A 23-year-old au pair has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with a double homicide in Herndon seven months ago, Fairfax County police said Thursday.
Juliana Peres Magalhaes, of Reston, has been charged with the February 24 shooting death of Joseph Ryan, 39, of Springfield.
The police said Ryan had been found near Christine Banfield, 37, of Herndon, upstairs in Banfield’s home in the 13200 block of Stable Brook Way in the Hattontown neighborhood. Banfield had been stabbed in the upper body. She was pronounced dead at the hospital, while Ryan was dead at the scene.
The morning of the murders, the au pair and Banfield’s husband, Brendan Robert Banfield, called 911 to report the crime. At the time, police said Brendan Banfield told the dispatcher he shot Ryan and accused Ryan, who did not live there, of stabbing his wife, The Washington Post reports.
According to police, they determined through multiple interviews and forensic evidence that Peres Magalhaes shot Ryan. She is being held without bond.
No arrest has been made in Banfield’s stabbing death, and police continue to investigate.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Major Crimes Bureau at 703-246-7800.
Feature image, courtesy Fairfax County Police
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