The Latina nanny, the federal tax investigator and the double homicide with sadomasochistic overtones: the case that shocked Washington in the United States

The story is one that could even be written in a Hollywood script. And one that, for the moment, has shocked Washington and its surrounding areas.

At the epicenter is Juliana Peres, an immigrant nanny of Brazilian origin who is now accused of the murder of at least one person in a gruesome case tainted with alleged sadomasochism and an extramarital relationship with her employer.

Peres immigrated to the United States in 2021 as part of a State Department au pair program that places young people in the homes of Americans to help with childcare and other household tasks in exchange for room, board and a small salary.

Originally from a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of Sao Paulo and the daughter of a maid, Peres, then 21, saw the move as an opportunity to fulfill the famous “American dream.”

After her prior training, the Brazilian landed at the home of Christine and Brendan Banfield, in Herndon (Fairfax County), one of the most prestigious neighborhoods on the outskirts of the American capital and where many government officials live.

Brendan, in fact, is an investigator at the IRS (the United States tax agency) while Christine is a nurse specializing in pediatrics.

The house where they lived is valued at more than 1 million dollars (4 billion Colombian pesos) and, according to neighbors, they seemed like the perfect American couple: involved in community activities, volunteer work and a four-year-old daughter, who was in the care of Peres while her parents worked.

From dream to nightmare

But the Brazilian woman’s dream turned into a nightmare one morning in February last year. At around 8 a.m., authorities went to the house after receiving an emergency call through the 911 line.

When they arrived the scene was chilling. In the master bedroom bed lay Christine, dying from apparent stab wounds, and another man, Joseph Ryan, was killed by gunshot wounds.

According to Peres’ account, shortly after leaving the house to take the girl to an educational activity, he noticed a stranger entering through the back door and called Brendan, who was on his way to work, to inform him.

Brendan asked her to wait for him and once back, they both entered the residence and found Ryan with a knife to Christine’s neck. Ryan, who was armed, shot him once and then Peres a second time, with another gun that was in a shared closet.

The preliminary investigation, with forensic information, interviews with witnesses and information collected from phones and computers, pointed to a tragedy: Christine had contacted Ryan through an anonymous platform for people with sexual fetishes or obsessions. In their case, sharp weapons and the pleasure of their wounds.

At least that is what was indicated by a computer associated with Christine, where she had apparently created a fake profile and arranged the meeting with the man.

Upon entering the bedroom and seeing his wife being subdued by a stranger carrying a knife, Brendan had no choice but to shoot.

Suspicions in the case

But from the beginning That narrative generated a lot of suspicion among the authorities..

Why, for example, had no one called 9-11 when they detected the presence of a stranger in the house? Additionally, there was a time discrepancy between the moment the events occurred and the various calls made to the emergency line.

According to authorities, More than 10 minutes would have passed between the shots and contact with the operator, something unusual.

They also found nothing in Christine’s history that indicated she had such sexual preferences, but they did find that both Brendan and Juliana had replaced their cell phones a week ago and that the profile on the platform for such encounters had only been created recently.

The version of the second shooting, attributed to the nanny, did not add up either: if Brendan already had a gun and had fired once, why had Juliana gone to a closet – supposedly on her husband’s instructions – to look for another gun to shoot him again?

But the most alarming fact was that neither Juliana nor Brendan informed the authorities that they had been in a romantic relationship for months. Something they discovered later when they found very revealing intimate photographs and evidence of a romantic getaway to New York.

Eight months later and after an extensive investigation, authorities arrested Peres and charged her with Ryan’s murder. When they arrived at the house, the nanny had already moved into the master bedroom, a framed photo of her and Brendan sat on the nightstand, and her clothes had replaced Christine’s in the closet.

So far, no one has been charged with the wife’s death and it’s a little surprising that there are no charges against Brendan, even though he also shot Ryan and there are many elements of his story that don’t add up.

“I pray that the prosecutors and the judge understand and find out who is guilty in this case. Because it is not Juliana,” said Marina, her mother, in interviews with media in Brazil, where she has criticized the fact that her daughter is the only accused in the case.

According to the picture painted by the prosecutors, Peres allegedly managed to produce Christine’s sexual profile and then arrange for Ryan to meet at the house that morning with the intention of eliminating him.

But it is not clear, at least from what is known, whether they will bet on any of the theories circulating in the media (the case even has a TikTok account and is an obsession in Brazilian media).

One of them, of course, is that Juliana and Brendan planned the whole thing to eliminate Christine and continue their relationship.

Specific details will be announced in November.as the trial begins in this suburb of the US capital.

SERGIO GOMEZ MASERI

Correspondent for EL TIEMPO

Washington