FAIRFAX COUNTY, Virginia (DC News Now) — Fairfax County police chief and prosecutor said a man whose wife was one of two people who died after a stabbing and shooting at the couple’s home in 2023 will face charges.

Police Chief Kevin Davis, along with District Attorney Steve Descano, announced Monday the indictment against Brendan Banfield for the murders of Banfield’s wife Christine (37) and Joseph Ryan (39) of Springfield.

Officers from the Fairfax County Police Department (FCPD) arrested Banfield on Monday.

While Davis and Descano declined to answer several specific questions about the evidence they collected during the prosecution process, they noted that it was a lengthy investigation.

“It’s digital evidence, it’s physical evidence, it’s forensic evidence, it’s circumstantial evidence,” Davis said. “The investigators and prosecutors have worked meticulously to make sure every ‘t’ is crossed and every ‘i’ is dotted. But the work continues.”

Police found Christine stabbed to death in her home on February 24, 2023Christine was in an upstairs bedroom near Ryan, who was shot and died in the home in the 13200 block of Stable Brook Way. Paramedics took Christine to the hospital, where she died.

Months later, police arrested Juliana Peres Magalhaes of Reston for Ryan’s murder.

Peres Magalhaes was the Banfields’ au pair.

“I hope that the family, friends and loved ones of Christine and Joseph can find some comfort in knowing that we are committed to seeking justice for them,” Descano said at the press conference on Monday.

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In October 2023, the month of Peres Magalhaes’ arrest and bail hearing, the Fairfax County District Attorney’s Office said she and Banfield had been having an exclusive affair.

At the bail hearing, prosecutors showed the judge pictures of Peres Magalhaes’ room and closet and the Banfields’ bedroom and closet taken on the day of the deaths. They also showed pictures of the rooms and closets taken on the day of Peres Magalhaes’ arrest. Prosecutors noted that Peres Magalhaes’ closet was emptied on the day of her arrest and that her clothes were hanging in her husband’s closet. Additionally, there were pictures of Peres Magalhaes and her husband together on the nightstand and dresser in his room.

Peres Magalhaes’ lawyer acknowledged that it would come out that the au pair and the husband had a sexual relationship, but said that she had had “many relationships,” none of which were exclusive. He added that Christine and Banfield both had affairs and were unfaithful to each other.

Peres Magalhaes’s lawyer told the judge that Christine had arranged tickets for Peres Magalhaes to take Banfield’s four-year-old child to the zoo on the day of the shooting. The lawyer claimed that Christine had planned to meet Ryan at their home for sex, and stated that the two had met on a website.

Peres Magalhaes said she forgot the child’s lunch and went back into the house to get it. When she did, she said she saw Ryan drive up and go into the house. Peres Magalhaes said she called Banfield, who told her to wait, he would be home.

Peres Magalhaes’ attorney said Peres Magalhaes went into the house with Banfield and took the four-year-old child to the basement. She allegedly dialed 911 at that point but didn’t know what to tell the emergency operator, so she hung up. The attorney said Peres Magalhaes left the basement and she and Banfield heard some sort of interaction between Christine and Ryan above them. They weren’t sure if it was consensual or not. Peres Magalhaes said Banfield, an IRS special agent, drew his service weapon and went into the bedroom, where he saw Ryan with a knife to Christine’s throat.

Peres Magalhaes’s lawyer said Banfield told Ryan to drop the knife, and Ryan in turn told Banfield to drop his gun. Ryan allegedly stabbed Christine several times in the neck. Peres Magalhaes’s lawyer said Banfield shot Ryan in the head, not killing him but in a way that left Ryan blind, according to the medical examiner’s testimony. The lawyer said Banfield told Peres Magalhaes to grab his gun, which she retrieved from a safe in the bathroom. Peres Magalhaes said Ryan started waving his arms around or posed some kind of threat, possibly standing up. Her lawyer said that’s when she shot Ryan, hitting him in the heart and killing him.

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The proceedings and other details presented by the Fairfax County District Attorney at Peres Magalhaes’ bail hearing differed significantly from Peres Magalhaes’ account.

Prosecutors said Banfield did not go to work that day, but instead left the house in the morning and stayed nearby.

As for how Christine and Ryan met and became acquainted, according to Peres Magalhaes’ lawyer, prosecutors said someone other than Christine set up an account on a fetish website and Ryan responded to it, adding that this was part of a plan to allow Peres Magalhaes and Banfield to get together.

Au pair accused of murder in Reston alleges affairs and fetish activities; Fairfax County judge denies bail

Peres Magalhaes, who is from Brazil, received a new passport after investigators confiscated her original passport.

Although her lawyer argued that Peres Magalhães needed a passport as an identification document and that he had told her to get a new one after he failed to obtain her original passport from the police, this increased fears that Peres Magalhães was a flight risk.

Due to the potential risk of flight, the fact that a firearm was used in the crime of which Peres Magalhaes is guilty and the nature of the crime, the judge refused to grant her bail.

On Monday, Peres Magalhaes was still in custody.

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