FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. (7News) — After nearly two full days of testimony from the au pair at the center of an alleged salacious scheme involving a fetish website and a double murder, Fairfax County prosecutors called detectives to the witness stand on Thursday, who provided a timeline events in the moments before and after the killings.

Brendan Banfield, a former Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agent, is standing trial after being accused of concocting a scheme with the family's au pair - with whom he was having an affair - to kill his wife, Christine Banfield, and another man, Joseph Ryan, in 2023. That alleged scheme involved Banfield creating a fake profile on FetLife, a fetish website, using his wife's picture in order to lure a man, Ryan, to their Reston, Va., home to make it look like a home invasion gone wrong.

Juliana Peres Magalhaes, the family's au pair with whom Banfield was having an affair at the time of the alleged double murder, has admitted to her role in the killings and is cooperating with authorities as part of a plea agreement.

The prosecution spent hours on Thursday asking detectives on the case meticulous questions about crime scene photos and surveillance video.

A crime scene detective responsible for taking pictures took the stand first.

Fairfax County Police Officer Kenner Fortner took pictures of the vehicles at the home the day of the alleged double murder, the drawer of the bar cart in the kitchen where Christine Banfield's phone was located, as well as portions of the bedroom away from the blood-stained scene.

On the day of the alleged murders, Fortner took photographs of the guest bedroom where Peres Magalhaes was living. The closet was full of her clothes, including lingerie.

Fortner returned to the Banfield home eight months later to execute a warrant. He took pictures of the primary bedroom where Brendan Banfield slept, where you could see Peres Magalhaes' clothes in the shared closet.

Additionally, pictures of Brendan and Christine Banfield were replaced by pictures of Brendan Banfield and Peres Magalhaes, on the bedside table next to the area where Christine Banfield was murdered less than a year earlier.

Soon after, prosecutors called Fairfax County Police Department Detective Terry Leach to the stand.

He walked the jury through the mountain of photographic evidence taken at the scene the day of the killings.

Some of those pictures were so graphic, images were shown only to jurors, the judge, lawyers, and witness.

People sitting in the public seating area of the court were able to see some of the crime scene photographs showing blood stains on the carpet and clothes, as well as the gun and knife used.

One woman seated in the area reserved for family members of the victims closed her eyes when those pictures were shown on the screens in the courtroom.

Leach then provided a timeline before the killings, using surveillance video and a call log.

During her testimony, Peres Magalhaes said Brendan Banfield planned to wait at a nearby McDonald's until she called him to say Ryan had arrived at the house.

The surveillance video at the fast food restaurant showed Banfield ordering food through the drive-thru, then parking his car.

He then could be seen on camera walking inside and entering the bathroom.

About eight minutes later, at 7:37 a.m., he could be seen leaving the bathroom with his phone to his ear, walking to his car, and driving away.

Leach then showed call logs for both Banfield's and Peres Magalhaes' phones showing the au pair called him at the time he was walking out of the McDonald's bathroom.

Peres Magalhaes also testified on Tuesday that the plan was for both of them to also call Christine Banfield, to make it look like they were trying to alert her, even though her phone was turned off and hidden in the kitchen while she was asleep in the bedroom.

The call logs also confirmed Brendan Banfield and Peres Magalhaes made outgoing calls to Christine.

The trial will continue Tuesday, January 20.

DAY 2 RECAP:

PREVIOUS | Day 2 of au pair affair murder trial: Accused mistress returns to witness stand

For two hours on Tuesday, prosecutors questioned Peres Magalhaes, Banfield's au pair, on her role in the plot and her alleged affair with Banfield.

Those questions from prosecutors continued for the first 15 minutes on Wednesday, as she took the witness stand for the second day in a row.

The prosecution shifted the focus of their question from the alleged scheme and murders, to Peres Magalhaes' experience navigating the legal system.

Banfield's lawyer attacked the former au pair's credibility because of the plea deal she accepted, and the fact it took her a year and multiple offers before coming to an agreement.

Prosecutors asked why it took so long. Peres Magalhaes said it was because Banfield's mother had been paying for her lawyer and she was concerned she would lose legal representation if she flipped on the accused killer.

The bulk of the day was spent on Banfield's lawyer asking a long list of questions.

John Carroll, Banfield's lawyer, had Peres Magalhaes read dozens of letters she sent from jail to Banfield and her own mother, which indicated she was feeling more anxious the longer she was in jail and worried prosecutors wanted to use her to arrest her former boss.

Questions then focused on the former au pair's inability to remember specific details and dates of the alleged murder plot. This led to tense back-and-forth between the attorney and Peres Magalhaes, at times.

Perhaps the biggest revelation during this line of questioning came when Peres Magalhaes admitted on the stand she has received money in her jail canteen account from a media production company, in order to pay for food and calls home to Brazil, and she is negotiating selling her story for when she is released.

Throughout the day, the jury did not provide much in emotional reaction to new revelations or testy exchanges between Peres Magalhaes and Carroll, though they seemed locked in to every word.

Peres Magalhaes, for her part, mostly kept her composure without any emotional outbursts. However, after some repeat questions from Carroll, she expressed frustration because she felt she answered those questions already. Some of those repeat questions were met with objections from prosecutors.

Prosecutors allege the killings were the result of months of planning fueled by an extramarital affair between Banfield and Peres Magalhães. They say the pair created fake online accounts to lure Ryan to the family’s home, staging the scene to look like a violent home invasion.

DAY 1 RECAP:

*** CONTENT WARNING: The following contains content that may be disturbing to some readers. Discretion is advised.***

RELATED | Brendan Banfield trial begins with opening statements, au pair testimony in Virginia court

Prosecutors and Banfield's defense team both provided opening statements before several back-to-back testimonies from officers, a Fairfax County 9-1-1 records keeper, and the medical examiner, before Peres Magalhaes took to the stands.

Banfield's defense spent the bulk of his opening statement challenging Peres Magalhaes' credibility, pointing out how many times the prosecution offered her a plea deal she turned down before accepting her current one.

Peres Magalhaes claimed she began an affair with Banfield in August 2022, and in October, Banfield began discussing how he wanted to "get rid of" Christine and marry Peres Magalhaes. When asked about a divorce, Peres Magalhaes told the court that Banfield said the process would cost too much money and that he didn't want to split child custody.

Banfield convinced Peres Magalhaes to learn how to fire a gun, and the two worked together to create a fake account under Christine's account to lure a man to the house, the au pair said.

Once they found the right man, Joseph Ryan, they lured him to the house and began efforts to stage the incident as if Ryan were a home intruder, Peres Magalhaes claimed.

She said Banfield changed his daily routine days prior, instructed Peres Magalhaes to get a new phone and Apple ID, and told her to park in a different location on the day of the murders. The au pair said she told Christine she would be away from the house around the same time as the meetup.

After Ryan arrived at the house, the pair then quietly entered the house through the basement. Shortly after, Peres Magalhaes said Banfield stabbed both Ryan and Christine and fatally shot Ryan.

She also testified that she witnessed Banfield repeatedly stab his wife, Christine, during the attack.

“Christine’s first reaction — that’s the first time I heard her say anything,” Peres Magalhaes told jurors. “Then she yelled back at Brendan, saying, ‘Brendan, he has a knife.’ That’s when Brendan first shot Joe.”

When asked where Christine Banfield was stabbed, Peres Magalhaes replied simply:

“The neck.”

A lawyer for Banfield said in opening statements that it was Ryan, not Banfield, who killed Christine, but conceded his client and the au pair were having an affair.

The defense sharply disputes that version of events, arguing that investigators manipulated evidence and built their case around a cooperating witness with every incentive to lie.

Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor, says jurors will ultimately have to decide whether Peres Magalhaes is credible — or simply saying what prosecutors want to hear.

“I think the key evidence in this case is going to be the cooperating witness, Juliana, the Brazilian au pair, as well as the digital evidence connecting the two — their extramarital affair and then the setup in this case to make the murders of Christine and Joseph Ryan seem like self-defense,” Rahmani said.