Husband charged in double homicide after alleged affair with au pair

Brendan Banfield is going to trial on aggravated murder charges in the February 2023 deaths of his wife and another man; prosecutors say he and the family's au pair staged the scene, and the trial begins Monday.

Brendan Banfield is charged with aggravated murder in the February 2023 deaths of his wife, Christine Banfield, and Joseph Ryan at the Banfields' home in northern Virginia. Prosecutors say Banfield and the family's au pair, Juliana Peres Magalhães, lured Ryan and staged the scene to frame him. Magalhães pleaded guilty in 2024 to a reduced manslaughter charge after giving a statement prosecutors have used. Banfield has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to go to trial Monday. Key points: - Banfield faces aggravated murder charges in the deaths reported on Feb. 24, 2023, and also faces child abuse and felony child cruelty counts related to the case. - Prosecutors say Banfield and Juliana Peres Magalhães created an account in Christine Banfield's name on a social networking platform and arranged a meeting that led to the killings, according to Magalhães's statement. - Magalhães pleaded guilty in 2024 to a downgraded manslaughter charge and provided a statement that prosecutors have cited at trial. - Not all investigators agreed on the catfishing account; a former Fairfax County digital forensics examiner testified that he found evidence Christine Banfield connected with the other man directly, and a university team peer-reviewed that analysis. - The aggravated murder trial is set to begin Monday, and Banfield remains under indictment and has pleaded not guilty. Summary: The case turns on competing accounts about how the contact that led to the deaths was arranged and on differing forensic interpretations. Prosecutors point to Magalhães's statement and her plea as supporting their theory, while defense attorneys have challenged elements of the investigation. The aggravated murder trial begins Monday; further legal outcomes are undetermined at this time.