Reston au pair, Juliana Peres Magalhaes, pleaded guilty to manslaughter on October 29, 2024. The 23 year old was faced with two counts of second degree murder of Joseph Ryan and Christine Banfield, but was able to lessen her charge to one count of manslaughter in a plea deal.
The plea deal was a major step towards the investigation of the double homicide of Joseph Ryan and Christine Banfield, back in February of 2023.
Magalhaes was the au pair to married couple Christine Banfield and Brendan Banfield at their home in Herndon.
According to Mr. Banfield, there was more going on between him and the au pair.
“We know Brandon Banfield and Juliana Margalis, the family au pair, were involved in a romantic relationship at the time of the murder,” FCPD Chief Kevin David said.
In the morning of February 24, 2023, Magalhaes was taking care of the Banfield’s baby in the car and saw a man with a bag enter the house. Mrs. Banfield was the only one in the house, so Magalhaes called her, but she didn’t pick up. Magalhaes then called Mr. Banfield who had already left for work, and he quickly came back to the house.
Mr. Banfield got back to the house to find the man, Joseph Ryan, holding a knife up to his wife’s neck.
Ryan had reportedly entered the Banfield house for a date with Mrs. Banfield, whom he was having an affair with, and later stabbed her in the upper body multiple times. Mr. Banfield told police that he then shot Ryan in the chest and called out to Magalhaes to grab the other gun in the house. However, police have forensic evidence that points towards Magalhaes being the one who shot Ryan. After Ryan had been shot, Magalhaes called 911 with Mr. Banfield also on the phone and reported the incident.
At 8:13 AM the police arrived at the Banfield house to find Mrs. Banfield naked and near death. Two handguns and a bloody knife were found in the house, along with the Banfield’s four year old daughter tucked away in the basement.
“The truest victim of all of this is that poor girl,” Chief Davis said in an interview with Fox news.
In an interview with the police, Magalhaes confessed to killing Ryan after seeing what had been done to Mrs. Banfield. Additionally, Mr. Banfield is in jail with four counts of aggravated murder, leaving the four year old daughter without either of her parents.
