Virginia nanny’s jailhouse letters reveal conflicting loyalties in love triangle murder trial
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
The nanny who pleaded guilty to assisting in the alleged killings of a wealthy Virginia man’s wife and another man read a series of emotionally-charged jailhouse letters on Wednesday in which she professed her love for the husband and father caught in the middle of a deadly love triangle.
Juliana Peres Magalhães testified in her second day on the stand at the murder trial of Brendan Banfield, who is charged with aggravated murder in the brutal 2023 killings of his wife, Christine Banfield, and Joseph Ryan at the family’s home in the affluent northern Virginia suburb of Herndon.
Magalhães pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter in October 2024 and will be sentenced after Banfield's trial.
On Wednesday, the au pair revealed she accepted the plea deal because it was the "right thing to do."
"I just couldn't keep it to myself, the feeling of shame and guilt and sadness and all those feelings," she said on the stand.
Magalhães testified on Tuesday that she had helped Banfield with his plot to kill Christine and Ryan in his bid to "get rid" of his wife and pursue a relationship with Magalhães, whom he had been having an affair with.
On cross-examination Wednesday, defense attorney John Carroll asked Magalhães to read from a series of emotionally-charged jailhouse letters she sent to Banfield after their arrests.
"I don’t want to live like this," Magalhães wrote in a letter dated Nov. 14, 2023. "I just don’t want to feel this way anymore. It’s torture. I love you more than anything."
In a letter addressed to Banfield’s mother and sent when she was in jail, Magalhães offered to take the blame for the alleged crimes in an effort to shield Banfield.
"I’d give my life for his and I would never do anything to hurt him or against him," Magalhães wrote. "Whatever they’re saying, whatever they want to believe, I don’t care. I’ll take the blame for the both of us."
However, the letter directly contradicted an earlier note, in which the au pair wrote, "I’m not willing to spend my life in prison for something I didn’t do."
Magalhães went on to read previous letters in which she expressed feelings of despair to Banfield while behind bars.
"I feel drained," Magalhães wrote. "No strength, anymore. No courage. No hope. It feels like a personal hell in life. Painful, torture, disturbing."
The au pair also testified on cross-examination that after Banfield’s family stopped funding her life in jail, various unnamed news producers have stepped up to cover her commissary and other needs in exchange for the rights to her story.
"Let’s work together to achieve more things," Magalhães wrote in a letter to a friend on Dec. 13, 2024. "After awhile, when I’m back home, I’ll [hire] a producer and write a book with my story, [or] even a movie – make money, right?"
Magalhães later wrote to her friend regarding a potential deal with Netflix, in which she was looking to negotiate a payment in exchange for her interviews and input on a documentary about the case.
AFFLUENT VIRGINIA HUSBAND, NANNY CHARGED WITH MURDERS IN MANSION LOVE TRIANGLE
"My whole life will be exposed to everyone, and they’re going to be making a lot of money off of it," Magalhães wrote. "We deserve something."
Netflix did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Upon being pressed by Banfield's defense, Magalhães clarified that she intended to use the money to support her family in Brazil.
"My whole point was about helping them, because I can't," Magalhães testified. "That was when I was working before. And if they can have someone to help them, I want them to have it."
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On Tuesday, Magalhães testified that she was 21 when she began working as the family’s nanny in October 2021, with the relationship between her and Banfield turning sexual roughly 10 months later. She revealed that Banfield had expressed interest in a marriage with her, but would have to "get rid of his wife," testifying that the married father conceded that divorce was not an option due to the couple’s finances and custody of their young daughter.
Magalhães testified that Banfield concocted an elaborate plan to create a fake profile for his wife on a fetish website, in an effort to proposition men to enter the home so Banfield could stage a fake home invasion and murder Christine. Ultimately, the pair decided on Ryan.
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"Brendan created the narrative that Christine desperately wanted to be raped," prosecutor Jenna Sands explained in her opening statement. "Posing as Christine, he told Joe what to do: Come to the home in Reston. The door will be unlocked. Christine will be asleep in bed. Come straight upstairs, cut off her clothing, tie her, rape her. Simple and fun."
Throughout direct examination, Magalhães described – in graphic detail – how she took the couple’s child and waited in her car for Ryan to arrive, where she then called Banfield to alert him. The pair left the child with her iPad in the basement and entered the married couple’s master bedroom to find Ryan on top of Christine.
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"When I got to the bedroom, Brendan yelled, ‘Police officer,’ and Christine's first reaction – it was the first time I heard her say anything at that point – and she yelled back at Brendan, saying, ‘Brendan, he has a knife,’ and that's when Brendan first shot Joe," Magalhães said Tuesday.
Banfield then shot Ryan with his service weapon and stabbed his wife while Magalhães held a gun he had purchased a month before the alleged killing, according to prosecutors.
Banfield's attorney did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
If convicted, Banfield faces the possibility of life in prison for his alleged role in the two killings. His trial is expected to last four weeks, with court sessions starting at 10 a.m. each day and running Monday through Thursday, according to court administrators.
Fox News Digital's Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.