Judge In Au Pair Double Murder Case Denies Interview Evidence

HERNDON, VA — Prosecutors in a double murder trial cannot include as evidence a recorded interview of the young daughter of a Herndon man accused of killing his wife and another man in February 2023 was denied by a Fairfax County judge, according to reports.

Fairfax Circuit Court Chief Judge Penney Azcarate denied a prosecutors’ motion on Friday to use the young child’s conversation with a forensic interviewer about what she believed was happening the morning her mother was killed at her home, according to the Associated Press. The child’s father, Brendan Banfield, was later charged with aggravated murder in the February 2023 deaths of his wife, Christine Banfield, and Joe Ryan, a man who was invited to the house that day.

In making his case, Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Clingan argued the child's testimony was admissible in court because she was the victim of her father's alleged abuse, according to AP. At the time of the killings, the child was in the basement of the Banfield's home. In December, Brendan Banfield was accused of child abuse and felony child cruelty in connection to the 2023 homicides.

Azcarate also sided with defense attorney John F. Carroll, who argued in court that the child's father had not consented to his daughter being interviewed by police. Such an interview would only be admissible if the child was being directly victimized by the parent, AP reported.

Juliana Peres Magalhaes, the family au pair, was involved in a romantic relationship with Brendan Banfield at the time of the murder on Feb. 24, 2023, prosecutors have said. They argue Banfield planned to kill his wife with help from the au pair.

Peres Magalhaes pleaded guilty last October to one count of manslaughter in the death of 39-year-old Joseph Ryan of Springfield, and will be sentenced Dec. 19. On Oct. 29, 2024, a Fairfax County Circuit Court judge accepted the former au pair’s guilty plea to a lesser charge of manslaughter.

The killings happened at the Banfield home in the 13200 block of Stable Brook Way in the Hattontown neighborhood in the Herndon area. At the scene, police found Christine Banfield with upper-body stab wounds and Ryan suffering from upper body gunshot wounds. Banfield was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead, while Ryan died at the scene.

A 4-year-old girl was home when the shooting occurred and was not hurt, police said.

Prosecutors said Brendan Banfield posed as his wife on a fetish website and lured Ryan to the home for what he thought was consensual sex. Brendan Banfield then shot Ryan in the bedroom and stabbed his wife, prosecutors have said, while Peres Magalhaes also shot Ryan.

Fairfax County Police Transferred Detective In Banfield Homicide Case

Earlier this month, Brendan Banfield argued in court that Fairfax County Police transferred a detective who worked on the case and may have evidence that refutes some evidence in the murder case.

A Fairfax County judge on July 10 ordered the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney to review all police communications about the transfer of a Fairfax County police officer who worked on the case, and hand over exculpatory evidence, if it is found, to Banfield, WJLA reported.

Exculpatory evidence can excuse, justify, or absolve the guilt of a criminal defendant.

Banfield’s attorney said the police department’s digital forensic analyst determined Brendan Banfield was not behind the accounts that communicated with Ryan. After the Fairfax County detective’s conclusion, they were transferred and moved off the case, WJLA said. The defense questioned why some evidence was not shared with Banfield's team and asked why Fairfax County police officers were transferred.

Related: Au Pair Pleads Guilty To Manslaughter In Herndon Killing: Reports

The judge ordered the prosecutor to turn over all Fairfax County Police Department communications about the police transfer to Banfield’s defense team if it may exonerate him of the charges he faces.

The Commonwealth Attorney's office gave a statement to WJLA about the judge's ruling:

“The judge ultimately made two rulings in this case. First, she found that the Commonwealth has not violated any Brady duties. Second, she authorized our office to look into personnel files regarding the transfer of an investigator on this case, requiring prosecutors to access information that is typically not at issue in a criminal matter. We look forward to presenting this case to a jury of community members.”

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

Brendan Banfield’s original trial date was set for Feb. 3, 2025, but in January, the judge rescheduled it for Oct. 20.

4 Counts Of Aggravated Murder Levied Against Brendan Banfield

On Sept. 17, 2024, Descano and Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis 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.

At a news briefing after the killings, Davis said Peres Magalhaes 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.

Related: New Trial Date For Reston Man Charged With Wife's Death In 2023 Au Pair Murder Case

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 Washington Post.

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.

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.

The Associated Press contributed to the reporting of this story.

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