A countryside in Virginia. A simple family of three. A Brazilian au pair. A double murder.
These are all parts of a complex puzzle, with investigators still trying to figure out who killed Christine Banfield — a wife, mother and Fairfax County NICU worker — and Joseph Ryan, the 38-year-old man who came to her home armed with a knife. in Herndon, Virginia, In February 2023.
One piece of the puzzle is in the process of being unraveled, as Juliana Peres Magalhaes, Banfield’s 23-year-old assistant and a Brazilian citizen, is getting ready to face trial for second-degree murder and use of a deadly weapon during the crime of shooting Ryan.
Authorities have not filed any charges in connection with Banfield’s death.
Juliana Perez Magalhaes was charged nearly eight months after she shot and killed Joseph Ryan — the man who stabbed her lover’s wife to death. (Fairfax County Police)
Initial offense
The mystery began on Feb. 24, 2023, when Magalhaes told police she left Christine and her husband, Brendan Banfield’s home in the 13200 block of Stable Brook Way in Herndon to take her young daughter to the National Zoo. She told officers she began driving but realized she had forgotten her packed lunch for the excursion inside the house, so she looked back and saw an unfamiliar car in the driveway.
She then allegedly called Brendan, a former IRS criminal investigation agent who was at work at the time, and told him about the unknown car in her driveway. The two decided to meet at the Banfields’ home and go inside together, since the two had not seen each other.The Washington Post reported this.
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Magalhaes has been charged with second-degree murder and use of a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony. (Instagram)
Magalhaes initially told police that when he and Brendan walked in, they saw an unknown man, Ryan, holding Christine at knifepoint. She reportedly called him an intruder. Ryan was apparently fully clothed, while Christine was nude in the home’s main bedroom.
It’s still unclear what happened inside the home on Friday morning, but both Magalhaes and Brendan admitted to shooting Ryan while the man was holding a knife to Christine. Ryan died inside the home, while Christine was stabbed in the neck and eventually died at the hospital.
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Christine Banfield was stabbed to death in the bedroom of her home in Fairfax County, Virginia. (Facebook)
Fairfax County Police began the investigation, telling reporters during a news conference later on the day of the murder that someone from inside the home had called 911 that morning. Court documents later revealed that both Magalhães and Brendan had called 911 multiple times that morning.
“It’s evolving and changing. It’s very dynamic.”
Fairfax County Police Department Chief Kevin Davis said during the press conference that there are no additional suspects in the case besides the four adults who were inside the home at the time of the incident. Double murder. He also said there were no signs of forced entry and that “everyone inside the house” “knew” each other.
Fairfax County Police responded to a double homicide on February 24, 2023 in the 13200 block of Stable Brook Way in Herndon, Virginia. (FOX 5 DC)
The Banfields’ daughter was home at the time of the killing, the police chief said at the time.
revelations of the investigation
As Fairfax officers investigated, they began to learn intriguing information about four adults connected to the double murder.
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Prosecutors have now alleged in court documents that Magalhaes and Brendan were romantically involved, which Christine was unaware of. According to the Post, the two reportedly went to a shooting range a few weeks before the double murder.
Prosecutors also allege that a computer at the Banfield home was linked to an account on a sexual erotica website, the Post reported.
“It’s evolving and changing. It’s very dynamic,” Fairfax County Police Department Chief Kevin Davis said at the time. He added that there were no additional suspects in the case other than the four adults who were inside the home at the time of the double homicide. (Facebook)
While the account on that computer featured a photo of Christine in a swimsuit, it’s unclear who was communicating on the account. The profile apparently “did not contain a shred of evidence that she was involved in knife play, bondage, BDSM,” prosecutor Eric Clingan said in court, according to the Post.
Ryan, the man who held Christine at knifepoint, also had an account on the website and was communicating with everyone accessing the site from the Banfield computer.
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Authorities finally arrested Magalhaes in October 2023, after she moved into Banfield’s master bedroom and placed a framed photo of herself with Brendan on a nightstand next to the bed. A grand jury indicted Magalhaes, 23, in April and her trial is scheduled for November.
According to prosecutors, a framed photograph of Brendan Banfield and Juliana Magalhães and the mistress’s lingerie were found in the room where the double murder took place. (Fairfax County Commonwealth Attorney’s Office)
His lawyer, Ryan Campbell, said Brendan shot Ryan first while he was holding a knife to his wife’s neck and then asked his client to get another gun from the master bedroom closet. Magalhaes then shot Ryan because he thought he was a threat to his employers, according to the Post.
“There’s a stranger and a dying woman in your house.”
“Mr. Banfield, who is a law enforcement officer, then shot him one more time,” Campbell said in court, the Post reported. The lawyer did not respond to inquiries from Fox News Digital.
Authorities eventually arrested Magalhães in October 2023. (FOX 5 DC)
Magalhaes’ mother says her daughter is not guilty.
“I ask the prosecutors and the judge to understand who is guilty in this case, because the culprit is not Juliana,” Marina Peres Souza told The Washington Post in Portuguese.
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In an email to her mother in June, Magalhaes wrote, “I am tired of this place and this situation. I am sad and nothing can make me happy. I just want to get out of here and go back home to be with you guys.”
Brendan is no longer employed by the IRS, the agency confirmed to Fox News Digital on Thursday. He cited his Fifth Amendment rights in response to questions about his alleged ties to the case during a preliminary hearing in April.
