The case against a Brazilian au pair, who had a tryst with the married man she worked for and was linked to the bizarre Fairfax County slayings of a fetish website user and her lover’s wife, ended Tuesday with the nanny’s conviction in the killings.
Fairfax County prosecutors said Juliana Peres Magalhaes, 24, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the deadly 2023 shooting of Joseph Nathan Ryan, a man who was lured to the Herndon home on Stable Brook Way through a fetish website for people who liked “violent sexual role play.”
But Ryan, 39, was just a patsy in husband Brendan Banfield’s scheme to kill his wife, 37-year-old Christine Banfield, according to court documents.
Mr. Banfield, 39, was indicted last month in the killings of his wife and Ryan. He is set to go to trial in February.
Magalhaes, who has been behind bars since her October 2023 arrest, will be sentenced in March.
Prosecutors said Magalhaes and Mr. Banfield began having an affair around the time she was hired in late 2022 to watch over the married couple’s then-4-year-old daughter.
By early 2023, court documents said, Mr. Banfield hatched a plan to kill Christine Banfield so the secretive lovers could be together.
Mr. Banfield bought a gun and took Magalhaes to an Ashburn gun range to practice with the firearm in January 2023.
The suspect also created an account on an adult fetish website, the filing said, where users connected with people interested in BDSM and other sexual kinks.
Prosecutors said Mr. Banfield instructed Magalhaes to talk with Ryan on the phone.
The two agreed to have Ryan come to the Banfields’ home for consensual sex with Christine Banfield that involved cutting off her clothes and using restraints.
On Feb. 24, 2023, prosecutors said Magalhaes left the house with the young daughter to purportedly go to the National Zoo.
Instead, she began acting out the lovers’ scheme and called Christine Banfield’s phone, which went straight to voicemail. Mr. Banfield allegedly turned off the phone and stuffed it inside a dresser drawer.
Magalhaes then phoned Mr. Banfield to tell him she was “scared” because a “strange man” was at the house, court documents said. Mr. Banfield was parked at a nearby McDonald’s waiting for Magalhaes’ call.
The husband then phoned his wife — which went to voicemail once again — and the two lovers returned home.
Magalhaes put the child in the basement while the two went upstairs to confront Ryan, according to the filing.
Prosecutors said Mr. Banfield had his gun drawn and called out “police officer” when he burst into his bedroom and saw Ryan “holding Christine Banfield down.” Mr. Banfield worked as an agent for the IRS’ criminal investigation division.
Mr. Banfield shot Ryan in the head, court documents said, and then stabbed his wife.
The plea agreement said Magalhaes went into the couple’s closet, and when she returned, she noticed Ryan was still moving. She shot and killed the victim moments later.
The lovers called 911 shortly afterward. Mr. Banfield went with his wife to a hospital, while the au pair went to the police station with the daughter.
The two began living together openly after Christine Banfield’s slaying, with Magalhaes moving her clothes into the former married couple’s closet and putting a framed photo of her and Mr. Banfield next to the bed.
Prosecutors are recommending a sentence of time served for Magalhaes as long as she cooperates in their case against Mr. Banfield, according to the plea agreement.
Officials didn’t say if Magalhaes will testify in Mr. Banfield’s upcoming trial.
Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Eric Clingan said the lovers spoke on the phone last month where Magalhaes told Mr. Banfield, “I hope you are not just staying with me because you are afraid I’m going to turn against you.”
Mr. Banfield told her to keep her mouth shut during the recorded call, Mr. Clingan said.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.
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