A NANNY at the center of a deadly love-triangle murder plot left behind a damning paper trail that now threatens to blow up her story in court.
Jailhouse letters from Juliana Peres Magalhães expose wildly conflicting motives, including claims she was willing to “take the blame” as the man she loved faced life in prison.
Juliana Peres Magalhães testifies during the double murder trial for Brendan Banfield in Fairfax County Circuit CourtCredit: AP
Brendan Banfield is an ex-IRS agent, husband of Christine, on trial for aggravated murderCredit: AP
Brendan Banfield, Christine Banfield and daughterCredit: Instagram/littlegirl_biggoals
The au pair read the notes aloud in court as the defense tried to paint her as a desperate ex who would say anything to save herself.
The letters were aired at Fairfax County Circuit Court in Virginia, where Brendan Banfield is on trial over the 2023 killings inside the family home in Herndon.
Magalhães, the family’s Brazilian au pair, testified for a second day on Wednesday after cutting a deal with prosecutors.
Magalhães pleaded guilty to manslaughter in October 2024 and will be sentenced after Banfield’s trial ends.
Banfield has pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder and could face life in prison if convicted.
On the stand, Magalhães said she took the plea 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 testified.
Prosecutors say Banfield killed his wife, Christine Banfield, 37, and another man, Joseph Ryan, 39, during a staged “home invasion” plot.
Magalhães told jurors Tuesday that Banfield wanted to “get rid” of his wife so he could be with her.
But on Wednesday, Banfield’s attorney John Carroll zeroed in on letters Magalhães wrote from jail after their arrests.
In one note dated November 14, 2023, she wrote: “I don’t want to live like this. I just don’t want to feel this way anymore. It’s torture. I love you more than anything.”
She also wrote Banfield’s mother a letter offering to shoulder the case for him.
“I’d give my life for his and I would never do anything to hurt him or against him,” she wrote.
“Whatever they’re saying, whatever they want to believe, I don’t care. I’ll take the blame for the both of us.”
The pledge clashed with another message in which she insisted: “I’m not willing to spend my life in prison for something I didn’t do.”
Other letters showed her spiraling behind bars.
“I feel drained,” she wrote.
“No strength, anymore. No courage. No hope. It feels like a personal hell in life. Painful, torture, disturbing.”
Magalhães also told jurors that once Banfield’s family stopped paying her jail expenses, unnamed “news producers” began covering commissary and other needs in exchange for her story rights.
In a letter to a friend dated December 13, 2024, she wrote: “Let’s work together to achieve more things.”
“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?” she added.
Magalhães later referenced a possible Netflix deal, writing: “My whole life will be 𝓮𝔁𝓹𝓸𝓼𝓮𝓭 to everyone, and they’re going to be making a lot of money off of it.”
“We deserve something,” she wrote.
Pressed in court, Magalhães said her goal was to help her family back in Brazil.
“My whole point was about helping them, because I can’t,” she testified.
WHAT HAPPENED
Jurors previously heard Magalhães was 21 when she started working for the Banfields as a nanny in October 2021.
She said her relationship with Banfield turned 𝒔𝒆𝒙𝒖𝒂𝒍 about 10 months later.
Magalhães testified Banfield talked about marrying her, but claimed he said he would have to “get rid of his wife,” because divorce wasn’t an option due to money issues and custody of their young daughter.
Prosecutors say Banfield created a 𝒻𝒶𝓀𝑒 fetish profile for his wife and used it to lure a stranger to the house.
In opening statements, prosecutor Jenna Sands said Banfield “created the narrative that Christine desperately wanted to be raped.”
“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,” Sands said.
Magalhães testified she took the child and waited in a car, then called Banfield when Ryan arrived.
She said they left the girl in the basement with her iPad before going upstairs.
Magalhães told the court that when she reached the bedroom, Banfield yelled, “Police officer,” and Christine shouted back: “Brendan, he has a knife.”
“That’s when Brendan first shot Joe,” Magalhães testified.
Prosecutors say Banfield then shot Ryan with his service weapon and stabbed his wife as Magalhães held a gun he bought a month earlier.
Banfield is also charged with child 𝓪𝓫𝓾𝓼𝓮 and felony child cruelty linked to having his daughter in the home that morning.
Court administrators say the trial is expected to last four weeks, with sessions starting at 10 am Monday through Thursday.
Prosecutors say Banfield killed his wife, Christine Banfield, 37, and another man, Joseph Ryan, 39, during a staged “home invasion” plotCredit: Instagram/littlegirl_biggoals