The Brazilian au pair who helped homicide her lover’s spouse and a would-be patsy in Virginia posted cringey selfies gushing over her much-older beau killer simply months earlier than the slaying.
Juliana Peres Magalhães, 25, shared snaps of herself and married IRS agent Brendan Banfield, 40, as they shamelessly cavorted in winter 2022, with posts exhibiting them canoodling in a bubble bathtub, groping one another beneath a desk — and even capturing weapons at a firing vary.
“Oh my god, I’m so extremely in love, I’ve been smitten since July of final 12 months,” learn one of many blushing selfies, proven to jurors in Banfield’s homicide trial final week.
Banfield’s face was midway lined by an unlimited puppy-eyed emoji within the photograph, whereas Magalhães lay again in his fleshy embrace with a smile on her face.
That photograph was taken in Dec. 2022 — two months earlier than Banfield’s 37-year-old spouse Christine could be murdered in what Magalhães testified was a sick scheme to faux a rape and kill on the Banfields’ Herndon dwelling.
Magalhães had grow to be the couple’s live-in au pair — serving to deal with their 4-year-old daughter — the summer time earlier than, when she and Banfield struck up a lusty affair.
Nevertheless it wasn’t lengthy earlier than Banfield started speaking about eager to “do away with” his spouse as a substitute of divorcing her, in response to Magalhães, they usually started formulating a plan to lure a twisted kinkster to their dwelling beneath the guise of finishing up a rape fantasy.
They allegedly made a profile beneath Christine’s identify on a fetish app and tricked 38-year-old Joseph Ryan into considering he was being invited over to roleplay breaking into her dwelling and raping her at knifepoint.
However Christine had no thought what was coming when Ryan snuck into the house in Feb. 2022, whereas Banfield was allegedly mendacity in wait to shoot him along with his IRS-issued handgun after which stab his spouse to demise with the blade Ryan had introduced — making it seem the husband had heroically tried to avoid wasting his spouse’s life.
With Christine lifeless, Magalhães moved into the house with Banfield — hanging her lingerie in Christine’s closet and sleeping every night time within the very mattress the place the mom had been murdered.
However that stunning habits seemed to be par for the course for the couple, who loved taking partially clothed selfies with one another — and even frolicked capturing handguns at a firing vary.
One other photograph proven to jurors — taken on New Yr’s Eve 2022 — confirmed Banfield’s hand on Magalhães thigh as they sat at a desk, which she captioned “My New Yr” alongside a string of wide-eyed and coronary heart emojis.
In a 3rd, Magalhães unloaded a pistol — just like the one used on the killing scene — on a goal alongside a caption studying, “This good-looking man takes actually good images,” with a sequence of emojis that appeared to cartoonishly imitate any person being shot within the head.
The honeymoon didn’t final lengthy, nonetheless, as Magalhães was arrested in Oct. 2023 and charged with homicide. She pleaded responsible to manslaughter a 12 months later, a month after Banfield was arrested in Sept. 2024.
Magalhães dished on the alleged plot and their salacious affair as Banfield’s homicide trial kicked off final week — however his protection insisted she’d been arrested merely to “flip her” towards Banfield.
She can be sentenced after Banfield’s trial, which is predicted to renew Tuesday and final three to 4 extra weeks.
Banfield, who now not works for the IRS, faces life in jail, if convicted.
