Photos reveal Virginia nanny took slain wife’s place in master bedroom weeks after love triangle murders
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
The Virginia trial of Brendan Banfield, the ex-IRS agent accused of killing his wife and a stranger as part of an elaborate scheme to cover up his extramarital affair with the family’s nanny, entered its third day of testimony on Thursday, with jurors hearing how the husband and father quickly moved his mistress into the couple’s bedroom shortly after the deaths.
Banfield is charged with aggravated murder in the February 2023 killings of his wife, Christine Banfield, and Joseph Ryan inside their home in Herndon, Virginia, an affluent suburb of Washington, D.C. Prosecutors allege he orchestrated the killings to cover up his relationship with the family’s au pair, Juliana Peres Magalhães.
Magalhães has since pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter in October 2024 and will be sentenced after Banfield's trial.
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On Thursday, jurors heard from Fairfax County Sgt. Kenner Fortner, who testified that he entered the home shortly after the killings in February 2023, when he photographed "red, lingerie-style clothing items" and a yellow T-shirt with green trim in Magalhães’ bedroom closet.
When he returned to Banfield's home eight months later, he noticed the items – along with a framed portrait of Banfield and Magalhães – had been moved into the primary bedroom, where prosecutors say the murders occurred, pointing to the same yellow T-shirt with green trim.
"They had gotten new flooring, new bedroom furniture," Fortner testified. "Pictures that had once featured Brendan and Christine had been taken down and replaced with Brendan and Juliana together."
Jurors then heard from Det. Terry Leach, the lead crime scene detective assigned to the case, who testified that he arrived on scene to find both Ryan and Christine’s lifeless bodies in the master bedroom.
As Leach was performing his initial investigation, he located a knife tucked into the bed and two handguns, which he later determined had been moved from their original positions after authorities arrived on scene and began trying to resuscitate Ryan.
"The knife was found underneath the blankets, between the edge of the blanket in the bed," Leach said. "[The] only thing we could see when we arrived was the handle. And the knife was on its backside – so it's blade up – and then the handle is towards the bed."
Additionally, the prosecution called Matthew Niederriter, a salesman who told the court that he was hired by Banfield to install triple-pane windows throughout the home in August 2022, with the actual work taking place later the same year.
Nierderriter testified that while most customers are fine with only purchasing double-pane windows, Banfield was specifically interested in installing triple-pane windows throughout the house.
"When someone goes to a triple pane, that's another level," Nierderriter said. "And that is a type of level where they're trying to do more than just protect the house from the sun."
On cross-examination, defense attorney John Carroll asked the salesman if Banfield had inquired about noise-cancellation related to a nearby fire station or Washington Dulles International Airport when purchasing the windows, to which Nierderriter answered, "No."
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Earlier this week, Magalhães told jurors that Banfield had installed the windows in an effort to mask the screams during the murders, going as far as to run experiments in which Magalhães yelled from inside the home while Banfield investigated if she could be heard from the outside.
The prosecution also played surveillance video from a Herndon McDonald’s, where Banfield could be seen inside his vehicle in the restaurant’s drive-through.
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Magalhães previously testified that she and Banfield lured Ryan to the home under the guise of a consensual rape fantasy after posing as Christine on a fetish website, in an effort to make his wife’s death appear as though she was being attacked by a home intruder.
According to Magalhães, Banfield went to a nearby McDonald’s and awaited her call that Ryan had arrived at the home before returning to shoot the man and stab his wife to death.
"After calling Christine, I called Brendan, and then he picked up the phone and I was telling him, ‘Stay away, there's somebody strange and come to the house, I'm scared,'" Magalhães said. "He told me to stay there. He will be coming home, and he will try to call Christine."
The calls were corroborated by logs pulled from the couple’s cellphones, in which prosecutors pointed out several calls made between Banfield and Magalhães while he was at the McDonald’s.
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According to the prosecution, Banfield allegedly staged the crime scene to appear as though it was a home invasion, with Magalhães then calling 911 to tell authorities Ryan was an intruder who had stabbed his wife.
Banfield's attorney did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
If convicted, Banfield would face the possibility of life in prison. The trial is expected to last four weeks. Court sessions will begin at 10 a.m. each day and run Monday through Thursday, according to court administrators.
Fox News Digital's Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.