Divorce was “not an choice” for Virginia IRS agent Brandon Banfield, who needed depart his spouse and run off with the sultry Brazilian au pair he’d been sleeping with for barely two months.
So Banfield, 40, allegedly devised a twisted plot to lure a fetish-seeker to his dwelling underneath the guise of taking part in out a rape fantasy along with his 37-year-old spouse, Christine, after which shoot the kinkster within the act and stab his spouse to stage an assault and homicide, all whereas making himself seem a tragic hero.
That’s based on the naughty nanny herself — 25-year-old Juliana Peres Magalhães — who testified about the entire sordid affair as Banfield’s homicide trial kicked off final week, the place she detailed weeks of meticulous preparation whereas insisting she was solely following her lover’s orders.
The morbid scheme all started in October 2021 when Magalhães was employed by the Banfields to assist deal with their 4-year-old daughter. She was paid $200 per week, based on WUSA, and moved into their Herndon dwelling as a live-in au pair.
Inside a yr, nevertheless, her job grew to become greater than a babysitting gig when she started sleeping with Banfield round July or August 2022. By October, Banfield had made up his thoughts that he needed to depart his spouse — however he didn’t need to pay for a divorce, and didn’t need to share custody of their daughter, Magalhães testified.
So Banfield settled on homicide as a substitute, and within the coming weeks laid out a sick plan to discover a kinkster on the web who would unknowingly topic his spouse to unimaginable trauma within the last moments of her life — and his personal, based on the testimony.
He allegedly arrange an account on a BDSM fetish web site underneath his spouse’s identify, and swiped via different customers’ profiles whereas pretending to be her and chatting with wicked males a few want to interact in elaborate rape fantasies.
Magalhães joined in, they usually took turns swiping and chatting with potential matches — however had been cautious to solely go online when Christine was at dwelling and utilizing her laptop computer to make it seem to future investigators that she actually was the one browsing the web site at these occasions, based on the nanny.
They’d additionally take turns leaving the home so their cells would ping off distant towers whereas one other was dwelling chatting on-line in an try to create a digital alibi to throw investigators off their path.
A number of fetish website customers confirmed curiosity within the rape fantasy, however Banfield would cease chatting with anybody who insisted on assembly up beforehand or at a location apart from his dwelling, Magalhães mentioned.
Then they discovered 38-year-old Joseph Ryan, who was not solely enticed by the fantasy — he despatched photos of a knife and chains he mentioned he’d deliver alongside — however was additionally placated by a telephone name the place Magalhães posed as Christine, based on the au pair.
“He made Brendan really feel assured sufficient that he could be the particular person to play the function that he wanted an individual to play, which suggests being aggressive and maintain her down and are available over to the home and produce stuff,” Magalhães testified, based on CNN.
Banfield, in the meantime, had spent weeks casing out the neighborhood for safety cameras which may seize issues he didn’t need, and even put in new soundproofing home windows on his dwelling, his illicit lover mentioned.
Banfield and Magalhães additionally fastidiously defined to Ryan how he was to enter the home via an unlocked door at a particular time, sneak into the bed room, then tie Christine up earlier than slicing off her garments and raping her.
He was additionally instructed to not cease, regardless of how a lot Christine begged or cried for assist. And Ryan, considering he was speaking to Christine, did simply that when he arrived on Feb. 24, 2024, based on the live-in babysitter.
Banfield had confirmed Ryan’s arrival that morning and then turned off and hidden his spouse’s telephone. Then he unlocked a door and drove to a close-by McDonald’s, the place he monitored the home with a smart-home app to ensure the door remained open, Magalhães testified.
Magalhães additionally left, having instructed Christine she was taking her daughter to the zoo — however she parked down the highway with the woman and waited for Ryan to reach.
When he lastly did, she known as Christine’s telephone, then instantly known as Banfield — as if to report seeing an intruder in the home for later telephone information to see.
Banfield then raced again to the home and the pair entered the house via a basement door — leaving the daughter downstairs — and went as much as the bed room the place they waited outdoors the closed door and listened for the horrible battle inside, Magalhães testified.
After they lastly burst in, Christine yelled out, “Brendan, he has a knife,” Magalhães mentioned, and when Ryan circled with a “shocked” look on his face, Banfield allegedly shot him within the head along with his IRS-issued pistol.
Banfield then allegedly pounced on his spouse and hacked her to dying — stabbing her repeatedly within the throat and face.
“I used to be simply crouching down on myself and protecting my ears and protecting my eyes,” Magalhães testified. “A couple of occasions I seemed, and I used to be capable of see him stabbing her.”
They then positioned calls to 911, and Banfield allegedly started wiping Christine’s blood over Ryan’s physique to make it look extra like he’d been the one who attacked his little one’s mom.
At one level, Ryan started to stir — so Magalhães completed him off with a shot to the chest, she confessed.
That’s when police arrived and located the grisly scene.
Freed from Christine after the blood and mud settled, Magalhães quickly moved into the suburban dwelling and hung her garments within the useless mom’s closet.
She even slept in the identical mattress the place she mentioned Banfield stabbed his spouse to dying, and positioned an image of the brand new couple on their bedside desk, she admitted.
However their romantic reverie didn’t final lengthy.
Magalhães was arrested earlier than the yr was out in October 2023, and a yr later, she pleaded responsible to manslaughter in change for receiving the lighter cost and time-served at her sentencing.
Banfield was arrested in September 2024, a month earlier than Magalhães struck her plea deal, and pleaded not responsible to aggravated homicide.
His attorneys insist Magalhães’ story is inherently false, arguing final week that she was coerced into mendacity in change for a softer sentence.
Banfield faces life in jail if convicted. The trial is predicted to final between three and 4 extra weeks.
