After initially claiming self-defense, an au pair changed her story on Tuesday, pleading guilty to manslaughter and admitting her role in her employer’s alleged plot to kill his wife and another man. Juliana Peres Magalhaes , 24, pleaded guilty to one count of manslaughter in the fatal shooting of 39-year-old Joseph Ryan at the Fairfax County, Virginia, home where she worked, according to a plea form reviewed by HuffPost. On Feb.
24, 2023, Peres Magalhaes and her employer Brendan Banfield reported that his wife, Christine Banfield, had been fatally stabbed by an intruder. They told authorities that they had shot the man, later identified as Ryan, as he was attacking her. Immediately after the killings, police hinted there would be “twists and turns” ahead.
After investigating for months, authorities said that Brendan Banfield and Peres Magalhaes had been having an affair, and had plotted together to kill Banfield’s wife, a pediatric intensive care nurse. Brendan Banfield allegedly planned to lure Ryan to the house by creating a profile on a bondage and fetish website. He and Peres Magalhaes then allegedly staged the scene and lied about how Christine Banfield and Ryan had been killed in a 911 call.
Peres Magalhaes was arrested in October 2023 and had been set to go on trial in November . Instead, under the plea deal, she’s now cooperating with authorities in the ongoing investigation of Brendan Banfield, who was charged in September with four counts of aggravated mu.