Virginia man charged in double homicide that left wife dead arraigned on charges

HERNDON, Va. - A Virginia man indicted for the murder of his wife and another man has been arraigned for the charges, nearly a year after the family’s au pair was also charged in the case.

Brendan Banfield was arraigned in Fairfax County court Tuesday after his indictment on five counts total for the February 2023 killings of his wife Christine Banfield and Joseph Ryan. Four of the counts are related to the aggravated murder charge, while the fifth count is for felony firearm use.

"The reason we did that, it’s very lawyerly and technical. Essentially, it boils down to in the aggravated murder statute. There are a number of different options to prove that. When we look at what we intend to present at trial, we believe that our presentation of evidence can possibly hit both of those both of those different subsections elements," Commonwealth Attorney Steve Descano said this week. "The reason we did that we wanted to cover all our bases, make sure that jury had every option. I know that it’s a little unusual, but the aggravated murder statute written is quite unusual in Virginia."

According to the indictment obtained by FOX 5 on Tuesday, investigators said Brendan Banfield "willfully, deliberately, and with pre-meditation kill and murder Joseph Ryan as a part of the same act or transaction during which he also did kill and murder Christine Banfield." 

READ MORE: Husband indicted in Virginia double homicide nearly a year after au pair’s arrest

The arrest of Brendan Banfield was announced Monday at the Fairfax County Police Department, more than a year-and-a-half after the bodies of Christine Banfield and Joseph Ryan were found in a bedroom of the Banfield’s Fairfax County home. Ryan had been shot in the head, and Christine Banfield was stabbed multiple times in the neck.

Two other people were in that bedroom: Juliana Peres Magalhaes, the couple’s au pair and Christine Banfield’s husband Brendan.

"We know Brendan Banfield and Juliana Magalhaes, the family au pair, were involved in a romantic relationship at the time of the murders. I will not describe our victim Joseph Ryan’s relationship with anyone involved in the case at the moment because this investigation continues. And like any criminal investigation or probing of the fact does not end when arrest is made," Chief Kevin Davis said this week. "This much is clear. We have evidence to now allege that Christine Banfield’s life was unlawfully taken and Joseph Ryan’s life was unlawfully taken."

READ MORE: Au pair charged with murder in Herndon double homicide: police

Police did not indicate at what point Brendan Banfield became a suspect, nor did they specify whether Peres Magalhaes had anything to do with new information being presented to police prior to Banfield’s arrest.

"It’s digital evidence, physical evidence, forensic evidence, circumstantial evidence detectives. The prosecutors have worked meticulously to ensure that every T is crossed and every I is dotted, but the work still goes on," Davis said. "I knew, I suspected, I had a feeling that there was a lot more to what met the eye that morning. Certainly, it has taken a road, 570 days later, where we are finally in a position to announce that two persons are being charged and held responsible and introduced to our criminal justice system for these two murders."

According to court filings as of Tuesday, more than 40 subpoenas have been filed in Peres Magalhaes’ case on the second-degree murder charge. She is currently scheduled for a hearing on Thursday and her trial is set for November.