Husband In Au Pair Murder Case Charged With Child Neglect

HERNDON, VA — A Reston husband and father charged with murder in his wife's death, is now charged with child neglect. Prosecutors said he had an affair with the family au pair and plotted with her to kill his wife.

Brendan Banfield, 39, was indicted in September on four counts of aggravated murder and one count of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony in connection with the Feb. 24, 2023, stabbing of his wife, Christine Banfield, 37, and shooting of Joseph Ryan, 39, of Springfield. The Banfields' 4-year-old daughter was in the home at the time of the slayings, officials have said.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano said Monday that a grand jury recently indicted Brendan Banfield on one count of felony child abuse and neglect and one count of felony child cruelty tied to the slayings.

Descano said in a statement, “Additional information has come to light over the course of our investigation, and we believe these additional charges reflect the events that occurred in the house on that day. My office is committed to bringing the strongest case possible against Brendan Banfield for the alleged murders of Christine Banfield and Joseph Ryan.”

The indictments allege that Banfield’s actions on the day of the deaths involved his daughter, who was at the scene, and were criminal in nature. Banfield’s trial date is set for Feb. 3, 2025.

The family’s live-in au pair, Juliana Peres Magalhaes, 24, was arrested in October 2023 and charged with murder and the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony for Ryan's death. She pleaded guilty to manslaughter on Oct. 29, 2024, and is in custody awaiting her sentencing, set for March 21, 2025.

"We know Brandon Banfield and Juliana Margalis, the family au pair, were involved in a romantic relationship at the time of the murder," Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said at a news conference in September.

Peres Magalhaes pleaded guilty Oct. 29 in Fairfax County Circuit Court to one count of manslaughter in Ryan's death. She had been charged with two counts of second-degree murder in the case.

As part of a plea deal, Peres Magalhaes agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in the case against Brendan Banfield, according to the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office.

Although Peres Magalhaes faces up to 10 years on the manslaughter charge, Descano asked the judge to cap her sentence to time served. In order to assure her cooperation, he also requested that the sentencing be scheduled after the outcome of Brendan Banfield’s case.

On Sept. 17, authorities said Banfield had been charged with four counts of aggravated murder in connection with the 2023 killings of his wife and Ryan. He faces a life sentence for each of the charges.

Related:

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

The killings happened on Feb. 24, 2023, at a home in the 13200 block of Stable Brook Way in the Hattontown neighborhood in the Herndon area.

After being called to the scene earlier in the morning, police found Christine Banfield with upper body stab wounds and Ryan with upper body gunshot wounds. Banfield was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead, while Ryan died at the scene.

The Washington Post reported that Banfield told a 911 dispatcher he had shot Ryan. He also accused Ryan of stabbing Christine Banfield.

At a news briefing after the killings, Davis said the au pair and Banfield’s husband both called 911. The husband had told a 911 dispatcher he shot a man who had entered the home and stabbed 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 waiting downstairs with her jacket zipped up and a backpack over her shoulders.

A framed photograph of both Brendan Banfield and Peres Magalhaes smiling was found on the nightstand in the master bedroom. Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Eric Clingan said in court 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 court, prosecutors said 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.