Virginia police on Tuesday announced a second arrest in connection with the 2023 Double-homicide The incident occurred in Herndon, a suburb of Washington, DC.
“Early last year, the double murder of Christine Banfield and Joseph Ryan shook our entire community. Today, I am pleased to announce that due to the hard work of police and prosecutors, the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office has secured an indictment against Brendan Banfield for the murders of his wife, Christine, and Ryan,” Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano announced during a press conference Tuesday.
Brendan Banfield, who was a husband and father of a 4-year-old daughter at the time, and his family’s 22-year-old Brazilian helper, Juliana Perez Magalhaes, are accused of killing Christine — Brendan’s wife and a Fairfax County NICU employee — and Joseph Ryan, a 38-year-old man who came to her home armed with a knife. in Herndon, Virginia, In February 2023.
Ryan’s relationship with his family or his female assistant is still unclear.
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Brendan Banfield, of Herndon, Virginia, is charged with aggravated murder and using a firearm in the commission of a felony. (Virginia County Police Department)
Brendan Banfield has been charged with aggravated murder and four counts of using a firearm in the commission of a felony.
Magalhaes also faces charges of aggravated murder and using a firearm in the commission of a felony.
Brendan Banfield has been charged with aggravated murder and four counts of using a firearm in the commission of a felony. (Fairfax County Police Department)
“On February 24, 2023, I stood in the middle of a street in Fairfax County and described the deaths of two individuals inside a residential home. Now, 570 days later, we know the deaths of Joseph Ryan and Christine Banfield are in fact murders,” Fairfax County Police Department Chief Kevin Davis said during a press conference on Tuesday.
Juliana Perez Magalhaes was charged nearly eight months after she shot and killed Joseph Ryan — the man who allegedly stabbed and killed her lover’s wife. (Fairfax County Police)
When police responded to a 911 call from the home that day, they found Christine in an upstairs bedroom of the home with a stab wound to the neck and Ryan with fatal bullet wounds. Officers rushed Christine to the hospital, where she was later pronounced dead, Davis said.
Officers recovered a knife and two firearms from the scene.
“We know that Brendan Banfield and Juliana Magalhaes were in a romantic relationship at the time of the murder.”
“I will not be commenting on our victim Joseph Ryan’s involvement with anyone in this case at this time as the investigation is still ongoing,” Davis said.
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on Feb. 24, 2023, when Magalhaes told police she left the Banfields’ 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 the lunch she had packed for the excursion inside the house, so she looked back and saw an unfamiliar car in the driveway.
Fairfax police arrested Brendan Banfield. (Fairfax County Police Department)
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, because The Washington Post reported.
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Christine Banfield was stabbed to death in the bedroom of her home in Fairfax County, Virginia. (Facebook)
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 have admitted to shooting Ryan while Ryan held a knife toward Christine.
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Magalhaes is charged with second-degree murder and use of a deadly weapon during the commission of a crime. (Instagram)
Prosecutors allege that a computer at the Banfield home was linked to an account on a sexual erotica website, the Post reported.
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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.
Authorities eventually arrested Magalhães in October 2023. (FOX 5 DC)
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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.
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)
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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.
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Magalhaes’ attorney, Ryan Campbell, did not respond to Fox News Digital’s inquiries. The agency confirmed that Brendan is no longer employed by the IRS.
