He’s Accused of Killing His Wife in an Alleged BDSM Plot: Here's How Au Pair Ex-Lover Will Be Key at Trial By Liam Quinn

The trial of a Virginia man accused of orchestrating the murder of his wife while he was having an affair with their au pair is beginning Tuesday, Jan. 13.

Brendan Banfield is charged with murder in connection with the 2023 deaths of his wife, Christine Banfield, and Joseph Ryan.

Christine was fatally stabbed on on Feb. 23, 2023 in her home in Herndon, Va. Ryan was found dead from gunshot wounds nearby.

Prosecutors have alleged that Brendan had started an affair with Juliana Peres Magalhaes in 2022, after she began working for the family as an au pair and moved into the home with the couple and their 4-year-old daughter.

A month prior to the killings, Brendan is accused of creating a profile on Fetlife.com, a bondage website, posing as Christine. Prosecutors said he began communicating with Ryan and allegedly began discussing a “consensual sexual encounter involving restraints used on her, her clothing being cut off with a knife he brought, and other violent sexual role play,” prosecutors said.

Further, prosecutors alleged that Brendan had Peres Magalhaes call Ryan while pretending to be Christine.

The alleged plan involved Brendan giving Peres Magalhaes a gun, and then telling her to call Christine’s phone when Ryan entered the home and then to call him.

Prosecutors have alleged Brendan received the au pair’s call and drove home, where he shot Ryan in the head and stabbed his wife. Peres Magalhaes was accused of then shooting Ryan after seeing him move.

In October 2024, Peres Magalhaes pleaded guilty to manslaughter in Ryan’s death. In a recorded interview with prosecutors, which was obtained by NBC4, Peres Magalhaes said she and Brendan were involved in the plot to kill Christine.

She claimed to prosecutors Brendan was the mastermind behind the plot, per NBC4.

When Ryan arrived at the Banfield home, Peres Magalhaes reportedly said that Christine was sleeping.

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“We told him before that it was kinda part of the game, where the person gets in the bedroom and then I would act like scared, like, try to run or try to scream or if the person starts doing something, she would just get kinda freaked out and try to resist but it was like ‘part of the game,'” she reportedly said, per NBC.

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Peres Magalhaes also said in the recorded interview that she and Brendan “reported the offense as if Joseph Ryan was an intruder who stabbed Christine Banfield.”

Brendan has pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder charges, according to NBC4.

Peres Magalhaes is expected to testify at Brendan’s trial, which began with opening statements Tuesday, according to NBC4.

Brendan was previously an agent for the criminal division of the Internal Revenue Service. Christine was a pediatric intensive care nurse.