Article Text

A Fairfax County jury has been selected for the aggravated murder trial of Brendan Banfield, the Herndon man prosecutors accuse of plotting with his family’s au pair to kill his wife and another man in 2023.

The initial pool of 80 county residents was reduced Monday to 12 jurors and four alternates. Opening statements are expected Tuesday morning, beginning a trial likely to last several weeks.

Banfield, 40, pleaded not guilty Monday to every charge read by the court clerk. He sat beside defense attorney John Carroll wearing a gray suit and a tie Carroll had passed to a court deputy shortly before Banfield entered the courtroom.

Banfield faces four aggravated murder counts and one count of using a firearm in the commission of a felony. He was later indicted on felony charges of child abuse and neglect and child cruelty because, prosecutors say, his 4-year-old child was inside the home during the killings.

The charges stem from the Feb. 24, 2023, deaths of Banfield’s wife, Christine Banfield, 37, and Joseph Ryan, 39, of Springfield. Christine Banfield, a pediatric intensive care nurse, died from stab wounds. Ryan died from gunshot wounds.

Prosecutors contend Banfield and au pair Juliana Peres Magalhaes, with whom authorities say he was having an affair, devised a plan to kill Christine Banfield and make Ryan appear responsible for attacking her.

Peres Magalhaes was arrested in October 2023 and charged with second-degree murder. She later pleaded guilty to manslaughter and agreed to cooperate with the prosecution. Banfield was arrested nearly a year after her.

She is expected to testify against Banfield. Under her plea agreement, Fairfax County prosecutors have said they will recommend a sentence of time served. Her sentencing has been postponed until after Banfield’s trial, and the Brazilian national is expected to be deported following that hearing.

Prosecutors outline alleged setup

Prosecutors say Banfield and Peres Magalhaes began a romantic relationship in August 2022. She was hired as the family’s au pair later that year.

According to the prosecution’s account, Banfield told Peres Magalhaes in November 2022 that he wanted to get rid of his wife. He bought a gun in January 2023 and taught the au pair to shoot at a gun range in Ashburn, the plea agreement states.

Prosecutors allege Banfield created an account on an adult fetish website and communicated with several users, including Ryan. Days before the killings, Banfield allegedly instructed Peres Magalhaes to speak with Ryan through the Telegram app.

During that call, Ryan agreed to visit the Banfields’ home believing he would meet Christine Banfield for violent sexual role-play involving consensual restraints and the cutting of her clothing, according to court records.

The prosecution says the online communications were part of a plot to lure Ryan to the house, kill Christine Banfield and stage the scene so Banfield and Peres Magalhaes could claim they had shot a predator while defending her.

Banfield told police he believed Ryan was an intruder who had attacked his wife with a knife, causing him to shoot Ryan in self-defense. Prosecutors say Peres Magalhaes then fired a second shot that killed Ryan.

Banfield’s attorneys challenged the prosecution’s catfishing theory during a July pretrial hearing.

“It is a theory in search of facts rather than a series of facts supporting a theory,” Carroll told the court.

Carroll also alleged that two detectives who thought digital evidence indicated Christine Banfield had sent the messages to Ryan were pressured and silenced by Fairfax County police supervisors. Both detectives were later transferred off the case, he said.

Public attention shapes jury selection

Fairfax County Circuit Court Chief Judge Penney Azcarate began jury selection by asking whether prospective jurors had heard about the case. About 20 people raised their hands.

Azcarate, prosecutors Kelly Sprissler and Jenna Sands, and Carroll questioned those prospective jurors individually while the remainder of the pool was outside the courtroom.

Some who recalled only general information about what Azcarate called “the au pair case” remained under consideration. Others said they had already formed opinions and would struggle to decide the case solely from the courtroom evidence. Those candidates were dismissed.

Azcarate approved pool cameras for the trial in August. Proceedings are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Monday through Thursday, and Court TV’s pool coverage will be carried by WTOP.

Azcarate previously presided over actor Johnny Depp’s 2022 libel trial against his former wife, Amber Heard. Depp received an award of more than $10 million after alleging that Heard had lied about abuse during and before their brief marriage.