Emily Simpson

Emily Simpson, who hosts the true crime podcast Legally Brunette, will be here to tell us why.

Welcome back to the podcast.

Joining us for this week's Dateline Roundup is senior producer Brad Davis.

Hey, Brad.

You too.

For our first story, we are heading to Virginia for the sentencing of former IRS agent Brendan Banfield.

Back in February, he was convicted of orchestrating a deadly catfishing plot that left his wife and another man dead.

Brad, give us a refresher on this case.

Sure.

On February 24, 2023, police responded to a gruesome scene at the Banfield home in Northern Virginia.

Christine Banfield was a pediatric nurse, and she had been fatally stabbed, and she was lying on the floor of the bedroom.

And not far from her was the body of another person, 39-year-old Joseph Ryan.

Christine's husband, Brendan Banfield, told police that he'd walked in on Joseph stabbing Christine, and he shot him to try and protect her.

That story did not add up for the investigators.

That's right.

They quickly suspected that Brendan had killed Christine and discovered evidence that he had been having an affair with the family's au pair and that the two of them had actually come up with an elaborate plan to get Christine out of the way.

They had used Christine's photo and her name on a fetish website to try and lure Joseph to the Banfield house.

Last Friday, Brendan Banfield appeared for his sentencing hearing at the Fairfax County Circuit Court.

It began with victim impact statements.

Who was there to represent the victims in this case?