Banfield husband wife killing au pair.

A Brazilian au pair is testifying against her former employer and lover in a double homicide case that she says was part of an elaborate scheme to get rid of the man’s wife. Brendan Banfield is charged with aggravated murder in the 2023 killings of Christine Banfield and Joseph Ryan at the Banfields’ home in northern Virginia. He has pleaded not guilty and could face life in prison if convicted.  Juliana Peres Magalhães, the family’s au pair, was also charged with murder but pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter after cooperating with investigators. Banfield’s attorney says she only testified against Banfield because she was in jail and lost faith in her attorney.

Prosecutors say a Virginia man, having an affair with his family’s Brazilian au pair, used an elaborate scheme to lure an unsuspecting man to the house as part of a plan to kill his wife. Brendan Banfield is charged with aggravated murder in the February 2023 killings of Christine Banfield and the second man. Brendan Banfield has said he and the au pair found the man stabbing Christine and shot him. Some media have dubbed the case the “au pair affair.” The au pair, Juliana Peres Magalhães, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in 2024. Banfield’s attorney says he is innocent. He says detectives who disagreed with the theory that the pair lured Ryan to the house were transferred.

A Virginia man who had a relationship with a Brazilian au pair is going on trial in the killings of his wife and another man. Brendan Banfield is charged with aggravated murder in the February 2023 killings of Christine Banfield and Joseph Ryan at a home in northern Virginia. Prosecutors argue the killings stem from a catfishing scheme in which Banfield lured Ryan to the house and staged it to look like he and the family’s au pair shot a predator in defense. Not all officials investigating the case believe Banfield catfished Ryan. Banfield’s attorney says that officials are searching for evidence to fit their theory of the elaborate scheme.