Crime Junkie
Crime Junkie

MURDERED: Christine Banfield & Joseph Ryan

June 29, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

On February 24, 2023, a 911 call from a home in Herndon, Virginia lasted only a few seconds—a groan, then silence. Fifteen minutes later, the same number called back. This time, a frantic young woman identified herself as Juliana Perez Mogollon, the family’s au pair. She told the dispatcher she was a federal agent, that someone was in the house, and that she had shot him. When police arrived at the Banfield home, they found 37-year-old Christine Banfield stabbed in the neck, her husband Brendan kneeling beside her, and a dead stranger—Joseph Ryan—lying on a dog bed. The scene looked like a home invasion gone wrong. But the more investigators looked, the less that story held together.

The Scene That Didn't Add Up

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What you'll learn

  • 1 (01:17) **The 911 Call That Started It All** - A brief, odd 911 call comes in from a cell phone; the dispatcher can't locate the caller.
  • 2 (03:05) **Arrival at the Banfield Home** - Police respond to the Banfield residence in Herndon, Virginia, and find a chaotic scene.
  • 3 (06:53) **The Aftermath and Initial Statements** - Christine is rushed to the hospital but dies from her wounds; Brendan is taken outside in shock.
  • 4 (12:40) **The Au Pair's First Account** - Juliana Perez-Mogollon gives her initial statement to police, describing the morning's events.
  • 5 (18:52) **The Victim and the Uncomfortable Questions** - The dead man is identified as Joseph Ryan; evidence suggests he was lured, but the story doesn't fit.
  • 6 (22:22) **The Story That Doesn't Fit** - The narrative of a secret double life and a home invasion gone wrong begins to unravel.
  • 7 (25:54) **The Digital Trail and a New Theory** - Detectives dig into the data and find evidence pointing to a frame job.

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Show Notes

When 37-year-old Christine Banfield and 39-year-old Joseph Ryan were found fatally injured inside a Virginia home in 2023, investigators were initially told that Ryan was a violent intruder and that Christine’s husband, Brendan Banfield, a federal agent, had tried to save her. But as investigators examined digital evidence, they uncovered a different possibility: that Ryan had been lured to the home through a fake online persona and that the scene had been staged to conceal a double homicide.

What happened in the 15 minutes between two 911 calls? And what does the evidence reveal about the story investigators were first told?

 

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Crime Junkie is hosted by Ashley Flowers and Brit Prawat.