Nanny Who Testified in Ex-Lover’s Murder Trial Posted Bathtub Selfies with Him on Instagram

The Brazilian au pair who has testified in her former employer and alleged lover’s murder trial in Virginia posted multiple Instagram photos of the two together — including a selfie taken in a bathtub.

Those social media posts were among the exhibits prosecutors presented to jurors during Brendan Banfield’s aggravated murder trial, the Washington Post reported. One image showed au pair Juliana Peres Magalhães at a firing range with a caption in Portuguese that read, “The handsome guy takes really good pictures HAHAHA.”

Banfield, a former IRS agent, is accused of killing his wife, Christine Banfield — a pediatric intensive care nurse — and 39-year-old Joseph Ryan, a stranger prosecutors say was lured to the couple’s Virginia home on Feb. 23, 2023, for a staged BDSM encounter.

Peres Magalhães, who previously pleaded guilty to manslaughter in connection with Ryan’s death, testified last week that Banfield began planning the alleged scheme after they started an affair around October 2022.

She told jurors that Banfield allegedly said “divorce was not an option” because “money was involved,” and that he did not want to share custody of the couple’s young daughter with Christine, NBC4 reported.

Prosecutors allege Banfield created a profile on Fetlife.com — a bondage website — while posing as Christine. They claim he communicated with Ryan and discussed a “consensual sexual encounter involving restraints used on her, her clothing being cut off with a knife he brought, and other violent sexual role play.”

According to prosecutors, the alleged plan — intended to resemble a home invasion — involved Banfield giving Peres Magalhães a gun and having her call Christine’s phone when Ryan entered the home on Feb. 23, then calling Banfield’s phone afterward.

Prosecutors say Banfield was waiting at a nearby McDonald’s, received the call, drove home, and shot Ryan in the head. They further allege he then stabbed his wife in an attempt to frame Ryan for her death.

Investigators later executing warrants at the Banfield home in October 2023 allegedly found photographs of Banfield and Peres Magalhães “in loving poses” displayed around the bedroom, along with the au pair’s lingerie.

During the trial, prosecutors also showed jurors a photo of Banfield’s hand on Peres Magalhães’ upper thigh, as well as a video of the pair in a car singing “A Thousand Miles,” the Washington Post reported.

Peres Magalhães was initially charged with second-degree murder and use of a firearm in commission of a felony in Ryan’s death. In October 2024, she pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter.

Defense attorney John Carroll argued that Peres Magalhães changed her account after reaching a deal with prosecutors — one he said included her release without additional jail time and deportation after the trial, as long as she cooperated, according to the Post.

“The whole reason she was arrested was to flip her against my client,” Carroll said, per the newspaper. “There’s a vulnerable person who is open to prey for what they need. And I would respectfully suggest that Juliana Peres Magalhães is the linchpin in all of this.”

Banfield has pleaded not guilty.