FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. — A hearing was held in a Fairfax County courtroom Monday as the justice system works to figure out what led to a man and woman being killed in a home in Herndon last year.
On Feb. 24, 2023, police found the bodies of Joseph Ryan and Christine Banfield in the Banfield family's home.
Juliana Peres Magalahes was working for the family as an au pair from Brazil, or a live-in nanny, when she was charged with Ryan's death.
Prosecutors said the au pair and husband of the home, Brandon Banfield, were having an affair months prior to the deadly incident. Records in court showed photos of the same room where the shooting took place with new framed photos of the two.
Senior Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Eric Clingan shared records from Silver Eagle Group Shooting Range in Ashburn. They showed two months before the shooting, Peres Magalhaes and Brandon Banfield visited the gun range. A few weeks later, Clingan said Brandon Banfield also purchased a gun which would eventually be used to shoot Ryan.
While the prosecution didn't blatantly say the two conspired a plot, people in the courtroom including members of the local Brazilian community question if an alleged affair played a role.
"Everyone is extremely curious," Thais Bilessimo, who says she has mutual friends with the au pair, told WUSA9 after the preliminary hearing. "A lot of people believe that Juliana is not guilty and that she didn't do anything. A lot of others people that she and him were planning together. Everyone just wants to know the truth."
An attorney representing Peres Magalhaes painted a picture in court of the chain of events that led to the two people's deaths.
There were two 911 calls that morning 15 minutes apart starting at 7:47 a.m. that led investigators to the Banfield's home on Stable Brook Way.
The morning of the shooting, Christine Banfield had purchased tickets for Peres Magalhaes to take her 4-year-old daughter to the zoo.
Peres Magalhaes ended up returning home because she'd left their lunches behind and wanted to pick them up. When Peres Magalhaes got to the home, there was a car she didn't recognize in the Banfields' driveway.
Peres Magalhaes' defense attorney said that she called Christine Banfield from outside, and when she didn't answer, she called Branden Banfield, who was at a nearby McDonald's.
The au pair waited outside for Branden Banfield, her attorney said. And when they entered the home, he went upstairs where Peres Magalhaes said Branden Banfield caught his wife in the room naked with Ryan.
There was a commotion upstairs, and Peres Magalhaes' attorney said she heard calls to "drop the knife." And she eventually heard the sound of "flesh being struck."
According to Peres Magalhaes' chain of events, Branden Banfield shot Ryan. She confessed to a detective that Branden Banfield then instructed her to get a second gun in the safe in the bathroom closet.
In a previous hearing, attorneys say the au pair and husband acted out of self-defense.
"Mr. Banfield told her to obtain a firearm from the bathroom closet," testified Fairfax County Police Detective Steven Carter. "Mr. Banfield provided her with the code to get into the safe."
Peres Magalhaes confessed to shooting Ryan, who was already on the ground, in the chest – "piercing through his heart."
But why did Peres Magalhaes do as Branden Banfield allegedly asked?
Peres Magalhaes initially told detectives that she was not in a romantic relationship with Branden Banfield, an assertion not shared by her attorney in court on Monday – who described Peres Magalhaes as Branden Banfield's "girlfriend, live-in lover."
Branden Banfield has not been charged in the case. The morning of the shooting, he told authorities that he'd shot a man in his house who had stabbed his wife. Branden Banfield was an IRS special agent, and prosecutors suggested Monday he was carrying his issued gun at the time of the shooting.
His counsel was also at Monday's hearing while he’s still being investigated. Branden Banfield took the Fifth Amendment to most of the questions out of concern his answers could incriminate him.
The case is now headed for a grand jury.
WUSA9 has been on this story since it broke in 2023, and we will continue to bring you details as we learn them.
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