Law&Crime Sidebar - Brazilian Nanny Gets Caught Up in Alleged Murder Plot Involving Fetish Website

Episode Date: September 11, 2024

Juliana Peres Magalhaes, 24, is behind bars in Fairfax County, Virginia for her alleged involvement in a love triangle that ended with a double homicide. The au pair was working for Brendan and Christine Banfield through an exchange program when she says she walked in on a stranger stabbing Christine. She and Brendan both fired guns, killing Joseph Ryan. Law&Crime’s Jesse Weber discusses Magalhaes’ latest communications from inside jail with prison consultant Justin Paperny.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW: Download the FREE Upside App at https://upside.app.link/sidebar to get an extra 25 cents back for every gallon on your first tank of gas.HOST:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokeVideo Editing - Michael Deininger and Christina FalconeScript Writing & Producing - Savannah WilliamsonGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law and Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondry Plus in the Wondery app Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Agent Nate Russo returns in Oracle 3, Murder at the Grandview, the latest installment of the gripping Audible Original series. When a reunion at an abandoned island hotel turns deadly, Russo must untangle accident from murder. But beware, something sinister lurks in the grand. View Shadows. Joshua Jackson delivers a bone-chilling performance in this supernatural thriller that

will keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't let your fears take hold of you as you dive into this addictive series. Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. A nanny reportedly involved in an affair with the man of the house is accused of killing his wife's alleged attacker. Now we're getting an idea of how she's feeling behind bars as her email exchanges with her mother are revealed. We're going to go over it all with prison consultant Justin Piperney. Welcome to Sidebar. Presented by Law and Crime, I'm Jesse Weber.

So have you heard of Juliana Perez Magallis? If you haven't, she is the young Brazilian nanny who's allegedly wrapped up in this murder plot and it involves the family that she had been working for. This is another, I'll tell you right from that one of these cases that has a lot. lot of players, a lot of moving parts. We're going to walk you through it. So Magales is originally from Brazil, and she came to the U.S. to work as an opair when she was 21 years old through a cultural exchange program. She worked for Christine and Brendan Banfield in Herndon, Virginia. This is just outside of Washington, D.C. Now, Brendan worked as an IRS criminal investigative agent.

Join the agency in 2009. It worked in the Criminal Investigations Division for several years. to an agency spokesperson. By the way, we took a look at Brendan's profile on TruthFinder to see what we could find out about him. We typed in his name and we found some traffic violations. That was about it. And we actually used TruthFinder to do research for our stories. Sometimes what you find on there is pretty shocking,

even typing in your own name. You might be surprised at what comes up. And TruthFinder is a sponsor of ours. It's one of the largest public record search services in the United States. You can use it to pull up registered sex offenders in your area, which is super helpful for peace of mind. And with a paid subscription service,

you can get access to unlimited reports about almost anyone. Right now, you can get 50% off of your first month of confidential background reports. Just go to truthfinder.com slash LC sidebar. Okay, let's get back into this. Now, Brendan's wife, talk about her for a second. 37-year-old Christine Banfield.

She was a pediatric ICU nurse volunteered in the community, organizing family events. The two had a four-year-old daughter together, and Magalas was their nanny. Okay? But authorities say things took a very, very dark and again, strange turn. Why? February 24th, 2023, police get a 911 phone call from Magalas. They actually get it from her cell phone and

believe this is around 747 a.m. The dispatcher really couldn't hear anything on the call and there were more calls that dropped out after that. But finally a call comes in from the same phone with then 38-year-old Brendan Banfield on the line. We believe this is around 8.02 a.m. And he reportedly tells the dispatcher that a man had stabbed his wife. So what did he do? He shot him. Wow. First responders, they arrive on this very violent scene. Christine was in an upstairs bedroom stabbed multiple times. Investigators find the body of this apparent stranger, this attacker, this alleged attacker, Joseph Ryan. and he had been shot in the upper body.

Now, the story that Magalas and Brendan told the police was confusing, to say the least. So Brendan was scheduled to report to work at 7.30 a.m. Magalas says she left around the same time with the couple's daughter, headed to the zoo, but she told police that she realized she had forgotten their lunches in the fridge, so she went back to the house. And she says that when she got there, there was a car that she didn't recognize in the driveway, so she called Christine. Christine didn't answer. So she calls Brendan to let him know something might be up. He was at a nearby McDonald's. When Brendan gets home, the two went inside,

and they find Christine in the bedroom naked with a man holding a knife to her throat. That man identified as Joseph Ryan. So when Ryan allegedly started stabbing Christine, officials say Brendan used his service weapon to fire one shot at Ryan and then reportedly tells Magallas to go get a different gun out of the safe and Magalas apparently does that she admitted to police that she ends up getting the gun and then fires at Ryan who's already on the ground now her attorney says she wasn't sure whether the bullet hit him or not so you have one victim Christine dead from multiple stab wounds to the upper body you have another victim Joseph dead from gunshot wounds from two different guns, and both Magalas and Brendan have claimed self-defense.

But when authorities got a search warrant to look at the two's digital activity, they find this treasure trove of new information because it turns out Brendan and the O'Pair were reportedly having an affair. After Christine's death, the nanny had reportedly moved into the main bedroom of the home with Brendan, and investigators find this frame photo of the two of them next to the bed. They also discover that just one week after the killings, both this O'Pair, Magalas, and Brendan, get new phones that they deleted their prior iCloud activity. There was also evidence that the pair had visited a gun range, and on the morning of these

killings, when Brendan had left home to go to work, the search warrant affidavit indicates that he pulled into the McDonald's at around 7.10 a.m. and then 7. sat in his car in the parking lot until Magalas called him nearly a half hour later, which, if true, is kind of odd. But back to this alleged intruder, Joseph Ryan, who is he? Well, this man apparently had no connection to anyone in the home. You see, investigators say they discovered that Ryan had been messaging with who he believed was Christine on a sexual fetish website.

The prosecutors say that Christine had actually sent a swimsuit photo that was being used on the site to her husband. Hours later, it was uploaded to FetLife under the username Anastasia 9. So whoever was behind the account was allegedly messaging with Ryan about rough sex and what's known as blood play, where apparently one person consents to another person cutting them. So Ryan seemingly agrees to meet up with Anastasia 9 on the more. morning that he died. But now there's the allegation that this was all an elaborate and bizarre plot to get rid of Christine so that Brendan and Magalas could be together. That's an allegation that's out there. Now Magalas, she was arrested in October, charged with second degree murder

for the death of Ryan. So to be clear, no one has been charged with Christine's death because it appears that that happened at the hands of Ryan, who's now dead, and Brendan, he's not facing any charges. In fact, when he was questioned during a hearing in December, he pled the fifth. And that brings me to this latest development. So since her arrest in 2023, Magalas has been booked into the Fairfax County Jail without bomb. That's where she is. And since then, she has communicated with her mother in Brazil via email and says she's tired of being locked up. So the Washington Post obtained those emails. I want to talk about right now i want to bring on with me uh justin purperney who's a prison consultant friend of the

show just in good to see you first of all i'm exhausted going through that because that was it's a crazy crazy series of events what's your reaction to this case well certainly empathize with the young daughter who lost her mother and it appears you don't need to be sherlock homes to recognize there could be problems coming down the road or her father and it's so obvious more is coming based on the choices they made. So deleting messages, continuing to spend time together, living together, taking photos together. It's just bad decisions that makes it pretty obvious to investigators. There's more here. We're going to continue to investigate. And to her not enjoying prison, when I was on the inside for a little while, prison wasn't great. I deserved it. I broke the

law. I pled guilty. So she's going to continue to say she no likey because she doesn't think she did anything wrong. Let's amplify that a little bit. And yes, these are these are allegations at this point. And remember, there's no charges with respect to Christine, but clearly from an optics point of view, if these allegations are true, it doesn't look right. So here's a portion of these emails which have been translated from Portuguese. Quote, I am tired of this place, this situation. I am unhappy and nothing makes me happy. I just want to get out of here and go back home to be with you guys. We will be together soon with God's grace, mommy. So Justin, look, like you said, I imagine no one likes being locked up, but do you think this makes her look callous and unremorseful in regards to what she's being charged with?

I think she might have convinced herself that this was self-defense, and she is a victim here. When you're isolated in a very difficult situation in a jail alone, very little support, it's easy to convince yourself, I have been wronged here. And at her young age, it could be hard for her to think, had I given more thought to my choices, I might not actually. be in this in this situation so many people on the inside will convince themselves they are indeed wronged and then they find people like them others who might believe the daughter i think she said she's an angel or saint or something akin to that then you have people around you who tell the prisoner or her exactly what she wants to hear unfortunately that only exacerbates her struggles struggle so the enablers actually tend to make things a little bit harder there's going to be much

more to this case if the the husband was involved that could be an opportunity for her to call cooperate to get a better deal, perhaps. More is coming. That much we know. So to be clear, by the way, she's in the Fairfax County Jail, right? And that's a detention center. It's not a prison. So for our viewers and listeners, if you can tell us, what is that difference? Serve time in a minimum security camp. It looks like a junior college or corporate office park, big track, no fences or barbed wire, a dorm with 400, 400 beds. You walk to the library. You walk to the chow hall. No controlled movements. You feel free. When you're in a detention center like Brooklyn where Epstein hung himself. You are confined, you are locked down. There

are controlled movements. You are told when you can go to the bathroom, when you can shower, when you can call home, any access to programming. It is a lockdown controlled environment. akin to what we see like in a prisoner jail television show that is often so sensationalized. I endure the minimum security camp. She is enduring real prison, a very difficult experience, which could in time compel her to say, okay, what can I do to try to get a short? shorter sentence or get to a better prison or jail at some point. So I went on the Fairfax County Sheriff's website that has information about this detention center.

And there are different levels of supervision and housing depending upon who the inmate is. And I thought it was interesting. So there's direct supervision. It's for minimum security inmates. There's linear housing where the deputies post is centrally located in the corridor. Deputies monitor inmates by patrolling down the corridor. there's podular supervision, and that's for maximum security inmates. So there are four units.

They're also called pods. Two per floor. A pod has five sections, each holding up to 20 inmates. Then there's single cells that allow for intense supervision of inmates who have special needs. And I thought about this, and I don't know what her housing situation is, but I did think this is a relatively high-profile case. It's been in the news a lot, partly because of the bizarre detail. Someone like her, where do you think she should be housed? How should she be maintained?

How should she be supervised? Let's not forget. Prisons care most about keeping costs down on the security of the institution. Forget about the fact that she claims that she is innocent or it was self-defense. She was charged with second-degree murder. They were alleging she picked up a gun and deliberately killed someone. So for that reason, if I was a betting person, she's going to be in the maximum security prison with total supervision and lockdown. She's been charged with murder.

By the way, I also looked at some sense. stats curious or thoughts on this it says uh again the fairfax county sheriff's office regarding this detention center this is from 2020 the average daily population for the center was 716 84% of inmates were male 16% of inmates were female 22% of the inmates were charged with violent offenses so when you hear those stats what do you make of the uh fairfax county detention center yeah it's concerning it's a very difficult environment much different than this minimum security camp that we discussed, where it would be a nonviolent prisoner serving 10 years or less. When you're in an environment like this with violent offenders, I presume many of them

repeat defenders coming in and out of the system, this prison or jail or detention center, they do not want problems. They do not want lawsuits. So for that reason, there's more scrutiny, there's more supervision. There are more lockdowns, which makes prison harder if you don't have email access or you're on lockdown. You can't call. When you visit, you are protected, unlike in a camp where you're visiting it's like you're in an airport with a little bit of privacy. It makes the experience much harder and it can compel some people to more quickly accept plea agreements

or really have a much harder environment. Some people attempt suicide inside of these jails or prisons or detention centers because it is such a difficult environment. You go from 23 years old, beautiful home, everything is going along swimmingly and just like that, you're locked down. At times 24 hours a day,

showering perhaps three days a week, not exercising. The government would say you should have understood the consequences that follow your decisions before killing someone. She has her right to go to trial, and it'll be interesting to see what happens. I don't think these letters necessarily would come into evidence at trial. I actually think they, you could say they're not relevant. They're maybe highly prejudicial. But what I can tell you is that I have seen a number of cases while someone is awaiting trial and they're in a jail and they're in a detention center. And you mentioned this before, they end up speaking. They end up talking about the case. And sometimes those conversations

can be critical pieces of evidence. And why do we see that? Why do we say, I'm not saying that she spoke to anybody or confessed to anything, but you do see it in these kinds of environments, right? Maybe not necessarily prison after a conviction, but during this kind of time before trial, you sometimes see it. It's a very important point you brought up. There are people inside of that detention center who they want to get out. They want to. they want to be free. So for that reason, they could be looking to cooperate with the government.

So any information they may obtain while sitting in that cell, walking to the chow hall, they overhear something. They befriend them. And by befriending them, they begin to accumulate information. They then share that with the prosecutor and the person who shares that information

can get, what, a cooperation agreement, a shorter sentence and credits. Why we see people, you know, who are convicted of murder and contend life in prison get five or ten years because of that cooperation. So you're right. She needs to be careful about everything she says, everything she emails, the friendship she cultivates, because that immediately can be turned over to the prosecution to help bolster their case against her.

She's got to lay low. She's got to keep her mouth shut. It's hard because you want to speak. You want to purge. You want to get it out there. And there are some people who will let you speak, divulge, take it all in, and then share. And even, I hate to say trap, but have skills that could bring some information out of you that could hurt you. And just like that, they roll over on you to get that cooperation.

I want to talk about the fact that Brendan is not facing any charges. So he opted to take the fifth during testimony. His constitutional right, main silent, not potentially say anything that could incriminate himself. But here are some of the questions that he was asked during a hearing. Quote, in the weeks and months prior to that date, did you engage in an adulterous relationship with the defendant? What information were you aware of that someone was likely to come to your home that day? Did you use your IRS firearm to shoot Joe Ryan? And again, he pled the fifth.

Now, on one hand, you could say, you know, he's in a precarious situation. Of course, he doesn't want to say anything that could hurt himself, even if he's completely innocent of anything. But what do you take away from it? I suspect he's in, he knows he's in some trouble. And he's in trouble because of what is posed to the conduct that happened after the tragic killing of his wife and leaving their four-year-old. daughter without a mother. It's clear there's more here, which tells me in time, if you gets to a point perhaps where she accepts responsibility for what she did, she can then do what the government would love for her to give information about others who are involved

in this scheme, including this husband. I'm not a lawyer. I'm not suggesting she's going to do that, but the longer you're in this detention center, the more evidence that comes in, including the post-defense conduct of covering it up, while this dude is free and in the community and she's locked up, he's probably worried 24 hours a day. What is she saying? To whom is she saying it and how that can impact me? He might not be confined, but he is confined in his own mind. That much I can tell you. And look, the optics are bad. It doesn't necessarily mean that this was a real murder plot or this is the way to get Christine out of the picture or that he's guilty of anything. And her mom has come out and spoken and said she's completely innocent of this. Now, even if you take away the

nefarious elements of this from a legal point of view, and I'll just end on this, if you're talking about self-defense, there is a struggle to argue that if the person you fired your weapon at was already in a position where they were incapacitated. So if he had already been shot and she fires a secondary shot at him, that could be tough. But again, these details will come out. We'll see where it goes. It's just a really bizarre story. And I wanted your perspective on these emails that were sent out. But Justin Perney, thanks so much for taking the time. Good seeing you, my friend. Thank you. Good to be here. All right, everybody. That's all we have. for you right now here on Sidebar.

Thank you so much for joining us. And as always, please subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next time. app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.