Husband charged in double homicide after having affair with au pair is
going on trial in Virginia
[January 12, 2026]
By OLIVIA DIAZ
FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — A Virginia man who had a relationship with a
Brazilian au pair is going to trial Monday in what prosecutors say was
an elaborate double-murder scheme to frame another man in the stabbing
of his wife.
Brendan Banfield is charged with aggravated murder in the February 2023
killings of Christine Banfield and Joseph Ryan at the Banfields' home in
northern Virginia. He has pleaded not guilty in the case.
Banfield and Juliana Peres Magalhães, the family’s au pair, were with
the wife and Ryan on the morning the victims were killed in the primary
bedroom of the Banfield home, court records say. Authorities have said
on that day, Banfield and Magalhães told officials they saw Ryan, a
stranger, stabbing the wife after he entered the house. Then they each
shot the intruder, Banfield and Magalhães said at the time.
Prosecutors have painted a different picture, arguing that Brendan
Banfield and Magalhães lured Ryan to the house and staged it to look
like he and the au pair shot a predator in defense. Officials have said
Banfield and Magalhães had a romantic affair beginning the year before
the killings.
Both the au pair and husband were arrested between 2023 and 2024 and
initially handed murder charges in the case. In 2024, Magalhães pleaded
guilty to a downgraded manslaughter charge after giving a statement to
officials confirming parts of their theory.
In that statement, Magalhães said she and Brendan Banfield created an
account in his wife’s name on a social media platform for people
interested in sexual fetishes. There, Ryan connected with the account in
Christine Banfield’s name, and the users made plans to meet on the
morning of Feb. 24, 2023, for a sexual encounter that would involve a
knife, authorities said based on the statement from Magalhães.
Prosecutor Eric Clingan said last year that the au pair's statement
helped the state solidify its theory ahead of trial.
“With 12 different homicide detectives, there were 24 different
theories,” Clingan said. “Now, one theory.”
Not all officials investigating the case have believed Banfield and
Magalhães catfished Ryan.
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This image provided by the Fairfax County Police Department
and taken on Oct. 13, 2023, was submitted as evidence in the murder
case against Brendan Banfield shows a framed photo of Banfield and
Juliana Peres Magalhães on his bedside table in Herndon, Va.
(Fairfax County Police Department via AP, File)
Brendan Miller, a former digital forensic examiner with the Fairfax
County Police Department, testified last year that he analyzed
dozens of devices and concluded Christine Banfield had connected
with Ryan herself through the social networking platform.
An evidence analysis team at the University of Alabama peer-reviewed
and affirmed Miller’s digital forensic findings, according to
evidence submitted to the court.
Miller was transferred out of the department’s digital forensics
unit in late 2024, though a former Fairfax County commander
testified the reassignment was not punitive or disciplinary.
John Carroll, Banfield's attorney, argued that Millers' transfer was
directly tethered to the case. He also said in court that Fairfax
County police reassigned the case’s lead detective after that man
had pushed back on the top brass’ catfishing theory.
“It is a theory in search of facts rather than a series of facts
supporting a theory,” Carroll said.
Banfield, whose daughter was at the house on the morning of the
killings, is also charged with child abuse and felony child cruelty
in connection with the case. He will also face those charges during
the aggravated murder trial.
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