Virginia man indicted in deaths of wife, stranger in alleged plot with au pair

Editor's Note: A warning that this story contains details that some people may find disturbing. Discretion is advised.

A jury indicted a Fairfax County, Virginia, man Monday in connection to the slayings of his wife and another man in an alleged plot with the couple's au pair.

The latest development in a complex case comes more than a year and a half after the victims were found dead in a Herndon home in February 2023. Christine Banfield, 37, was found stabbed several times in the couple's bedroom, while 39-year-old Joseph Ryan was shot.

The family's au pair, Juliana Peres Magalhaes, was charged in Ryan's death almost a year ago. But Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said as the investigation progressed, "It's my expectation that we will eventually be able to hold more than just one person accountable for this crime."

In the wake of the killings, Brendan Banfield and Peres Magalhaes told police they had gone into a second-floor room and found that Ryan had attacked Christine, leaving her seriously wounded. They said Brendan grabbed a gun and shot the alleged intruder and then told Peres Magalhaes to get another gun so they could shoot him again.

The shocking scene was described to detectives as an act of defense. Prosecutors, however, have said evidence pointed to a very different story.

Banfield, 39, is charged with four counts of aggravated murder and use of a firearm in commission of a felony. He's being held without bond.

“The evidence exists in abundance to give us probable cause to bring these charges forward,” Chief Davis said. “It’s digital evidence, it’s physical evidence, it’s forensics evidence, it’s circumstantial evidence. The detectives, the prosecutors have worked meticulously to ensure that every T is crossed, every I is dotted, but the work still goes on.”

A double killing

Around 7:30 a.m. on Feb. 24, 2023, Peres Magalhaes, a Brazilian national who lived with the family, left the house with the Banfields' 4-year-old daughter, according to detectives. Peres Magalhaes told police she doubled back to the home because she forgot to grab their packed lunches. She said she saw a car there she didn't recognize.

She called Christine, but when she didn't answer, Peres Magalhaes called Brendan, who quickly returned home, authorities said. Minutes later, the husband and au pair entered the home with the little girl. Brendan then went upstairs to the bedroom, where he says he found his wife 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 gun at Ryan.

Ryan had no obvious connection to the family or to the home. 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 have said. The site catered to sexual fantasies involving kinks, BDSM and more.

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 and scheduled a meetup at the family's home for that day.

Almost eight months after the killings, Fairfax County authorities arrested Peres Magalhaes and charged her with second-degree murder in Ryan's death.

"I suspected from the very beginning — and I went to the scene of that double murder — that there was going to be a lot of twist and turns to this investigation. The twists and turns are still on going," Davis said as the investigation progressed.

An unproven theory

At a hearing in April, prosecutors said they believed Brendan Banfield and Peres Magalhaes were having an affair. They stopped short of saying they believe the pair hatched a plan to get Christine out of the picture.

But they grilled Banfield about the events leading up to his wife's death.

Prosecutors said evidence they presented at that April hearing showed Banfield and the au pair went to a shooting range together a couple of months before the murders. Then, the month before the killings, Banfield returned and bought a gun there, authorities said.

The au pair told detectives Banfield shot Ryan first, but he was still alive. She said Banfield told her to get the gun that he'd bought at the shooting range to shoot Ryan again, according to detectives. She told police she did.

Detectives also said Banfield and Peres Magalhaes swapped out their phones for new ones in the days before the attack.

Prior to Peres Magalhaes' October arrest, detectives returned to the home.

Inside the bedroom Banfield had shared with his wife — the room where Christine and Ryan were killed — picture frames were filled with photos of Brendan Banfield and the au pair.

Prosecutors say the au pair’s lingerie was found around the room. They described her as Banfield’s "girlfriend" and "live-in lover."

The prosecution's theory is that the killings were part of an elaborate plan so Brendan Banfield and Peres Magalhaes could live their lives without Christine. While the au pair has denied an affair, prosecutors argued in April that the pictures on the nightstand suggested otherwise.

On the witness stand in April, Brendan Banfield largely invoked his Fifth Amendment right to decline answering pointed questions from prosecutors about the events leading up to the killings.

Fairfax County General Court Judge Michael J. Lindner called him an “adverse witness” but also said it appeared prosecutors “may be playing two prospective defendants against each other.”

In a foreshadowing of defense arguments that could be laid out at trial, Peres Magalhaes’ attorney, Ryan Campbell, attempted to cast doubt on who fired the shot that killed Ryan. And he decried prosecutors’ decision to call Brendan Banfield to the stand, saying in April: “It’s been clear from the beginning [Banfield is] the target of the investigation.”