FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. (7News) — After nearly two full days of testimony from the au pair at the center of an alleged salacious scheme involving a fetish website and a double murder, Fairfax County prosecutors are expected to call detectives to the witness stand on Thursday.
Brendan Banfield, a former Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agent, is standing trial after being accused of concocting a scheme with the family’s au pair – with whom he was having an affair – to kill his wife, Christine Banfield, and another man, Joseph Ryan, in 2023.
That alleged scheme involved Banfield creating a fake profile on FetLife, a fetish website, using his wife’s picture in order to lure a man, Ryan, to their Reston, Va., home to make it look like a home invasion gone wrong.
Juliana Peres Magalhaes, the Banfields’ former au pair, has admitted to her role in the killings and is cooperating with authorities as part of a plea agreement. She has pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and faces a recommended sentence of time served.
She answered questions for several hours over the course of nearly two full days of court proceedings. She said Banfield planned everything, so he could “get rid of” his wife and run off with her.
The prosecution wrapped up its questions around 10:15 a.m. Wednesday. Banfield’s attorney took over and questioned Peres Magalhaes for almost the entirety of the remainder of the day, save for the last few minutes when the prosecution was given the opportunity to redirect.
Fairfax County Circuit Court Chief Judge Penney Azcarate ended the day early, after both sides finished asking questions.
Now, prosecutors are expected to move down their list of witnesses, which includes detectives and other officials involved in the investigation.
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For two hours on Tuesday, prosecutors questioned Peres Magalhaes, Banfield’s au pair, on her role in the plot and her alleged affair with Banfield.
Those questions from prosecutors continued for the first 15 minutes on Wednesday, as she took the witness stand for the second day in a row.
The prosecution shifted the focus of their question from the alleged scheme and murders, to Peres Magalhaes’ experience navigating the legal system.
Banfield’s lawyer attacked the former au pair’s credibility because of the plea deal she accepted, and the fact it took her a year and multiple offers before coming to an agreement.
Prosecutors asked why it took so long. Peres Magalhaes said it was because Banfield’s mother had been paying for her lawyer and she was concerned she would lose legal representation if she flipped on the accused killer.
The bulk of the day was spent on Banfield’s lawyer asking a long list of questions.
John Carroll, Banfield’s lawyer, had Peres Magalhaes read dozens of letters she sent from jail to Banfield and her own mother, which indicated she was feeling more anxious the longer she was in jail and worried prosecutors wanted to use her to arrest her former boss.
Questions then focused on the former au pair’s inability to remember specific details and dates of the alleged murder plot. This led to tense back-and-forth between the attorney and Peres Magalhaes, at times.
Perhaps the biggest revelation during this line of questioning came when Peres Magalhaes admitted on the stand she has received money in her jail canteen account from a media production company, in order to pay for food and calls home to Brazil, and she is negotiating selling her story for when she is released.
Throughout the day, the jury did not provide much in emotional reaction to new revelations or testy exchanges between Peres Magalhaes and Carroll, though they seemed locked in to every word.
Peres Magalhaes, for her part, mostly kept her composure without any emotional outbursts. However, after some repeat questions from Carroll, she expressed frustration because she felt she answered those questions already. Some of those repeat questions were met with objections from prosecutors.
Prosecutors allege the killings were the result of months of planning fueled by an extramarital affair between Banfield and Peres Magalhães. They say the pair created fake online accounts to lure Ryan to the family’s home, staging the scene to look like a violent home invasion.
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Prosecutors and Banfield’s defense team both provided opening statements before several back-to-back testimonies from officers, a Fairfax County 9-1-1 records keeper, and the medical examiner, before Peres Magalhaes took to the stands.
Banfield’s defense spent the bulk of his opening statement challenging Peres Magalhaes’ credibility, pointing out how many times the prosecution offered her a plea deal she turned down before accepting her current one.
Peres Magalhaes claimed she began an affair with Banfield in August 2022, and in October, Banfield began discussing how he wanted to “get rid of” Christine and marry Peres Magalhaes. When asked about a divorce, Peres Magalhaes told the court that Banfield said the process would cost too much money and that he didn’t want to split child custody.
Banfield convinced Peres Magalhaes to learn how to fire a gun, and the two worked together to create a fake account under Christine’s account to lure a man to the house, the au pair said.
Once they found the right man, Joseph Ryan, they lured him to the house and began efforts to stage the incident as if Ryan were a home intruder, Peres Magalhaes claimed.
She said Banfield changed his daily routine days prior, instructed Peres Magalhaes to get a new phone and Apple ID, and told her to park in a different location on the day of the murders. The au pair said she told Christine she would be away from the house around the same time as the meetup.
After Ryan arrived at the house, the pair then quietly entered the house through the basement. Shortly after, Peres Magalhaes said Banfield stabbed both Ryan and Christine and fatally shot Ryan.
She also testified that she witnessed Banfield repeatedly stab his wife, Christine, during the attack.
“Christine’s first reaction — that’s the first time I heard her say anything,” Peres Magalhaes told jurors. “Then she yelled back at Brendan, saying, ‘Brendan, he has a knife.’ That’s when Brendan first shot Joe.”
When asked where Christine Banfield was stabbed, Peres Magalhaes replied simply:
“The neck.”
A lawyer for Banfield said in opening statements that it was Ryan, not Banfield, who killed Christine, but conceded his client and the au pair were having an affair.
The defense sharply disputes that version of events, arguing that investigators manipulated evidence and built their case around a cooperating witness with every incentive to lie.
Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor, says jurors will ultimately have to decide whether Peres Magalhaes is credible — or simply saying what prosecutors want to hear.
“I think the key evidence in this case is going to be the cooperating witness, Juliana, the Brazilian au pair, as well as the digital evidence connecting the two — their extramarital affair and then the setup in this case to make the murders of Christine and Joseph Ryan seem like self-defense,” Rahmani said.
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