On the second day of Brendan Banfield’s trial for the February 2023 killings of his wife and another man at a Herndon-area home, the woman originally accused of fatally shooting the man testified against her alleged former lover in Fairfax County court.
Juliana Peres Magalhaes, who was employed by the Banfield family as an au pair, testified following opening arguments yesterday (Tuesday) in Fairfax County Circuit Court with Judge Penney Azcarate presiding. Brendan Banfield is facing seven felony charges — including four counts of aggravated murder — in relation to the killings of 37-year-old Christine Banfield and 39-year-old Joseph Ryan.
Prosecutors have alleged that Brendan Banfield orchestrated his wife’s killing while having an affair with Peres Magalhaes. Brendan Banfield is also facing charges of child neglect and child cruelty because his then-4-year-old daughter was in the home at the time of the incident. The trial is expected to last for multiple weeks.
“The blood cannot lie, and the blood puts Brendan Banfield standing over Christine, stabbing her in the neck … until she died,” Chief Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Jenna Sands said during opening statements in court.
Charged with second-degree murder in October 2023, Peres Magalhaes pleaded guilty to the amended charge of manslaughter a year later under an agreement that would allow her to be sentenced to time served before being deported to her native Brazil — so long as she cooperates with the county’s case against Banfield.
Defense attorney John Carroll noted Peres Magalhaes was in custody for nearly a year before she made statements supporting the prosecution’s case. He claims Peres Magalhaes notified Brendan Banfield that “all they want is to get you” and that prosecutors offered time served for testifying against him.
“I understand the situation that she’s in, and I understand the fact that she’s away from home and she’s young, and she depended on people,” Carroll said. “She’s also depending on the Commonwealth, and they’ve put her in this situation, and she’s accepted it gladly.”
Peres Magalhaes testified that she and Brendan Banfield started having a sexual relationship in August 2022, about a year after she arrived to the U.S. Brendan Banfield confided that his wife “didn’t seem to care about him at all” and that divorce wasn’t an option due to concerns about money and the custody of their then-4-year-old daughter, the au pair said.
According to Peres Magalhaes, he first mentioned a “plan to get rid of” Christine Banfield in October 2022 and took the au pair to a shooting range to practice handling a gun.
Supporting an account previously described by prosecutors, the au pair testified that Brendan Banfield created a fake account on the fetish-related sex website FetLife using Christine Banfield’s email address and laptop. Ryan, who Brendan Banfield chose to communicate with, received instructions through the FetLife account on accessing the house on Feb. 24, 2023, the au pair said.
Brendan Banfield’s defense attorney argued there wasn’t consensus on whether he sent the FetLife messages to Ryan using his wife’s devices, point to the Fairfax County Police Department’s transfers of key detectives who didn’t believe there was evidence of Brendan Banfield catfishing Ryan.
According to Peres Magalhaes, on the morning of Feb. 24, 2023, Brendan Banfield kept the door of his house unlocked and hid Christine Banfield’s phone before leaving. Peres Magalhaes stayed with the couple’s 4-year-old child and was instructed to call Christine Banfield’s phone before notifying Brendan Banfield when Ryan arrived.
When Brendan Banfield and Peres Magalhaes entered the home’s bedroom door, Peres Magalhaes said Ryan looked “shocked” and Christine Banfield yelled “Brendan, he has a knife.” Peres Magalhaes recounted that Brendan Banfield fatally shot Ryan. She called 911, but Brendan Banfield gestured for her to hang up, as the call was placed earlier than he wanted, she said.
After Brendan Banfield instructed the au pair to retrieve a towel from the bathroom, she recalled finding him on top of his wife and stabbing her in the neck with a knife. Peres Magalhaes said she got Christine Banfield’s blood on her when she crouched down near the bed, covering her ears and eyes.
In her testimony, Peres Magalhaes said she noticed Ryan was still moving and warned Brendan Banfield that Ryan was behind him. She fired a gun at Ryan, which struck him and caused him to fall. The au pair said Brendan Banfield got a handful of Christine Banfield’s blood and dripped it on Ryan.
At Brendan Banfield’s request, the au pair made a second 911 call, in which he identified Ryan to responders as an intruder. Brendan Banfield and Peres Magalhaes initially told police they shot Ryan in self-defense. Christine Banfield was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead, while Ryan was pronounced dead at the scene.
Defense questions au pair’s account
When the trial resumed today (Wednesday), Peres Maghales told the court that she ultimately turned against Banfield because she “wanted the truth to come out.”
“I just couldn’t keep it to myself, the feeling of shame and guilt and sadness,” she said.
Carroll, the defense attorney, spent much of the day scrutinizing her initial testimony and her motives behind pleading guilty.
He pressed her on who created the email address connected to the social media account and where she and Brendan Banfield were on the day it had been procured. She testified that she did not remember who made the account or what room in the Banfield home they had been in.
The defense attorney repeatedly pressed her on specific messages sent on the social media account in Christine Banfield’s name. Magalhães, seemingly annoyed, repeatedly testified that she had been unsure who had sent what. At one point, she testified to Carroll: “I am not going to do this.”
Carroll also asked Magalhães to read portions from letters she had written from jail to Brendan Banfield and others. They expressed depression and frustration with her situation. “No strength. No courage. No hope,” she wrote at one point.
Magalhães testified that her health in jail and isolation from loved ones also pushed her to turn on Banfield.
Wearing a gray suit and a striped tie, Banfield would occasionally glance up as Magalhães gave her testimony. The former au pair did not appear to look back noticeably.
If convicted, Banfield faces life in prison. Virginia no longer has the death penalty after lawmakers abolished it in 2021.
