Former Brazilian Saw au pair She said Wednesday that she turned on her former lover in a sprawling double murder plot involving his wife because she “wanted the truth to come out.”
More than a year ago, Juliana Perez Magalhaes He has not spoken to those responsible for or about the 2023 murders of Christine Banfield and Joseph Ryan Brendan Banfield’s alleged involvement. But lawyers say that days before her criminal trial, the former nanny changed her mind and started speaking out.
Now, Brendan Banfield faces trial for the aggravated murder of his wife and Ryan, and Magalhaes’ testimony has become a key element in prosecutors’ case. Banfield, who has pleaded not guilty, could face life in prison if convicted.
The way officials say it, Banfield and Magalhaes lured Ryan to their home. The two then shot him, filming the scene to make it appear as if Ryan was a predator stabbing Christine Banfield.
Tom Brenner/AP
She crouched behind the bed and covered her eyes and ears while Brendan Banfield repeatedly stabbed his wife, Magalhaes testified on CBS affiliate WUSA-TV. I mentioned.
“I couldn’t keep the shame, guilt and sadness to myself,” she said in court about the stunt. The former nanny was initially charged with second-degree murder in Ryan’s killing, but has since pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of manslaughter.
In court, the former nanny testified that she and Banfield created an account in the name of Christine Banfield on a social media platform for people interested in sexual intercourse with girls. There, Ryan connected to the account, and users made plans to have a sexual encounter involving a knife.
In her testimony, she described Banfield’s plan to do so He killed his wife He spends the rest of his days with Magalhaes, with whom he was in a relationship. She testified to the months he spent planning their scheme, and the steps he took to manufacture their alibis.
A day earlier, Brendan Banfield appeared crying in court while listening to a 911 call from the day his wife was killed in their bed, WUSA-TV I mentioned.
Banfield’s attorney, John Carroll, spent much of Wednesday scrutinizing her initial testimony and her motives behind the guilty plea.
He pressed her to find out who created the email address connected to the social media account and where she and Brendan Banfield were on the day it was obtained. She testified that she did not remember who did the counting or which room they were in in the Banfield home.
The defense attorney repeatedly pressed her about specific messages sent on a social media account in Christine Banfield’s name. Magalhaes, who appeared upset, repeatedly testified that she wasn’t sure who sent what. At one point, she testified to Carroll: “I wouldn’t do this.”
Magalhaes testified that she withheld some dates and details because of the shock of the event, WUSA-TV reported.
“Your mind has blocked out the details of this plan upon which your entire future with the Commonwealth depends?” Carroll asked, according to the station.
Tom Brenner/AP 
Carroll also asked Magalhaes to read parts of letters she wrote from prison to Brendan Banfield and others. They expressed their depression and frustration about her situation. “No strength. No courage. No hope,” she wrote at one point.
Magalhaes testified that her health in prison and isolation from her loved ones also led her to turn against Banfield.
Banfield, wearing a gray suit and striped tie, occasionally looked up as Magalhaes testified. The ex-husband doesn’t seem to be looking back significantly.
Magalhaes will be sentenced at the conclusion of Banfield’s trial. Depending on her cooperation with authorities, lawyers said she could be sentenced to the time she has already served.
Banfield, whose then-4-year-old daughter was home the morning of the murder, is also charged with child abuse and felony cruelty to children in connection with the case. He will face these charges during trial.
WUSA-TV reported that in April 2024 session As for Magalhaes, prosecutors showed records that two months before the shooting, Perez Magalhaes and Brendan Banfield visited the Silver Eagle group’s shooting range. A few weeks later, Brendan Banfield also purchased a gun, which was eventually used to shoot Ryan, said Eric Clingan, chief assistant commonwealth’s attorney.
WUSA-TV 
Before the trial, Joseph Ryan’s mother, Deirdre Fisher, WUSA-TV said That her son talked to her about consensual role-playing but said he was not a violent person. Fisher told the station that she remembers every detail of learning about her son’s death.
She said: “I remember when I received a call from the investigator… I could hear my own voice screaming.” “It was like I was hearing outside my body that he had been killed.”