FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — A Brazilian au pair who has pleaded guilty to manslaughter testified against her former employer and lover on Wednesday in a double homicide case that prosecutors say was part of an elaborate scheme to get rid of the man’s wife. Brendan Banfield is charged with aggravated murder in the 2023 killings of Christine Banfield and Joseph Ryan at the Banfields’ home in northern Virginia. He has pleaded not guilty and could face life in prison if convicted.
Prosecutors have said that Banfield, an IRS agent, and Juliana Peres Magalhães, the family’s au pair, were in love. In order to get rid of Christine Banfield, the pair impersonated her on a social media site for sexual fetishes and spent a month arranging an elaborate rape scenario with Ryan, a stranger. They killed Ryan and Christine Banfield after staging it to look like they had shot an intruder who was attacking Christine Banfield with a knife, Magalhães testified on Tuesday.
Magalhães was originally charged with murder but pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter in 2024 after cooperating with investigators. She will be sentenced at the conclusion of Banfield’s trial. Depending on her cooperation with authorities, attorneys have said she could be sentenced to the time she’s already served.
Banfield’s attorney, John Carroll, said in opening statements on Tuesday that Magalhães had maintained her innocence for a year but eventually changed her story after she lost faith in her attorney.
On Wednesday, Carroll asked Magalhães to read portions from letters she had written from jail to Brendan Banfield and others expressing depression and frustration with her situation. When challenged by Carroll, Magalhães admitted to withholding the truth for a long time and emphasized the extreme stress she experienced during that time. The trial continues amid looming charges against Banfield related to child abuse and felony child cruelty, stemming from their 4-year-old daughter being present during the murders.
Prosecutors have said that Banfield, an IRS agent, and Juliana Peres Magalhães, the family’s au pair, were in love. In order to get rid of Christine Banfield, the pair impersonated her on a social media site for sexual fetishes and spent a month arranging an elaborate rape scenario with Ryan, a stranger. They killed Ryan and Christine Banfield after staging it to look like they had shot an intruder who was attacking Christine Banfield with a knife, Magalhães testified on Tuesday.
Magalhães was originally charged with murder but pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter in 2024 after cooperating with investigators. She will be sentenced at the conclusion of Banfield’s trial. Depending on her cooperation with authorities, attorneys have said she could be sentenced to the time she’s already served.
Banfield’s attorney, John Carroll, said in opening statements on Tuesday that Magalhães had maintained her innocence for a year but eventually changed her story after she lost faith in her attorney.
On Wednesday, Carroll asked Magalhães to read portions from letters she had written from jail to Brendan Banfield and others expressing depression and frustration with her situation. When challenged by Carroll, Magalhães admitted to withholding the truth for a long time and emphasized the extreme stress she experienced during that time. The trial continues amid looming charges against Banfield related to child abuse and felony child cruelty, stemming from their 4-year-old daughter being present during the murders.
