Brendan Banfield's Attorneys Want Verdict Set Aside In Au Pair Affair Case

FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA — Attorneys for Brendan Banfield, who was guilty of killing his wife and another man in a scheme involving his former au pair lover, have filed a motion to set aside the verdict just days before his sentencing.

In a motion filed on Wednesday, Banfield's attorneys argued that the verdict should be set aside because his constitutional rights were violated during the trial. According to the filing, his attorneys claim that when Banfield refused to answer questions about the murders following his arrest, the court allowed the jury to let that decision negatively influence their final verdict.

The filing also claims that some testimony during the trial violated state law and that prosecutors failed to correct false testimony given by the Banfield family's Brazilian au pair, Juliana Peres Magalhaes.

Banfield was convicted of aggravated murder and other charges in the 2023 deaths of his wife, Christine Banfield, and Joseph Ryan, who authorities said were killed at the Banfield family's home in the Hattontown neighborhood in Herndon.

Prosecutors said the murders were part of a larger scheme between Banfield and Magalhaes, who were having an affair.

Magalhaes was sentenced to 10 years in prison in February after pleading guilty to one count of manslaughter in connection with Ryan's death.

During Banfield's trial, Magalhaes testified that she began working as an au pair in the Banfield home in October 2021, when she would have been 21 years old. She and Banfield began a sexual relationship about 10 months later.

Banfield told her he wanted to marry her and have children with her, but he needed to “get rid of” his wife first, she testified. He didn't want to divorce his wife because “she would have more money than he would” and because he wanted custody of the couple's 4-year-old daughter.

The killings happened at the Banfield home on Feb. 24, 2023. At the scene, police found Christine Banfield with upper-body stab wounds and Ryan suffering from upper-body gunshot wounds. Banfield was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead, while Ryan died at the scene.

Prosecutors previously said Banfield posed as his wife on a fetish website and lured Ryan to the home for what he thought was consensual sex. Banfield then shot Ryan in the bedroom and stabbed his wife, prosecutors have said, while Peres Magalhaes also shot Ryan.

“They got Joe Ryan into the house, and then they shot him,” Prosecutor Jenna Sands said during closing arguments. “Brendan stabbed Christine, let her bleed out on the floor, and then dripped, smeared and wiped her blood on Joseph Ryan’s body to make it look like he had attacked Christine. Then they called the police.”

Banfield took the stand in his own defense last week and said he never created “any sort of a plan” with Peres Magalhaes to kill his wife.

“I think that it's an absurd line of questioning for something that is not serious, that a plan was made to get rid of my wife,” he said. “That is absolutely crazy.”

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• Au Pair Reveals New Grisly Details Of Herndon Double Murder