Michelle Sigona (48 Hours producer)
π€ SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
And then Brendan Banfield spoke.
I wasn't sure what he was going to say.
I wondered whether or not he would apologize or take sort of any ownership at all.
Certainly he testified during the trial, but this was a moment for him to speak beyond that.
I'm curious, you know, your reaction to what he had to say.
So although he was charged with two counts of aggravated murder, he could only be sentenced to one because of Virginia law.
The judge said that in her 18 years on the bench, she had sentenced hundreds of defendants and most of those individuals were not inherently bad.
She described them rather, you know, people who maybe made mistakes.
But she said that there were two instances of individuals who showed no remorse and that it was apparent that Brendan was, and this is a quote, the same kind of evil.
I want to play some of what the judge had to say.
It's long, but I definitely think it's worth hearing in full.
So Michelle Brandon Banfield is expected to serve life in prison.
If there's going to be an appeal, he needs to sort of file an appeal within 30 days of the final order of the case.
He will have a new attorney.
As of now, it's a court appointed attorney.
He wasn't sure if he was going to use the court appointed attorney or if he was going to hire his own.
The judge appointed him an attorney because the expectation was there would be an appeal.
You know, you've been there for all the twists and turns of this case.
Any final thoughts?