Prosecutors cite au pairs affair with Herndon man in double killing -

A website that caters to people with sexual fetishes may have been used as part of a ploy to draw a man to a Herndon home before he and a woman living in the house were killed, according to new allegations laid out in the Fairfax County bond hearing of an au pair charged with murder in the case.

A prosecutor hinted that Juliana Peres Magalhaes, the au pair, could have been part of a conspiracy to kill Joseph Ryan and Christine Banfield, who were slain on Feb. 24 at Banfield’s home.

Peres Magalhaes and Banfield’s husband, Brendan Banfield, shot Ryan, authorities have said. Brendan Banfield directed her to shoot the man after coming home and witnessing his wife being stabbed by Ryan, prosecutors said.

But in court Friday, prosecutors suggested the killings were more than just a case of happenstance.

Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Kelsey Gill said that Peres Magalhaes and Brendan Banfield began an affair “several months” before the slaying, based on photos of the two that authorities found on the au pair’s cellphone.

“The photos even included them taking a trip to New York City together,” Gill said. “So this was not a mild thing that was going on in the home.”

Peres Magalhaes has been charged with murder in Ryan’s killing. Brendan Banfield has not been charged in this case, and attempts to reach his attorney on Friday were unsuccessful.

In January, while, prosecutors said, the affair was ongoing, someone used Christine Banfield’s laptop to create an account “on a website that catered to individuals involved in various sexual fetishes,” Gill said. Gill did not specify who created the account but said Ryan responded to the user’s profile and agreed to go to the Banfield home on Stable Brook Way.

Ryan Campbell, Peres Magalhaes’s attorney, said prosecutors’ claim that someone used the wife’s computer as a ruse to kill her lacked evidence and more so lacked a connection to the au pair. To Campbell, it would make more sense that Christine Banfield created the profile to engage in an extramarital affair.

“The inference that [prosecutors were] trying to make was that it wasn’t Christine Banfield” who was on the website, he said. “It just seems like a difficult thing for me to accept that somebody other than Christine would be going on her computer.”

On the day of the slayings, Gill said, Brendan Banfield left the home and drove to a McDonald’s for breakfast, which Campbell noted was a part of his routine. Attorneys said Christine Banfield purchased tickets for Peres Magalhaes to take her daughter to the zoo, and the au pair also left home that morning.

Peres Magalhaes told authorities she had forgotten to grab packed lunches after leaving the house, Gill said, and that she then noticed Ryan entering the home with a bag. The au pair called Brendan Banfield, Gill said.

The prosecutor said the husband drove back to the house and went inside with Peres Magalhaes. When they walked into the bedroom, they saw Ryan, fully clothed, holding a knife to Christine Banfield, who was undressed, Gill said.

Brendan Banfield — who authorities said is an IRS criminal investigative division agent — told a 911 dispatcher that he shot at Ryan after seeing Christine Banfield get stabbed multiple times. According to prosecutors, Peres Magalhaes told authorities she then went into a neighboring room and retrieved another gun, per Brendan Banfield’s instruction, and fired at Ryan. A medical examiner’s report shows Peres Magalhaes fired the fatal shot, attorneys said.

Gill questioned why a law enforcement officer let Ryan stab his wife multiple times before shooting at him. The prosecutor added her disbelief that Brendan Banfield would tell the au pair to shoot at Ryan again after he had already shot him.

Peres Magalhaes that morning called 911 to report an emergency after twice calling dispatchers about 13 minutes prior — and abruptly hanging up both times. They said Brendan Banfield was also on the phone during the third call, telling a dispatcher that he had shot Ryan, and he also accused Ryan of stabbing Christine Banfield.

Gill said it was nonsensical for a person to wait more than 10 minutes to call 911.

But Campbell alleged the au pair was thrust into a life-threatening situation, and the two did all they could to save Christine Banfield’s life after Ryan stabbed her. He also said Peres Magalhaes shot Ryan to protect the wife from further harm and to defend herself.

“He had just stabbed Christine Banfield,” Campbell said. “It seems perfectly reasonable that a second shot would be fired to make sure that he’s not a threat to Brendan or Christine or Juliana.”

In the roughly seven months between the killings and Peres Magalhaes’s arrest, Gill said, she and Brendan Banfield continued their romantic relationship. When she was arrested, her clothes were found in the Banfield master bedroom, and photos of Peres Magalhaes and Brendan Banfield were up on the wall. Gill said the au pair took the vacancy that the wife left behind.

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