Virginia husband accused of plotting murders in Reston with au pair to show up for bail hearing

FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. (7News) — A Virginia man accused of killing his wife and another man is scheduled to appear in a Fairfax County courtroom Friday morning for a bond hearing.

Brendan Banfield faces four counts of aggravated murder and one count of using a firearm in the commission of a felony in connection with the 2023 double murder in Reston. The public prosecutor accuses Banfield of having committed the murders together with the family's au pair.

RELATED | Family au pair, 23, charged with murder of man after shooting at a Fairfax County home

On Feb. 4 of last year, officers found Banfield's wife, 37-year-old Christine, stabbed and 38-year-old Joseph Ryan shot to death at a home in the 13200 block of Stable Brook Way.

Authorities later charged the family's au pair, Juliana Peres Magalhaes, with second-degree murder for the man's death. She is being held without bail in an adult detention center while she awaits trial.

Nearly a year after that arrest in October 2023, authorities arrested Banfield during a traffic stop and charged him 570 days after that double murder.

7News also learned that Banfield worked as a detective for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and is accused of using his service weapon to shoot Ryan.

Banfield's trial is scheduled to begin on February 3. It is expected to last four weeks.