An au pair accused in a double homicide in Northern Virginia will take a plea deal in the case, according to court documents.
Juliana Peres Magalhaes and Brendan Banfield, the father of the family for whom she worked, are accused of working together to kill Banfield's wife, Christine Banfield, and a stranger, Joseph Ryan, inside the married couple's Herndon home in February 2023.
It's unclear whether Peres Magalhaes will cooperate in the case against Brendan Banfield.
A double killing
It was around 7:30 a.m. on Feb. 24, 2023, when Peres Magalhaes left the Banfields' Stable Brook Way home with their 4-year-old daughter, according to detectives. The 23-year-old told police she doubled back to the home because she forgot to grab packed lunches. When she arrived, Peres Magalhaes, a Brazilian-national who also lived in the home, saw a car she didn't recognize.
She called Christine, but when the mother didn't answer, Peres Magalhaes phoned Brendan, who quickly came home, authorities said.
Minutes later, the pair and the child entered the home. Brendan then went upstairs to the bedroom where he found Christine and Ryan.
Detectives say the two claimed Ryan had attacked Christine, prompting Brendan — a law enforcement officer for the Internal Revenue Service — to fire his weapon at Ryan.
Ryan had no obvious connection to the family or home other than the incident that cold winter day. But as detectives began probing how he supposedly found Christine, their case and the witness statements started to diverge.
A fetish site used as a lure?
A search of a computer in the Banfields' home led detectives to a fetish sex website, prosecutors said. The site catered to sexual fantasies involving kinks, BDSM, and more.
Prosecutors said Brendan Banfield and the au pair concocted a plan to use the sex fetish website to lure Ryan to the home.
Detectives found a profile for Christine and communications between her profile and Ryan. But authorities said something didn't add up.
They said the way Christine talked to Ryan in their messages was very different than how friends and family described her.
Police believe someone else was communicating with Ryan while pretending to be Christine — setting a meetup at the family's home for that day.
Nearly eight months after the killings, Fairfax County authorities arrested Peres Magalhaes and charged her with second-degree murder in Ryan's death.
Brendan Banfield was indicted in the murders of his wife and Ryan in September, nearly a year after Peres Magalhaes was arrested.
Photos the prosecution previously presented show Brendan Banfield with Peres Magalhaes in New York and at a concert venue. The two were involved in an affair for months before the killings, prosecutors said.
More photos show Peres Magalhaes at a Virginia gun range, and attorneys also presented visitor logs of Banfield and Peres Magalhaes at the gun range.
While arguing that the couple had plans to flea the country, the prosecution showed photos of a new Brazilian passport for the au pair. Attorneys said Banfield drove Peres Magalhaes to the Brazilian consulate to apply for a new passport.
