Au-Pair accused of double murder pleads guilty to manslaughter

FAIRFAX, Virginia — A Brazilian au pair who fell in love with an IRS agent pleaded guilty Tuesday to manslaughter in what prosecutors say was an elaborate double-murder scheme to frame another man for stabbing his wife.

In the months following the murders of February 24, 2023, it would appear that Juliana Pérez Magalhães and IRS agent Brendan Banfieldshe got away with murder, according to new details prosecutors revealed in court to support her guilty plea.

Christina Banfield, a pediatric intensive care nurse with a 4-year-old daughter, was fatally stabbed in the neck, and Brendan Banfield, her husband and their live-in nanny shot and killed her alleged male killer. who was lured into the bedroom with promises of rough sex.

Magalhães called 911 at a home in Herndon, Virginia, and found herself hyperventilating at the scene as she described the killings.

Detectives weren’t buying it, but it took time to build a case. Meanwhile, the au pair moved into the master bedroom with Banfield and posted photos of them as a couple, authorities said. When she was arrested in October 2023, there was a photo of her with Brendan Banfield on her nightstand.

And then, because she remained in prison for over a year after that, she refused to say anything more.

The long-awaited forensic report blood spatter evidence then came and prosecutors said it showed Brendan Banfield smeared blood from Christina Banfield’s wounds onto the body of Joe Ryan, the man they were trying to blame for stabbing her. In September, authorities arrested Brendan Banfield on aggravated murder charges.

Banfield’s lawyer, John F. Carroll, said in court before he was denied bail in September that the evidence “simply does not support” him killing his wife.

In October, Magalhães agreed to cooperate with police during a second interrogation since the crime. Days later, on Tuesday, two weeks before she was due to stand trial on second-degree murder and firearms charges, Magalhães pleaded guilty to Ryan’s murder, saying she agreed to help her husband in his ploy to kill wife and make it look like they both shot the predator.

“Are you entering a guilty plea because you are actually guilty of this crime?” Chief Judge Penny Ascarate questioned Magalhães before accepting her plea to one count of manslaughter, less murder and a firearm offense.

“Yes,” she answered softly.

Magalhães, who grew up on the outskirts of Sao Paulo, now awaits sentencing for the trial of Brendan Banfield. Depending on her cooperation with authorities, lawyers said in court they could agree to have her sentenced to the time she has already served.

“Much of the information that led to this agreement cannot be made public at this time due to the pending criminal trial against the other defendant in this case,” said Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano.

In laying out the facts, which Magalhães confirmed in court, prosecutors said she made several calls to 911 that day. The first lasted a few seconds, with no words — just someone’s guttural moans in the background. Then, about 15 minutes later, she received another call saying that her friend had been stabbed to death by an intruder. Brendan Banfield then picked up the phone and said he shot the man who wounded his wife.

In the officer’s body camera footage presented in court last month, Magalhães is seen kneeling in the driveway, seemingly confused and unable to catch her breath.

“There was a lot of blood,” Magalhães said, breathing heavily. “Brendan said, ‘Please drop the knife, drop the knife,’ because he had a knife.”

She later told detectives that she shot the intruder in the chest after Brendan Banfield shot him in the head.

But in court Tuesday, prosecutors said she lied to lure someone into the house and frame her for her wife’s murder.

The affidavit says Magalhães began working for the Banfields in late 2021. Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Eric Clingan said in court that the au pair and her husband began an affair in August 2022. Soon after, Brendan Banfield began plotting to kill his wife, Clingan said. .

To cover up the ruse, Clingan claimed Brendan Banfield created his wife’s social media profile for people interested in sexual fetishes and matched her with Ryan. They were soon communicating via Telegram, an encrypted messaging app, with Magalhães pretending to be Christina Banfield during a voice call. Ryan agreed to come to the house for what appeared to be a consensual sexual encounter.

“At various points prior to the 24th, Perez Magalhães told Brendan Banfield that she did not believe he would carry out the plan, and at other times she told him that she did not want to proceed,” Clingan said. “But he insisted that it was too late for her to back out.”

Clingan said Magalhães and Brendan Banfield left the girl in the basement and then followed Ryan into the bedroom with guns in their hands.

Authorities wiretapped her phone calls at the Fairfax County Jail. In one call last month, Clingan said Brendan Banfield’s mother, who paid for the au pair’s legal defense, discussed the consequences snitches would face in prison.

In another, between Brendan Banfield and an au pair, Magalhães said: “I hope you’re not just staying with me because you’re afraid I’ll turn against you.”