This week, a case involving an au pair in Virginia was linked to an alleged affair and a fetish website. Her prosecutors say she was involved in a double murder at her home where she worked.
Prosecutors also said during Monday’s probable cause hearing that Juliana Perez Magalhães and Brendan Banfield were accused of killing his wife, Christine Banfield, in a February 2023 murder spree at their home. He said they had visited a shooting range together before the shooting.
Brendan and Perez Magalhães said Christine was killed by an unknown man named Joseph Ryan, who stabbed Christine and then shot the man to death.
This is part of the bizarre saga that led to the murder case against Perez Magalhães, and a judge ruled Monday that it can proceed to a grand jury this month, NBC Washington reported.
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Juliana Perez Magalhães was indicted nearly eight months after Joseph Ryan was shot and killed. (Fairfax County Police Department)
According to court documents, Brendan and Perez Magalhães said Christine summoned Ryan to her Herndon home on a website where bondage enthusiasts connect.
According to a report in the Washington Post, Brendan of the IRS Criminal Investigation Division told a 911 dispatcher that a clothed man stabbed the mother of Ryan’s 4-year-old daughter and then attacked Ryan with a professional weapon. He said he shot him.
Prosecutors allege that while Ryan was on the ground, Brazilian national Perez Magalhães pulled another gun from elsewhere in the house and fired, killing Ryan. She told police that Brendan instructed her to do so, according to court documents.
NBC 4 Washington reported that prosecutors described Perez-Magalhães as Brendan’s “girlfriend” and “live-in lover,” and that the au pair’s lingerie and a framed photo of her and Brendan were seen at the scene of the stabbing and shooting. He said it was discovered in the room where the incident took place.
But after months of investigation, the 23-year-old was arrested by Fairfax County police and charged with second-degree murder in Ryan’s death. Brendan has not been charged with a crime, and no one has been charged in his wife’s death.
However, Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis told NBC Washington that he is hopeful that “ultimately we will be able to hold more than one person accountable for this crime.”
“From the beginning, even though I went to the scene of this double murder, I knew there would be many twists and turns in this investigation,” he told the outlet. The twists and turns are still continuing.
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The account used to subpoena Joseph Ryan was created and used on the laptop of slain mother Christine Banfield, but investigators are unsure if she was communicating with it. I have doubts. (Kristin Banfield on Facebook)
WRC-TV reports that the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office is investigating the possibility that someone posed as Christine on a fetish website and lured Ryan to his home with the intent of killing the IRS agent’s wife. It was reported.
The account was set up on Christine’s laptop, but messages between her and Ryan on the fetish website were inconsistent with her communication style, her loved ones told investigators. That’s what it means.
But at Monday’s probable cause hearing for Perez Magalhães, prosecutors focused on proving the relationship between the surviving Banfield and the au pair charged with murder, WRC-TV reported.
Previously, Fairfax County Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Kelsey Gill said Perez-Magalhães and Brendan began dating several months before their deaths, and their relationship continued after Christine’s death.
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Prosecutors said a framed photo of Brendan Banfield and Juliana Perez Magalhaes and her lingerie were found in the room where the double murder occurred. (Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office)
WTOP reported that Brendan and Perez Magalhães bought the Glock they used to shoot Ryan during a trip to a shooting range on January 28 of last year, several weeks before the incident.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Clingan told the court the gun was used to “eliminate the only witness present,” according to the office.
The Washington Post reported that Gill had previously questioned why Brendan only shot Ryan after he had stabbed his wife several times, and that Perez Magalhães did indeed shoot the man on Brendan’s orders. He says he has doubts.
The nanny’s attorney, Ryan Campbell, said in December that his client acted in self-defense, according to the newspaper.
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“He had just stabbed Christine Banfield,” Campbell said. “It seems perfectly reasonable that a second shot would be fired to ensure he was not a threat to Brendan, Christine and Juliana.”
Campbell could not be reached for comment.
WTOP reported that Brendan invoked his Fifth Amendment rights when questioned on stage during Monday’s hearing. To date, he has not yet spoken to authorities about the fatal crash on February 24 last year, the newspaper said.
Brendan did not comment outside the courtroom Monday, NBC Washington reported.
