Husband and au pair have an affair then kill his wife and other man, Virginia cops say

A husband and an au pair accused of having an affair are now both charged with murder after Virginia police say the man’s wife and a stranger were killed at the family home.

Brendan Banfield, 39, has been charged with four counts of aggravated murder and use of a firearm in commission of a felony in connection with the deaths of his wife, Christine Banfield, and another man, Joseph Ryan, in February 2023, the Fairfax County Police Department said Sept. 16.

Police say Banfield stabbed his wife and shot Ryan, while the au pair, 23-year-old Juliana Peres Magalhaes, shot Ryan as well.

McClatchy News reached out to both parties’ attorneys for comment Sept. 17 and did not immediately receive a response.

Prosecutors said Ryan was at the home as part of a rendezvous to engage in sex acts with Christine Banfield, arranged through a fetish website, the Washington Post and WTOP reported. Investigators haven’t shared who in the household created the account on the site.

In October, Magalhaes was charged with second-degree murder and use of a firearm in commission of a felony in Ryan’s death, police said. Her attorney, Ryan Campbell, said she shot the man in self-defense, but for over a year no one was charged in Christine Banfield’s death, according to WTOP.

“Now, 570 days later, we know the deaths of Joseph Ryan and Christine Banfield are both, in fact, murders,” Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said at a news conference Sept. 16.

Magalhaes, who’s from Brazil, was working as the live-in nanny for the Banfield’s 4-year-old daughter when she and Brendan Banfield began a romantic relationship, police said.

The morning of Feb. 24, 2023, Magalhaes called 911, then Brendan Banfield got on the line and said he shot a stranger who had entered his home and stabbed his wife, according to police.

First responders headed to the bedroom and found Ryan dead from gunshot wounds and Banfield suffering from stab wounds that she later succumbed to, according to police.

A grand jury indicted Brendan Banfield as evidence came together during the 19-month investigation, prosecutors said. But Davis said at the news conference that they’re not celebrating justice yet, as Banfield and Magalhaes now both await prosecution.

“This isn’t over,” Davis said.

Fairfax County is part of the western Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.

This story was originally published September 17, 2024 at 2:19 PM with the headline "Husband and au pair have an affair then kill his wife and other man, Virginia cops say."