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[quote=Anonymous]WashPost Article:

Brendan Banfield told police that when he entered his Herndon home with the family’s au pair one morning in February 2023, they interrupted an intruder stabbing Banfield’s wife, Christine, and that Banfield shot the man, Fairfax County prosecutors said Friday. But paramedics found their bodies moved and repositioned, the prosecutors said, with the man’s arms seemingly smeared with Christine Banfield’s blood and crossed in a position he could not have achieved after being fatally shot in the chest.

As paramedics worked to save Christine Banfield, her husband didn’t ask about her, Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Eric Clingan said at a bond hearing for Brendan Banfield. Instead, Brendan Banfield asked if the man, Joseph Ryan, had a pulse, because he was the one witness who could describe the series of events if he lived, Clingan said. He did not.

Prosecutors on Friday revealed a series of new details about the double homicide in a quiet residential neighborhood, and the actions that have occurred in the 19 months since. The au pair, Juliana Peres Magalhães, 24, was arrested and charged with murder in October after admitting firing one shot at Ryan, 39, of Springfield.

Chief Fairfax Circuit Court Judge Penney Azcarate ruled Thursday that she would allow cameras in the courtroom, after Court TV and other outlets requested video access. It is only the second criminal trial in Fairfax in recent years to allow cameras, though Azcarate also permitted them during the civil trial she handled involving actors Johnny Depp and Amber Heard in 2022.

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Azcarate ruled Friday that Brendan Banfield, now 39, must remain in the Fairfax jail until trial, finding him both a flight risk and a danger to himself and the public. over the objections of his lawyer, John F. Carroll, who said Banfield needed to be home to take care of his daughter. He was arrested and charged with murder this month, after Fairfax police served multiple search warrants, surveilled him for months and listened to his phone calls with Magalhães from jail.

Clingan said at Banfield’s bond hearing that Banfield’s mother is bankrolling the au pair’s defense and “controlling the ability of the co-defendant to cooperate.” Clingan did not say whether Magalhães is speaking with investigators, or why prosecutors indicted Banfield almost a year after Magalhães was arrested. Ryan Campbell, Magalhães’s attorney, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

In a recorded jail call before Banfield’s arrest, Clingan said, Magalhães told Banfield, “I hope you are not just staying with me because you are afraid of me turning against you.” Banfield allegedly told her to keep her mouth shut on the recorded phone line.

Clingan also said Fairfax police have found that Banfield had prior extramarital affairs and that he had promised one woman he would leave his wife. “He told her,” Clingan said, “‘It would be so easy if [Christine] was not around.’”

Prosecutors presented an undated photo of Magalhães practicing shooting at a gun range, and records showing her there in October and December of 2022. Banfield bought a gun from the range in December 2022, they said, even though he already had a service weapon as a criminal investigator for the IRS. The IRS said Friday that Banfield worked for the agency from January 2019 until he was fired on Sept. 3.

Banfield told investigators he left the home about 7:11 a.m. on the day of the killings and made his regular stop at McDonald’s for an Egg McMuffin and an orange juice. But he said he went back home at 7:37 a.m. after receiving a call from Magalhães about an unknown man entering the house, having taken only one bite of the McMuffin, Clingan said.

Neighbors’ Ring camera footage showed Banfield, Magalhães and Banfield’s daughter, then 5, enter the home through the back, rather than the front door, and Clingan said the girl was left in the basement while Banfield and the au pair investigated. Ryan apparently had been drawn to the house through an online website, where he met a potential partner to engage in a “rape fantasy, complete with bondage and sadomasochism,” Clingan said.

Clingan said Ryan and the partner — not discussing whether it was Christine Banfield or someone posing as her — had some online chats in which Ryan sent photos of the devices he would bring, to include belts, zip ties, and a knife to cut someone’s pajamas off. At the scene, police found a set of cleanly cut pajamas on the bedroom floor, Clingan said.

Banfield told police that he saw Ryan stabbing Christine Banfield in the bed, and shot him once with his IRS service weapon. But Clingan said experts determined that Ryan was shot in “a rear corner area of the bedroom” and struck in the head. At this point, Magalhães called 911 but hung up after eight seconds.

Clingan played a recording of the call, and said Ryan could be heard “moaning in despair” in the background, blinded but still alive. A Fairfax call-taker immediately called Magalhães back, as is protocol with all “911 hang-ups,” but no one answered. Banfield told the first responders they didn’t answer because they couldn’t find Magalhães’ phone. “This was preposterous,” Clingan said, “and he had his own phone.”

Banfield told police he instructed Magalhães to retrieve the gun he had recently purchased, and that she then fired the shot that killed Ryan. Clingan questioned why a second gun was needed when Banfield had already wounded Ryan.

Fifteen minutes later, Magalhães called 911 again, prosecutors said. Clingan suggested the delay was so that Banfield could stage the scene, including repacking Ryan’s backpack and placing the knife Ryan brought to the house on the floor between Ryan and Christine Banfield.

Police searched the home and seized Magalhães’s Brazilian passport. But Magalhães and Brendan Banfield had plane reservations to fly to Brazil last October, Clingan said, after having obtained a second Brazilian passport for her.

Magalhães’s lawyer said at an earlier hearing he had advised her to get a new passport because the police wouldn’t return her old one.

Also, Banfield was studying Portuguese and had purchased an electrical adapter for use in Brazil, Clingan said.

Magalhães was arrested before the couple could depart. Clingan introduced photos of the two cavorting in New York and elsewhere, as well as of the au pair’s clothes in Christine Banfield’s closet. He said the two discussed plans to live in Brazil on their calls after Magalhães’s arrest.

Carroll, Banfield’s lawyer, cast doubt on prosecutors’ arguments, saying “I don’t know if learning Portuguese is something that’s against the law.” Banfield’s mother lived with the family, but Christine Banfield’s parents are now seeking custody, Clingan said. Banfield’s trial is set for February.[/quote]

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