that Brendan Banfield was going to testify in his own defense, that everyone went wild. So all the news reports Brendan Banfield to testify this afternoon.
00:13:05
Speaker 1: We scheduled all day around him.
00:13:06
Speaker 4: We oh, we were so excited. We actually found a way to put the trial on our big TV.
00:13:13
Speaker 3: Got on the couch, pop some popcorn, like, we are gonna listen to this dude testify.
00:13:18
Speaker 4: This is going to be amazing, And it was everywhere they were all saying, please watch our feed.
00:13:23
Speaker 3: Brendan Banfield testifies.
00:13:24
Speaker 4: Yeah, we still have at least two more witnesses to go through because the digital expert who was testifying when court ended on Friday still has a lot more to go through. I think he said he still had two or three more days of evidence to go through for the defense to question him, and then the prosecution still gets to cross examine him, and then we have the audio video guy who has to then come back, and then Brendan Banfield.
00:13:53
Speaker 1: But then you told me the prosecution is going to call to more, didn't they say that?
00:13:56
Speaker 4: They said this earlier in the week that once the defense rests that they had two more witnesses, they wanted to recall. And look, I can see why the defense has made some massive inroads in dismantling frankly, their theory that they need to actually be believed by the jury for these charges to stick against Brendan Manfield, for the jury to believe the old Pair, their theory has to be believed. They're catfishing theory. That is the central part of their case.
00:14:27
Speaker 2: So the central part of the case is that someone set up this fat life account prosecution. The basis of their theory is that Brendan Banfield and the old Pair did that. These forensics experts are saying they have evidence and they firmly believe that Christine Banfield was aware of and was using the accounts associated with that fat life account.
00:14:52
Speaker 3: If that's the case, the case is over.
00:14:55
Speaker 4: Yet she was going between her work, or at least shouldn't say she her computers was going between within seconds her hospital website where she worked she was an icy U nurse, to this Gmail account that was set up specifically to access a fet life account. And so within seconds on Christine's computer, it was going from her work website that she would have to log into, that she would know because it's her, you know, it's something specific to Christine, and then going straight to this They kept calling it the suspect Gmail account and within seconds, so it couldn't.
00:15:31
Speaker 3: Have left her possession.
00:15:32
Speaker 4: And that was what these digital forensics guys were testifying to, like, we know people's habits. Yes, we can't say one hundred percent because we don't have visual corroboration as to who was on that computer. But logic should apply here, reason should apply, and how would anyone other than Christine be going on and accessing her personal work. It does for me, it definitely casts enough reasonable doubt as to who was in control of that computer for me as a human, Yes.
00:15:59
Speaker 2: But then you've not guilty because if you say you have enough reasonable doubt that it was her on the account, then that's the case.
00:16:07
Speaker 4: Right now, I am in that even though I think that, like it's very highly likely that Brendan Banfield killed his wife. But I'm confused now, and now I'm not sure what to think. And I do think, my god, hearing from Brendan himself, I get to see him, I get to watch him, I get to hear his explanation, that's going to be the that is going to be the decided guy.
00:16:29
Speaker 2: Maybe that's the calculation because it is confusing, and they they might want to lead believe the old pair, but he just didn't really like her. So if you're if it's in the balance, they're putting him up to possibly save his own.
00:16:42
Speaker 4: Life, and he's going to counter what the copair said. So either you believe the old pairs, where you believe.
00:16:48
Speaker 3: Brendan, it's here.
00:16:49
Speaker 2: If this is it, this case is a here sheet, period because now the evidence just said so confusing.
00:16:54
Speaker 4: The evidence is so confusing, and honestly, I feel like the defense has poked enough holes in it where I am now questioning the theory. So now it will come down to do you believe the ol pair or do you believe Brendan. I cannot wait for this testimony. It is going to make or break the defense period.
00:17:12
Speaker 2: Yeah, we say we can't wait for the testimony, and we do not know how long we might be waiting. Folks, we always appreciate you, and we know you all have been following this story along with us, so we will keep the updates coming because clearly you all this case. I guess as it's getting winding down, maybe more people are getting interested here. But folks, will continue to keep the updates coming to you as always. Top right corner of your Apple podcast app, where we see our show page that little button that says follow hit that and you can make sure all of our updates come directly to you. We always appreciate you spending some time with us on TJ. Holmes on behalf of my dear Amy roboc. We will talk to y'all so