Au Pair Misleads Police On Bodycam Video After 2 Slayings: Prosecutor

HERNDON, VA — Video shot by police bodycams as they entered a Herndon home — where a man was lured there on a pretext to be blamed for a wife's killing and was himself fatally shot — has been released by Fairfax County Police.

Fairfax County Police video released this week showed officers with their weapons drawn as they entered a home in the 13200 block of Stable Brook Way on the morning of Feb. 24, 2023.

Since the bodycam video from the scene of the Feb. 24, 2023 double homicide includes a minor in much of the footage, Patch has chosen not publish the video.

In one video, as police are responding to the shooting, a woman’s voice could be heard telling officers that there was no one outside. When asked who the shooter was, the woman, who was later identified as family au pair Juliana Peres Magalhaes, said “Brendan,” referring to the home's owner, Brendan Banfield.

Once the all-clear signal was given, Peres Magalhaes went upstairs to grab some things from her bedroom and led police to the basement floor, according to the video. Officers found Banfield’s daughter, who was 4½ years old at the time, waiting downstairs with her jacket zipped up and a backpack over her shoulders.

On Tuesday, Peres Magalhaes pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the death of 39-year-old Joseph Ryan of Springfield, according to court records.

Peres Magalhaes had been charged with two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of Ryan and Christine Banfield, wife of Brendan Banfield. The au pair agreed to plead guilty to the lesser charge in exchange for testifying against her former employer, who is accused of killing his wife, as well Ryan, according to the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office.

Related:

• Au Pair Pleads Guilty To Manslaughter In Herndon Killing: Reports
• 4 Murder Charges Filed Against Husband In 2023 Double Homicide
• Herndon Au Pair Charged In Death Of Springfield Man: Report

After the judge accepted Peres Magalhaes’ plea, the police released three bodycam videos and other evidence from the case, including Ryan’s autopsy and photos taken inside the home.

One photo was of a framed photograph of both Brendan Banfield and Peres Magalhaes smiling that was found on the nightstand in the master bedroom. Prosecutors said the couple had a romantic relationship.

There was also a receipt for the purchase of a Glock 43X MOS pistol dated Jan. 28, 2023 from Silver Eagle Group, a gun store and shooting range in Ashburn. There was also a photo showing the au pair firing the weapon at the shooting range.

In court on Tuesday, prosecutors said that Peres Magalhaes had moved to Herndon from Brazil in order to work as an au pair for Banfield’s daughter, according to the Washington Post.

On the morning of the killings, the au pair posed as Christine Banfield in a call to Ryan in order to lure him to their home. Once there, Ryan was shot by Brendan Banfield, prosecutors said, according to the Post’s reporting.

At first, Brendan Banfield and the au pair told police that Ryan had stabbed Christine Banfield, prosecutors said. When Brendan and the au pair entered the home, he shot and killed Ryan in the main bedroom, where his wife’s body was found, according to the Post.

Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Eric Clingan told Chief Fairfax Circuit Court Judge Penney S. Azcarate on Tuesday that Brendan Banfield and Peres Magalhaes started a relationship, and he confided in her his desire to kill his wife, according to the Post’s reporting.

The pair then opened an account on a sexual fetish website, prosecutors said. That’s where they found Ryan and developed a plan to use him as the purported killer of Christine Banfield.

In one of the bodycam videos, Peres Magalhaes told police she had gone outside with the couple’s daughter, intending to take her to the zoo. But, when she noticed a strange car in the driveway and couldn’t reach Christine Banfield on the phone, she called Brendan Banfield, authorities said.

As the video continues, the au pair tells police that she and her boss entered the house together and went to the master bedroom, where Peres Magalhaes told police she saw Ryan spanking Christine Banfield. Leaving the room, the au pair brought the couple’s daughter back into the house and left her in a downstairs room, she said in the video. That’s when the au pair heard Brendan Banfield shouting at Ryan about dropping a knife, which was followed by the sound of gunshots, according to charging documents.

Later on in the video, Peres Magalhaes and the Banfields’ child are shown waiting in the backseat of a police car. She asked one of the officers where Brendan Banfield was and whether he was hurt. They told her he was in another police cruiser and wasn’t injured, otherwise he would have been in an ambulance.

Although Peres Magalhaes faces up to 10 years on the manslaughter charge, Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano asked the judge to cap her sentence at time served. In order to assure her cooperation, he also requested that the sentencing be scheduled after the outcome of Brendan Banfield’s Feb. 3 trial, where he faces four counts of aggravated murder.

Peres Magalhaes is due back in court on March 21, 2025, for sentencing.