She will be asleep in bed. Go straight upstairs. Cut off her clothing. Tie her up. Rape her.
Those were the 'simple and fun' instructions sent to 39-year-old Joseph Ryan through the BDSM and fetish fantasy website Fetlife, and read out inside Fairfax County Circuit Court.
'Most importantly, he was not to stop,' prosecutor Jenna Sands told jurors. 'Even if she looked terrified, even if she was calling for help, he was to follow through.'
It was a rendezvous that culminated in the violent deaths of Ryan and 37-year-old mother-of-one Christine Banfield inside the affluent, safe neighborhood of Herndon, Virginia, back on February 24, 2023.
Christine's husband Brendan Banfield, 40, and the couple's Brazilian au pair Juliana Peres Magalhães, 25, told police they found Ryan stabbing Christine to death and so shot Ryan dead.
But prosecutors say their story very quickly unraveled.
Instead, former IRS agent Banfield and Magalhães allegedly masterminded a complex, bizarre plot to kill his wife because they were having an affair.
Ryan was allegedly nothing more than a patsy lured in by the two lovers posing as Christine on the fetish site, so that they could frame him for Christine's murder.
Brendan Banfield had been having an affair with the couple's Brazilian au pair Juliana Peres Magalhães
Brendan Banfield, 40, is accused of masterminding a bizarre double murder plot in February 2023
Banfield is now on trial charged with four counts of aggravated murder and use of a firearm in commission of a felony over the deaths of both Christine and Ryan. He is also charged with child abuse and felony child cruelty, in connection to the Banfields' then-four-year-old daughter being inside the home at the time. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges and is facing life in prison.
'It's the stuff of a Hollywood movie. It really is a shocking case,' Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor and president and co-founder of West Coast Trial Lawyers, told the Daily Mail.
'Having an affair with the nanny is a tale as old as time but the alleged setup, the planning, plotting and luring is crazy.'
When it comes to Banfield's fate in the courtroom, Rahmani believes there are two key explosive details that could make or break the case.
The first hinges on the trial's star witness: an admitted co-conspirator who shockingly flipped on the man she loved.
The second on determining the identity of the person or persons behind the Fetlife account - and the arrangement of the rape fantasy with Ryan.
Magalhães was initially charged with murder alongside Banfield in October 2023. While behind bars, for a year she clung to their story about a violent intruder.
Then, in October 2024, she agreed to cooperate with prosecutors and testify against Banfield in exchange for a plea deal where she pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter. Under the terms of the agreement, prosecutors will now recommend she be sentenced to only time served.
'She is the star witness,' Rahmani said. 'But she has changed her testimony. She is now giving a very different account to what they originally said.'
Over three days last week, Magalhães testified about her ex-lover's alleged elaborate plot to 'get rid' of his wife.
She told jurors how she began living with the Banfields inside their $1 million home in October 2021 aged 21. The following summer, she said the affair began.
It wasn't long before Banfield began talking about killing Christine and moving to Brazil with her to start a new life, she testified. Magalhães claimed divorce was not an option for Banfield because he didn't want to lose money or custody of his daughter.
And so they created the fake account on Fetlife, both using it to pose as Christine and communicate with multiple potential candidates to carry out the fake rape fantasy, she testified. Eventually, they chose Ryan.
The plan allegedly came to fruition one morning in February 2023. Magalhães told the court she waited in her car outside the home with the Banfields’ daughter and then called Banfield - who was lying in wait at a nearby McDonald’s - when Ryan arrived. After Banfield arrived, she alleged they went inside the home and up to the bedroom where they shot Ryan dead.
Magalhães alleged she then watched as Banfield repeatedly stabbed his wife, before they called 911 claiming they had shot an intruder who was attacking Christine.
Of the four people mixed up in this bizarre case, two are dead, leaving only Banfield and Magalhães alive to tell the tale. Banfield is standing by his initial story.
The jury will be left to decide which of the two former lovers' stories they more strongly believe.
Juliana Peres Magalhães has emerged as the star witness in the case - but will jurors find her credible?
Rahmani said the case is shaping up to be something of a 'he said, she said' dilemma.
And relying too heavily on a cooperating witness - especially one who has been handed a favorable plea deal in return - is risky.
'You don't want to go all in on just her story. She could be a jilted ex-lover. She could be a disgruntled former employee. This could be about money. This could be about immigration. There's also sorts of different explanations as to why she could be lying. She's blaming Banfield, and minimizing her role in all of it.'
So how credible a witness is Magalhães?
Rahmani believes she was neither the best nor worst witness on the stand, but believes the defense did 'score some points on cross-examination.'
During a tense grilling, the defense sowed doubts around Magalhães's motivations for changing her story, pointing out that she stood by her original story for a year.
Jurors were shown her jailhouse letters following her arrest, including where she said she was willing to take the blame for her lover.
Later, her stance changed as she voiced concerns over a lifetime in prison and her mother urged her to blame Banfield.
Her mental state also fell under the microscope, with letters describing depression and suicidal thoughts behind bars.
Magalhães responded by insisting she was finally telling the truth now because she could no longer live with the guilt and shame over what happened.
What jurors make of the au pair and her story will be crucial to determining Banfield's fate, Rahmani said.
'You don't want to rely on a cooperating witness's testimony alone, on someone who has been given a potentially no-time deal. That is a very, very good deal. She is an alleged co-conspirator to murder and she could be given no time so I think that plays into the defense's argument that she is lying to save herself,' he said.
'It's a tough case, so I understand why the prosecution needed her but you really want to corroborate her testimony with some other evidence.'
To Rahmani, the key evidence jurors need to see is digital evidence supporting the prosecution's theory that Banfield and Magalhães - not Christine - were behind the Fetlife account.
Magalhães testified that she and Banfield used Christine's laptop to create a fake email address and Fetlife account. They were careful to send messages on the account when Christine was also in the home to cover their tracks, she said.
In opening statements, the defense pushed back on the catfish theory, saying that they would present digital evidence to prove it was in fact Christine using the account.
Proving who created and used the Fetlife account - and arranged the sexual fantasy with Ryan - lies at the very heart of the case, Rahmani said.
Fairfax County Sgt. Kenner Fortner told jurors how, during an October 2023 visit to the Banfield home, he saw 'red, lingerie-style clothing items' and Magalhães's other belongings hanging in the primary closet.
'It all hinges on proving who sent the messages to Ryan on Fetlife. If it was Brendan and Juliana and not Christine, where's the evidence? It was her laptop, her email... we need to see the digital evidence, some sort of clear digital footprint connecting Banfield to it,' he said.
'That is going to be everything; it's going to be the critical evidence in the case.'
He added: 'The fact this happened on Christine's computer is potentially problematic.'
Rahmani feels it's unlikely Banfield will take the stand to counter his ex-lover's version of events.
'When you put a defendant on the stand, the entire case comes down to his testimony - it's a risky move,' he said.
'Unless the prosecution connects Brendan to those messages, such as biometrics definitively showing it was him, I think the defense will argue there is reasonable doubt.'
While Rahmani feels the au pair's credibility and the digital footprint are the two defining elements of the case, he believes there has been some strong circumstantial evidence shown in the courtroom.
Jurors have heard how Banfield bought a gun just before the alleged murders.
He also had special triple-glazed, noise-reducing windows installed in the family home to allegedly muffle the sounds of gunshots and screams.
And he moved Magalhães into the marital bed just months after her death.
The Banfields with their young daughter. Banfield, a former IRS agent, denies killing his wife and his defense claims he was not behind the Fetlife account
Fairfax County Sgt. Kenner Fortner told jurors how, during an October 2023 visit, he saw 'red, lingerie-style clothing items' and Magalhães’s other belongings hanging in the primary closet.
Photos of the Banfields had also been replaced by a framed picture of Magalhães and Banfield next to the bed.
'What kind of grieving husband does that? That is all very strange and weird behavior just after his wife died. It is a terrible look for the defense and jurors will not like the fact that Christine was replaced so quickly,' Rahmani said.
'But affairs don't make someone a murderer and we haven't yet seen any direct evidence of this.'
'I'm not saying there won't be but, given what we have seen so far, I think the case could potentially hang.'