FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — A former Brazilian au pair testified on Wednesday that she turned against her former lover in a sprawling double homicide scheme involving his wife because she “wanted the truth to come out.”
For more than a year, Juliana Peres Magalhães did not speak with officials about the 2023 killings of Christine Banfield and Joseph Ryan, or about Brendan Banfield’s alleged involvement. But attorneys say that days before her own criminal trial, the former au pair changed her mind and began to talk.
Now, Brendan Banfield is facing a trial in the aggravated murder of his wife and Ryan, and Magalhães’ testimony has become a key component of prosecutors’ case. Banfield, who has pleaded not guilty, could face life in prison if convicted.
The way officials tell it, Banfield and Magalhães lured Ryan to their house. The two then shot him, staging the scene to look as if Ryan had been a predator stabbing Christine Banfield.
“I just couldn’t keep it to myself, the feeling of shame and guilt and sadness,” she said in court of the ruse. The former au pair was initially charged with second-degree murder in Ryan's killing, but has since pleaded guilty to a downgraded manslaughter charge.
In court, the former au pair testified that she and Banfield had created an account in Christine Banfield’s name on a social media platform for people interested in sexual fetishes. There, Ryan connected with the account, and the users made plans to meet for a sexual encounter involving a knife.
In testimony, she described Banfield’s plan to kill his wife and spend the rest of his days with Magalhães, with whom he had an affair. She testified to the months he had spent plotting their scheme, and the steps he took to manufacture their alibis.
John Carroll, Banfield’s attorney, spent much of Wednesday scrutinizing her initial testimony and her motives behind pleading guilty.
He pressed her on who created the email address connected to the social media account and where she and Brendan Banfield were on the day it had been procured. She testified that she did not remember who made the account or what room in the Banfield home they had been in.
The defense attorney repeatedly pressed her on specific messages sent on the social media account in Christine Banfield’s name. Magalhães, seemingly annoyed, repeatedly testified that she had been unsure who had sent what. At one point, she testified to Carroll: “I am not going to do this.”
Carroll also asked Magalhães to read portions from letters she had written from jail to Brendan Banfield and others. They expressed depression and frustration with her situation. “No strength. No courage. No hope,” she wrote at one point.
Magalhães testified that her health in jail and isolation from loved ones also pushed her to turn on Banfield.
Wearing a gray suit and a striped tie, Banfield would occasionally glance up as Magalhães gave her testimony. The former au pair did not appear to look back noticeably.
Magalhães will be sentenced at the conclusion of Banfield’s trial. Depending on her cooperation with authorities, attorneys have said she could be sentenced to the time she has already served.
Banfield, whose then-4-year-old daughter was at the house on the morning of the killings, is also charged with child abuse and felony child cruelty in connection with the case. He will face those charges during the trial.
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Associated Press writer Travis Loller in Nashville, Tennessee, contributed.
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