An au pair in Fairfax County, Virginia, has pleaded guilty to a downgraded charge of manslaughter in what prosecutors said was a double homicide plot with her lover — the husband of one of the victims.
Court documents unveiled additional details of the February 2023 killings that happened inside the family’s home on Stable Brook Way in Herndon.
Juliana Peres Magalhaes pleaded guilty to a manslaughter charge Tuesday morning. When she was arrested in October 2023, the au pair was originally charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of 39-year-old Joseph Nathan Ryan.
Peres Magalhaes had previously been scheduled to go on trial in November.
Brendan Banfield was arrested in September on murder charges in the deaths of his wife, Christine Banfield, and Ryan.
Prosecutors have recommended a sentence of time served for Peres Magalhaes as long as she maintains her part of the plea agreement, which includes “continued cooperation” with law enforcement.
“Much of the information that led to this agreement cannot be made public at this time due to the upcoming criminal trial against the other defendant in this matter,” Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano said.
Her sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 2025, after Brendan Banfield’s case has concluded.
Peres Magalhaes has not been charged in Christine Banfield’s death.
Prosecutors said they cannot comment on whether Peres Magalhaes will testify against Brendan Banfield during his trial, which is scheduled for February 2025.
At the time of the killings, Brendan and Christine Banfield were married and living in the house with their 4-year-old daughter and the then 22-year-old au pair.
Prosecutors said Peres Magalhaes and Brendan Banfield had begun a romantic relationship in August 2022. She was hired as an au pair in late 2022.
Last month, Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Eric Clingan said Peres Magalhaes and Brendan Banfield had a brief phone call, in which she said: “I hope you are not just staying with me because you are afraid I’m going to turn against you.”
In the plea agreement, prosecutors said Brendan Banfield urged Peres Magalhaes to go through with the plot and that she, at times, said she didn’t want to go through with the plan. During an interview with police last week, Peres Magalhaes confirmed details about what happened on Feb. 24, 2023 and the plot leading up to the killings.
Weeks leading up to homicides: fetish website, visits to gun range
Prosecutors said Brendan Banfield told Peres Magalhaes he wanted to kill his wife and began planning the killings in November 2023.
In January 2023, he bought a gun. Brendan Banfield taught Peres Magalhaes how to use a firearm at a gun range in Ashburn, according to the plea agreement.
He created an account on an adult fetish website and messaged other users, including Ryan, court documents said.
A couple of days before the killings, Brendan Banfield told Peres Magalhaes to talk with Ryan on a call using the Telegram app, according to court documents.
While on that call, he agreed to come to the Banfields’ home with the expectation of meeting up with Christina Banfield for “violent sexual role play” that would include consensual use of restraints and cutting her clothing off, court documents said.
Morning of the homicides: Multiple 911 calls
On Feb. 24, 2023, Brendan Banfield gave Peres Magalhaes the gun he’d purchased.
She waited nearby the house, with the couple’s 4-year-old daughter, and made two calls, following the pair’s plan. After Ryan went into the house, she called Christina Banfield’s phone — which her husband had turned off and tucked in a drawer. The call went to voicemail, according to court documents.
Peres Magalhaes then called Brendan Banfield — who was waiting at a nearby McDonald’s — to tell him she was “scared” because a “strange man” was at the house, the plea agreement stated.
Brendan Banfield called his wife’s phone, and it went to voicemail.
He returned home and went inside with Peres Magalhaes, and the child, through the basement.
Both were armed — Brendan Banfield, a criminal investigative division agent for the IRS, had his service weapon, and Peres Magalhaes, with the weapon Brendan Banfield bought and taught her how to use.
Previous recounts of the killings had mentioned Peres Magalhaes went to get a gun from a safe after being directed by Brendan Banfield. But court documents indicate she had the gun when she entered the master bedroom where Christine Banfield and Ryan were.
The child stayed in the basement when Brendan Banfield and the au pair went upstairs to the bedroom, where court documents described that “Ryan was holding Christine Banfield down.”
Brendan Banfield called out “police officer” and shot Ryan in the head using his service weapon.
“Peres Magalhaes called 911 at this point and on the short call, Joseph Ryan can be heard moaning,” court documents stated.
Brendan Banfield told her to hang up the call, and she did.
He stabbed his wife and urged Peres Magalhaes to follow their plan.
“At one point she went into the closet to the safe and opened it, ostensibly to retrieve the firearm already in her possession,” according to court documents.
When she returned, she noticed Ryan was moving and shot him. He died in the bedroom, according to court documents.
Brendan Banfield told Peres Magahalhes he was ready for her to call 911 again, she called emergency services and reported an intruder, Ryan, had stabbed Christine Banfield, according to court documents.
Prosecutors said Brendan Banfield went to the hospital with his wife. Peres Magalhes and the couple’s child went to police headquarters.
WTOP’s Luke Lukert, Neal Augenstein and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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