Husband charged in Reston double murder case; au pair previously charged

FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. ( DC News Now ) — The Fairfax County police chief and commonwealth’s attorney said a man whose wife was one of two people who died after a stabbing and shooting at the couple’s home in 2023 will face charges.

Police Chief Kevin Davis joined Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano Monday to announce the indictment of Brendan Banfield in the murders of Banfield’s wife, Christine, 37, and Joseph Ryan, 39, of Springfield.

Officers with the Fairfax County Police Department (FCPD) arrested Banfield Monday.

While Davis and Descano declined to answer several specific questions surrounding evidence they obtained leading to the indictment, they noted this was a lengthy investigation.

“It’s digital evidence, it’s physical evidence, it’s forensic evidence, it’s circumstantial evidence,” Davis said. “The detectives, the prosecutors, have worked meticulously to ensure that every ‘t’ is crossed, and every ‘i’ is dotted. But the work still goes on.”

Police found Christine stabbed inside their home on Feb. 24, 2023 . Christine was in an upstairs bedroom near Ryan, who had been shot and died at the house in the 13200 block of Stable Brook Way. Medics took Christine to the hospital where she died.

Months later, police arrested Juliana Peres Magalhaes of Reston for Ryan’s murder.

Peres Magalhaes was the Banfields’ au pair.

“I hope that the family, friends, and loved ones of Christine and Joseph can find some solace in the knowledge that we’re pursuing justice for them,” Descano said at the Monday news conference.

In October 2023, the month of Peres Magalhaes’ arrest and bond hearing, the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office said that she and Banfield had an exclusive affair.

At the bond hearing, prosecutors showed the judge pictures of Peres Magalhaes’ room and closet as well as the Banfields’ bedroom and closet that were from the day of the deaths. They also showed pictures of the rooms and closets taken on the day of Peres Magalhaes’ arrest. Prosecutors noted that Peres Magalhaes’ closet was emptied out by the day of her arrest and that her clothes were hanging in the husband’s closet. There also were pictures of Peres Magalhaes and the husband together on the nightstand and dresser in his room.

Peres Magalhaes’ lawyer acknowledged that it would come out that the au pair and the husband had a sexual relationship but said that she had “many relationships,” none of which were exclusive. He added that Christine and Banfield each had affairs and were unfaithful to one another.

Peres Magalhaes’ lawyer told the judge that Christine had gotten Peres Magalhaes tickets to take Banfield’s 4-year-old child to the zoo the day of the shooting. The lawyer claimed that Christine made plans for Ryan to meet her at the home for sex, stating that the two met on some sort of website.

Peres Magalhaes said she forgot the child’s lunch and went back to the house to get it. When she did, she said she saw Ryan pull up and go into the house. Peres Magalhaes said she called Banfield who told her to wait and he would come home.

Peres Magalhaes’ lawyer said Peres Magalhaes went into the house with Banfield and took the 4-year-old child to the basement. She supposedly dialed 911 at that point but didn’t know what to say to the emergency dispatcher, so she hung up. The lawyer said Peres Magalhaes left the basement and that she and Banfield heard some sort of interaction involving Christine and Ryan above them. They weren’t sure if it was consensual or not. Peres Magalhaes said Banfield, who is a special agent for the IRS, pulled out his service weapon and went into the bedroom where he saw Ryan with a knife to Christine’s throat.

Peres Magalhaes’ lawyer said Banfield told Ryan to drop the knife and that Ryan, in turn, told Banfield to drop his gun. Ryan supposedly stabbed Christine several times in her neck. Peres Magalhaes’ lawyer said Banfield shot Ryan in the head, not killing him, but in a way the medical examiner said would have blinded Ryan. The lawyer said Banfield told Peres Magalhaes to grab his gun, which she got out of a safe in the bathroom. Peres Magalhaes said Ryan started flailing around or posed a threat of some sort, possibly moving to get up off of the ground. Her lawyer said that’s when she shot Ryan, hitting him in the heart, and killing him.

The course of events and other details that the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney laid out at Peres Magalhaes’ bond hearing differed drastically from Peres Magalhaes’ account.

Prosecutors said Banfield didn’t go to work that day. Instead, he’s to have left the home in the morning and gone somewhere close to it.

As far as the way that Peres Magalhaes’ lawyer said Christine and Ryan met and knew each other, prosecutors said that someone other than Christine set up an account on a fetish website and that Ryan responded to it. They added that it was part of a plan that would allow Peres Magalhaes and Banfield to end up together.

Peres Magalhaes, who is from Brazil, obtained a new passport after investigators confiscated her original one.

Although her lawyer argued that Peres Magalhaes needed a passport as a form of ID and that he told her to get a new one after he was unable to get her original passport from police, it added to the concern that Peres Magalhaes could be a flight risk.

Because of the potential flight risk, as well as the fact that a gun was used in the crime of which Peres Magalhaes is accused of committing and the nature of that crime, the judge denied bond for her.

As of Monday, Peres Magalhaes was still in custody.

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