Virginia au pair testifies ex‑IRS agent Banfield plotted wife’s and Joseph Ryan’s murders in fetish‑lure scheme
Juliana Peres Magalhães testified that she and former IRS agent Brendan Banfield created a sexual‑fetish social‑media account impersonating his wife, lured Joseph Ryan to the Banfield home for an arranged knife‑involved encounter, and then she says Banfield killed his wife Christine and Ryan before staging the scene as an intruder attack; Magalhães has pleaded guilty to manslaughter and is cooperating. The defense has attacked her credibility with jailhouse letters, memory gaps and alleged incentives, while prosecutors cite digital‑forensics linking the account to Christine; Banfield faces aggravated murder and child‑abuse charges as the trial proceeds with jurors seated and opening statements expected.
📌 Key Facts
- Twelve jurors and four alternates have been seated in Brendan Banfield’s aggravated murder trial; opening statements are scheduled to begin Tuesday, court will sit Monday through Thursday starting at 10 a.m., and the trial is expected to last about four weeks.
- Banfield faces aggravated murder charges and also is charged with child abuse and felony child‑cruelty counts tied to having his then‑4‑year‑old daughter in the house during the killings.
- Juliana Peres Magalhães, the Brazilian au pair, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in late 2024 after initially being charged with murder, agreed to cooperate with prosecutors and is expected to testify; her ultimate sentence will depend on prosecutors’ assessment of that cooperation.
- Magalhães testified that she and Banfield impersonated his wife on a sexual‑fetish social‑media account, spent about a month arranging an elaborate, knife‑involved sexual scenario to lure Joseph Ryan to the home to “get rid of” Christine Banfield, then said the two killed Ryan and Christine and staged the scene to appear as if an intruder had attacked Christine.
- In court Magalhães described crouching behind a bed covering her eyes and ears while Banfield repeatedly stabbed his wife, and said trauma and shame have blocked some details from her memory.
- Former Fairfax digital forensic examiner Brendan Miller’s analysis — later peer‑reviewed and affirmed by a University of Alabama evidence team — showed Christine Banfield, not a fake account, connected with Ryan; Miller was transferred out of the digital forensics unit in late 2024 and the original lead detective was reassigned after pushing back on the catfishing theory, a point the defense says indicates a theory‑driven investigation.
- Defense attorney John Carroll attacked Magalhães’ credibility on cross‑examination, pointing to gaps in her memory about who created the email/social account and who sent messages, and to jailhouse letters containing conflicting statements (including declarations of love and offers to take the blame, and an earlier note saying she wasn’t willing to spend her life in prison for something she didn’t do); Carroll called prosecutors’ account “a theory in search of facts.”
- Magalhães testified that, after Banfield’s family stopped paying her jail expenses, unnamed news producers began funding her commissary and other needs in exchange for story rights and that she has discussed potential book or streaming deals.
📊 Relevant Data
In cases of intimate partner homicide, the majority (67%-80%) involve prior physical abuse of the female by the male before the murder, regardless of which partner is killed.
Risk Factors for Femicide in Abusive Relationships: Results From a Multisite Case Control Study — American Journal of Public Health
When an abusive partner has access to a firearm, the risk of intimate partner homicide increases by five times, and firearms are used in over 50% of such homicides in the US.
Understanding and Addressing Intimate Partner Homicide — Rockefeller Institute of Government
The rate of intimate partner violence for women is nearly 3 times higher among those in the lowest income quartile compared to those in the highest income quartile.
Domestic Violence - The Justice Gap Report — Legal Services Corporation
Nearly 1 in 5 prime-age men with high-prestige jobs (18%) have had extramarital sex, compared with 7% of men in upper-middle prestige jobs and lower rates in less prestigious occupations.
Men With Prestigious Jobs Are More Likely to Cheat — Institute for Family Studies
Higher-income individuals demonstrate increased infidelity rates, with educational attainment correlating with 15-20% higher infidelity, contrary to assumptions of financial stress driving cheating.
Age, Gender, and Income: The Demographics of Infidelity You Need to Know — InvestigateSC
📰 Source Timeline (6)
Follow how coverage of this story developed over time
- Magalhães testified that she and Banfield created a social‑media account in Christine Banfield’s name on a fetish platform and used it to lure Joseph Ryan to the house for a knife‑involved sexual encounter.
- She described in detail that she crouched behind the bed covering her eyes and ears while Banfield repeatedly stabbed his wife, and that the couple then staged the scene to make it appear Ryan had attacked Christine.
- The article clarifies that Magalhães stayed silent for more than a year and only began cooperating with prosecutors days before her own trial, after pleading guilty to a reduced manslaughter charge.
- Defense attorney John Carroll’s cross‑examination focused on her memory gaps about who created the email/social‑media account and who sent particular messages, and he confronted her with jailhouse letters showing her emotional state in custody.
- Magalhães told the court that shame, guilt, sadness, poor health in jail and isolation from loved ones pushed her to "turn on" Banfield, while also saying trauma has blocked some details from memory.
- Magalhães read multiple jailhouse letters in court, including one telling Banfield, “I love you more than anything,” and another to his mother offering to “take the blame for the both of us.”
- Those letters conflict with an earlier note in which she wrote, “I’m not willing to spend my life in prison for something I didn’t do,” giving the defense fresh ammunition on credibility.
- Magalhães testified that after Banfield’s family stopped paying her jail expenses, unnamed news producers began funding her commissary and "other needs" in exchange for rights to her story, and that she has discussed a potential book or Netflix deal.
- She told the jury she accepted a manslaughter plea because it was “the right thing to do” and described her ongoing feelings of “shame and guilt and sadness.”
- Juliana Peres Magalhães, the Brazilian au pair who pled guilty to manslaughter, has now taken the stand and testified that she and Brendan Banfield impersonated his wife on a sexual‑fetish social media site and spent about a month arranging an elaborate rape scenario with Joseph Ryan to 'get rid of' Christine Banfield.
- Magalhães testified that after luring Ryan to the house, she and Banfield killed both Ryan and Christine and staged the scene to look like they had shot an intruder attacking Christine with a knife.
- Defense attorney John Carroll used Magalhães’ jailhouse letters expressing depression and hopelessness to attack her credibility, arguing she only changed her story and implicated Banfield after being arrested and losing faith in her first lawyer.
- The piece reaffirms that Magalhães was initially charged with murder but pled down to manslaughter in 2024 in exchange for cooperation, and that her ultimate sentence will depend on how prosecutors assess that cooperation at the end of Banfield’s trial.
- Confirms that 12 jurors and four alternates have been seated and that opening statements are expected to begin Tuesday.
- Restates prosecutors’ theory that Banfield, impersonating his wife online, lured Joseph Ryan to the home via a fetish website and staged the killings to look like self‑defense.
- Reaffirms that Brazilian au pair Juliana Peres Magalhães pleaded guilty to manslaughter in late 2024 and is expected to testify against Banfield as an eyewitness to the alleged plot.
- Specifies that court sessions in Banfield’s trial will run Monday through Thursday, starting at 10 a.m., and that the trial is expected to last four weeks.
- Quotes defense attorney John Carroll dismissing prosecutors’ account as “a theory in search of facts rather than a series of facts supporting a theory.”
- Confirms opening statements are scheduled to begin Tuesday in Brendan Banfield’s aggravated murder trial.
- Details that Magalhães has already pleaded guilty to manslaughter and is cooperating, having told investigators she and Banfield created a sexual‑fetish social‑media account in Christine Banfield’s name to lure Joseph Ryan to the house.
- Reports testimony from former Fairfax County digital forensic examiner Brendan Miller that his analysis showed Christine Banfield, not a fake account, connected with Ryan; a University of Alabama evidence team peer‑reviewed and affirmed his findings.
- Notes that Miller was transferred out of the Fairfax digital forensics unit in late 2024 and that the original lead detective was reassigned after pushing back on the catfishing theory, raising defense claims about a theory‑driven investigation.
- Specifies that Banfield will simultaneously face child abuse and felony child‑cruelty counts, tied to having his then‑4‑year‑old daughter in the house during the killings.