Brendan Banfield was charged with aggravated murder in the February 2023 killings of his wife Christine Banfield and Joseph Ryan. Following three 911 calls by Juliana Peres Magalhaes, the family's au pair, authorities arrived at the Banfields' home in Herndon, Virginia, and found that Ryan had been fatally shot and Christine Banfield was suffering from stab wounds. She was taken to the hospital, where she died. Prosecutors claimed that that Ryan and Christine Banfield's bodies were moved and repositioned after they were fatally wounded. They alleged that Ryan's arms were moved and smeared with the wife's blood. The prosecution claimed that the killings were part of a larger scheme between the family's au pair Juliana Magalhaes and Brendan Banfield. It was alleged they had begun a romantic relationship in August 2022. In October 2024 Juliana Magalhaes accepted a plea deal offer to an involuntary manslaughter charge, so long as she cooperates with the case against Brendan Banfield.