JERICKA DUNCAN:
00:00:22
The mental state and the motivations of Juliana Perez-Magalhaes, the au pair at the center of this case, were under intense scrutiny Wednesday as defense attorneys cross-examined her for hours. With all due respect, you don't remember a lot of details. Well, if you were in my shoes, you don't remember either, you know? Your brain has a way to-- a defense mechanism, it's called.
JERICKA DUNCAN:
00:00:44
Prosecutors allege, Brendan Banfield, the 40-year-old former IRS agent, was the mastermind behind an elaborate scheme to kill his wife, Christine. He's accused of framing a stranger to avoid a divorce amid a secret affair with the family's au pair. 25-year-old Magalhaes testified, she and Banfield created a fake online profile on a sexual fetish website. They allegedly lured Joseph Ryan to the home, for what he believed would be a fantasy sexual encounter. According to prosecutors, on February 24th of 2023, while in Banfield's bedroom, he shot Ryan in the head, stabbed Christine, his wife, repeatedly, and directed Magalhaes to fire a second shot into Ryan's chest. She pleaded guilty to a lesser manslaughter charge in 2024. As part of a plea deal, she became the prosecution's key witness. I withheld the truth for a long time, just to myself.
JERICKA DUNCAN:
00:01:39
But defense attorneys questioned her motives for turning on Banfield and highlighted her personal struggles with mental health, focusing on letters she wrote from jail after her October 2023 arrest. What if they don't let me go home? I'd rather to die than live like this.
JERICKA DUNCAN:
00:01:57
The exchange turned heated after the defense highlighted conversations Magalhaes was having with film producers, raising questions about her potential financial gain from selling her story. The defense also pointed to her letters to family, where she wrote, "we deserve something."
ATTORNEY:
00:02:15
And what is it you deserve something for? Everything we've been through.
JERICKA DUNCAN:
00:02:19
Banfield has pleaded not guilty, but faces life in prison if convicted. For CBS Mornings, I'm Jericka Duncan.
