It was a puzzling double killing in Fairfax County: A man shot to death inside the same Herndon, Virginia, home where one of the residents, a 37-year-old mother, was found stabbed to death in her bedroom.
At the time it happened in February, Fairfax County police said the husband of the stabbing victim, Christine Banfield, had called 911 to report shooting a man he found inside his home who was stabbing his wife.
But now, after nearly seven months and an “intensive and ongoing investigation,” police said the family’s au pair has been charged with one of the killings.
Juliana Peres Magalhaes, 23, has been charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of 39-year-old Joseph Nathan Ryan, according to a police news release. She is being held without bond at the Fairfax County jail.
Police were called to the home on Stable Brook Way in the Hattontown neighborhood on the morning of Feb. 24 after receiving multiple 911 calls.
The au pair, who also lived in the house, first called 911 around 7:45 a.m., but the call quickly got disconnected, police said. Around 15 minutes later, the au pair called 911 again and gave the phone to a man, who told the dispatcher he had just shot a man who was stabbing his wife.
Once inside, officers discovered a “horrific scene,” said First Lt. Erin Weeks, with Fairfax County police, who spoke to reporters Thursday. “They found Christine Banfield in an upstairs bedroom. She had been stabbed multiple times in the upper body and Joseph Ryan, who had been shot multiple times in the upper body.”
Police haven’t said exactly why they believe Ryan was at the home or what connection he had to the home except that he knew Banfield.
Asked by reporters why Ryan was at the home, Weeks said “it’s still very much an active investigation.”
Peres Magalhaes, the au pair, has not been charged in Banfield’s stabbing death, and Weeks said police are still investigating the circumstances that led to her killing.
“We have recovered all weapons, and we’ve identified all persons involved in this case,” Weeks said, adding that police still have many leads to follow.
Police have not publicly identified Banfield’s husband and he has not been charged. Weeks said they know the husband is still in the area.
“We are keeping options open,” Weeks said. “We will continue to investigate … Our big thing is continuing to interview people, continuing to review all digital and forensic evidence and learn how Christine Banfield was fatally stabbed.”
