Opening statements delivered in trial of man accused of killing his wife and another man in plot with au pair

By Lauren del Valle, Eric Levenson, CNN

(CNN) — Opening statements were delivered Tuesday in the double-murder trial of Brendan Banfield, accused by Virginia prosecutors of killing his wife and another man as part of an elaborate scheme hatched with his family’s au pair.

Banfield has pleaded not guilty to charges of aggravated murder for the deaths of his wife, Christine Banfield, and Joseph Ryan, as well as using a firearm during the commission of a felony. He faces up to life in prison if convicted on the murder charges.

Prosecutors say Brendan Banfield and the family’s Brazilian au pair, Juliana Peres Magalhães, were having an extra-marital affair and carried out the plan together. The salacious plot features allegations of BDSM sexual role play, trips to the gun range and false 911 calls, all in an attempt to kill Banfield’s wife and frame Ryan, according to prosecutors.

In her opening statement, prosecutor Jenna Sands told the jury they are in court today because the defendant killed his wife and Ryan in February 2023.

Ryan had been lured to the Banfields’ home for what he thought was a consensual sexual encounter, prosecutors said.

“Those two individuals had no reason to know each other but for the plotting and planning of Brendan Banfield,” Sands said.

Peres Magalhães was initially charged with murder and has since pleaded guilty to a lesser count of involuntary manslaughter for fatally shooting Ryan.

She has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in exchange for a recommendation that she be sentenced to time served, according to the plea agreement. She is likely to be the star witness in Banfield’s murder trial.

In his opening statement, defense attorney John Carroll said Peres Magalhães was arrested in October 2023 to pit her against Banfield.

“The whole reason she was arrested was to flip her against my client,” Carroll said.

The case began February 24, 2023. Calls to 911 led police to the Banfields’ Herndon, Virginia, home, where they found Christine Banfield, 37, dead of stab wounds, and Ryan, 39, dead of gunshot wounds nearby, according to Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis.

In October 2024, court records show Peres Magalhães pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter. At a plea hearing, prosecutors read aloud a statement laying out the key allegations in the case.

As they alleged, Peres Magalhães began working as an au pair for the couple in late 2021, and in August 2022 she and Brendan Banfield began an extra-marital relationship. That fall, prosecutors alleged, “Brendan Banfield expressed to Peres Magalhães his desire to be rid of his wife and soon thereafter began planning to kill his wife as well as, ultimately, Joseph Ryan, the victim in this case.”

Banfield set up an account on Fetlife.com, a sexual fetish site, began communicating with Ryan and lured him to the Banfield home, prosecutors said. Ryan “likely believed” he was meeting Christine Banfield for a consensual sexual encounter, prosecutors said.

During opening statements, Banfield’s defense attorney accused law enforcement of manipulating evidence to fit the theory that Banfield “catfished” Ryan posing has his wife.

Initial digital forensics analysis conducted by investigators, however, found that Christine Banfield had control over her devices before her death, Carroll said Tuesday morning, and detectives who didn’t support the catfishing theory were removed from the case.

“In the world of digital forensics, there’s a saying, digital forensics doesn’t lie, people lie. And they’re going to be plenty to see. You’re going to see manipulation within the police department,” Carroll said.

Brendan Banfield and Peres Magalhães put his child in the basement and then went upstairs to the Banfields’ bedroom, with Brendan Banfield holding his service weapon and the au pair holding a firearm he had purchased a month earlier, according to prosecutors.

“The two entered the bedroom and Joseph Ryan was holding Christine Banfield down,” prosecutors said. “Brendan Banfield called out, ‘Police officer,’ and then shot Joseph Ryan in the head, and Ryan fell away from Christine Banfield.”

Peres Magalhães called 911 but ended the call at Banfield’s direction, prosecutors said.

Banfield stabbed his wife, according to prosecutors. Peres Magalhães saw Ryan still moving and shot him, prosecutors said.

The au pair then called 911 again and they reported the killings as if Ryan was an intruder who had stabbed Banfield’s wife, according to prosecutors.

In the commonwealth’s opening statement, Sands told jurors they won’t have to rely on testimony from Magalhaes because convincing “blood evidence” will be enough to convict Banfield.

“While Juliana presents us with the narrative, that story that we wouldn’t necessarily know but for her details, it is the blood evidence that you can rely upon without a doubt,” Sands said.

“The blood cannot lie, and the blood puts Brendan Banfield, standing over Christine, stabbing her in the neck until she died.”

As part of their plan, when Ryan came to the home, Peres Magalhães called Banfield to report that a strange man was at the house, and Banfield was waiting at a nearby McDonald’s so he could return to the home quickly, prosecutors said.

Banfield was also indicted on a count of felony child abuse and neglect and felony child cruelty related to the killings in December 2024. His daughter, who was 4 at the time, was present at the scene, according to prosecutors.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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