HERNDON, Va. β A Fairfax County judge denied bond Friday for a 23-year-old au pair charged with shooting and killing a man inside the home of the family she worked for.
Juliana Peres Magalhaes is charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of 39-year-old Joseph Nathan Ryan eight months ago. She made her first court appearance Friday.
Just before 8 a.m. on Feb. 24, police were called to the 13200 block of Stable Brook Way. When officers arrived, they found five people in the home β four adults and a 4-year-old child.
Two of the adults -- Ryan, and the wife of the family Magalhaes worked for, Christine Banfield -- were brutally murdered. According to police, there were no signs of forced entry at the home.
Magalhaes' attorney argued Friday that she killed Ryan in self-defense after he allegedly stabbed Banfield.
Her attorney told the judge that it was Banfield's husband, Brendan, who fired the first shot and told her to get his gun out of the safe. Her attorney says Magalhaes fired shots at Ryan because he started to try and get up.
Deirdre Fisher, Ryan's mother, told WUSA9 Friday night that her son was not a violent person.
"Joe never, at 39, had ever struck a woman or been violent with a woman. So, this is ridiculous It's so beyond ridiculous I can't even tell you. Like you don't just all of a sudden wake-up and decide you're gonna be a killer," said Fisher.
The prosecution presented evidence Friday that Magalhaes and the husband of the family she worked for, 38-year-old Brendan Banfield, had a sexual relationship for months. The attorney showed pictures of the Banfield's bedroom and closet the day of the murders compared to shortly after the au pair's arrest. In the eight months since the murders, it appears the au pair moved all her belongings into the primary bedroom. The prosecution also pointed out two photos of Magalhaes and Brendan Banfield together -- one on a nightstand and another on a dresser.
When police first questioned the family in February following the murders, Brendan Banfield told dispatchers that he'd shot Ryan after Ryan had stabbed his wife.
On Friday, prosecutors alleged that Ryan came into the picture because he responded to an account for sexual fetishes. The attorney said the account had been created from the Banfield home. Police have previously said Christine Banfield and Ryan were known to each other but have not explained the nature of their relationship.
"Well, I think that's possible," said Fisher.
She told WUSA9, "Joe was an adult. He was allowed to do what he wanted to do. You don't get murdered for your sexual activity, and it was between consensual adults".
Fisher says she wants justice for her son.
"He was a good man. That's what I want him remembered as the beautiful person he was on the inside," she said.
No one has been charged with Christine Banfield's death, yet.
The defense claimed they had not seen any of the evidence presented by the Commonwealthβs attorney. While the judge decided to keep Magalhaes in jail, the judge also told the defense attorney they could ask for another bond hearing in the future.
The judge also expressed concerns over the fact that Magalhaes, who is from Brazil, reportedly obtained a new passport after police had seized hers.
The defense attorney said his client obtained the passport innocently, not thinking any charges were going to come out of this. Her attorney says he asked for her personal belongings back from police repeatedly over the summer.
A preliminary hearing is set for early 2024.