On Tuesday, Virginia police reported a second arrest in connection with a 2023 double-murder case in Herndon, an affluent Washington, D.C. suburb.
“Our entire community was shaken early last year by the double homicide of Christine Banfield and Joseph Ryan. Today, I am pleased to announce that, thanks to the efforts of police and prosecutors, the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office has obtained an indictment against Brendan Banfield for the murders of his wife, Christine, and Ryan,” Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano stated during a press conference on Tuesday.
Brendan Banfield, a husband and father of a then-4-year-old daughter, and his family’s then-22-year-old Brazilian au pair, Juliana Peres Magalhaes, are accused of murdering Christine, Brendan’s wife and Fairfax County NICU employee, and Joseph Ryan, a 38-year-old man who arrived at her home armed with a knife, in Herndon, Virginia, in February 2023.
Ryan’s relationship with the family or their au pair is unclear.
Brendan Banfield faces four counts of aggravated murder and using a handgun to commit a felony.
Magalhaes is also charged with aggravated murder and using a handgun to commit a felony.
“On February 24, 2023, I stood in the center of a cul-de-sac street in Fairfax County, explaining the murders of two people inside a domestic residence. “Now, 570 days later, we know that Joseph Ryan and Christine Banfield were murdered,” Fairfax County Police Department Chief Kevin Davis said during a press conference on Tuesday.
When authorities went to a 911 call from the residence that day, they discovered Christine with stab wounds to the neck and Ryan with fatal gunshot wounds in the home’s upstairs bedroom. Christine was transferred to a hospital, where she was subsequently pronounced dead, Davis said.
Officials found a knife and two weapons at the site.
“I will not describe our victim Joseph Ryan’s involvement with anyone in the case at the moment because this investigation continues,” Davis told reporters.
Magalhaes told authorities on February 24, 2023, that she left the Banfields’ home in the 13200 block of Stable Brook Way in Herndon to take their small daughter to the National Zoo. She informed police that she had started driving but realized she had forgotten the lunches she had prepared for their trip back inside the home, so she turned around and saw an unusual car in the driveway.
She then reportedly called Brendan, a former IRS criminal investigative agent who had already left for work, and informed him about the mysterious car in their driveway. According to the Washington Post, the duo arranged to meet at the Banfields’ home and stroll inside together.
Magalhaes initially told authorities that when she and Brendan walked inside, they saw an unknown man, Ryan, holding Christine at knifepoint. She allegedly referred to him as an intruder. Ryan appeared to be completely clothed, but Christine was naked in the main bedroom of the house.
It’s unclear what happened inside the home that Friday morning, but Magalhaes and Brendan both admitted to shooting Ryan while he was holding a knife to Christine.
According to the Post, prosecutors believe a computer in the Banfield residence was linked to a sexual fetish website account.
While the account on the computer looked to have a photo of Christine in a swimming suit, it is unclear who was conversing through it. According to the Post, the profile also did not show “one iota of evidence that she was into knife play, binding, BDSM,” as prosecutor Eric Clingan stated in court.
Ryan, the man who held Christine at knifepoint, seemed to have an account on the website and was interacting with whoever was accessing it from the Banfield computer.
Magalhaes was eventually caught in October 2023 after moving into the Banfields’ main bedroom and displaying a framed portrait of herself with Brendan on a nightstand beside the bed. A grand jury indicted the 23-year-old in April, and her trial is planned for November.
Ryan Campbell, Magalhaes’ attorney, did not respond to a query from Fox News Digital. The IRS confirmed that Brendan is no longer employed there.
