A Virginia man has been indicted in the stabbing death of his wife and the fatal shooting of a man that occurred last year. The husband also was alleged to be involved in a love triangle with the couple’s Brazilian au pair — who previously was charged with the murder of a male who was in the couple’s home.
Fairfax County Police Department Chief Kevin Davis and Commonwealth Attorney Steve Descano announced the arrest and indictment of Brendan Banfield in connection with the 2023 double murder that occurred in Reston — which is roughly 20 miles west of Washington, D.C.
Investigators believe the husband and nanny were lovers involved in a ‘sexual relationship’ and devised a sordid scheme to take out the wife.
Banfield, of Reston, was charged with four counts of aggravated murder and use of a firearm in commission of a felony. Banfield was being held at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center on no bond.
Davis said at a Monday press conference, “I stood in the middle of a cul-de-sac street in Fairfax County and described the deaths of two persons inside of a residential home. Now, 570 days later, we know the deaths of Joseph Ryan and Christine Banfield were both, in fact, murders.”
Davis added, “This much is clear, we have evidence to now allege that Christine Banfield’s life was unlawfully taken, and Joseph Ryan’s life was unlawfully taken.”
Police who responded to the Banfield home on Feb. 24, 2023, described an “appalling scene.” Brendan Banfield and the family’s au pair – 23-year-old Juliana Peres Magalhaes — made the 911 call, police said.
Officers found Christine Banfield, 37, in an upstairs bedroom suffering from stab wounds to the upper body. They also discovered Joseph Ryan, 39, dead from gunshot wounds to the upper body.
Banfield’s wife was rushed to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead.
Police said two firearms and a knife were recovered from the home.
Magalhaes reportedly told investigators that she and Brendan Banfield had walked in on Ryan stabbing a naked Christine Banfield with a knife. The au pair said Brendan shot at the “intruder.”
Investigators believe that the husband and nanny were lovers involved in a “sexual relationship” and devised a sordid scheme to take out the wife.
The husband and the live-in au pair are accused of shooting Ryan, who had been “summoned to the couple’s million-dollar Herndon home through a sexual fetish online site,” the New York Post reported.
Prosecutors said Ryan was lured to the Banfield home by a profile on FetLife — which described itself as the “world’s largest and most popular social network for the BDSM community, kink community, and fetish community.”
According to the Washington Post, Ryan went to the home for a planned rendezvous with a woman identified in a dating app as “Annastasia9.” The outlet noted that there is no evidence to suggest that Christine created the profile or knew about it. Authorities have not revealed who created the profile.
Davis stated, “We know Brendan Banfield and Juliana Magalhaes, the family au pair, were involved in a romantic relationship at the time of the murders.”
Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Kelsey Gill has said that Magalhaes and Brendan began a romantic affair “several months” before the murders, based on photos of them that investigators found on the nanny’s cellphone.
Magalhaes and Banfield went to a shooting range weeks before the murders, prosecutors said. Banfield bought a Glock from the range on Jan. 28, 2023, according to WTOP.
Brendan and Magalhaes reportedly continued their relationship following the deaths of Ryan and Banfield’s wife.
Magalhaes was arrested in October 2023 for Ryan’s murder.
At the time of her arrest, the au pair allegedly had moved into the main bedroom of the Banfield home. Authorities said there was a framed picture of her and Brendan Banfield set on the nightstand, and her clothes were hung in the closet Christine Banfield once used.
Magalhaes was charged with second-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. She was being detained at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center on no bond.
“Early last year, a double murder devastated two families and shocked our entire community,” Commonwealth Attorney Descano declared during a press conference. “I will ensure that my office puts forward the strongest case possible at trial, and that we continue to seek justice for the victims and their families.”
The Banfields have a 4-year-old daughter.
Brendan Banfield is expected to be arraigned later this week.
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Arrests, Au pair murder, Brendan banfield, Crime, Homicide, Love triangle, Murder, Reston, Virginia
