Husband who plotted with au pair to murder wife is jailed for life

Brendan Banfield looks on during the double murder trial for Brendan Banfield in Fairfax County Circuit Court (Picture: AP)

A husband who plotted with the family’s au pair to kill his wife and another man they hoped would take the blame has been jailed for life.

Brendan Banfield, 40, a former Internal Revenue Service law enforcement officer, was found guilty of murdering his wife, Christine Banfield, an intensive care nurse, and Joseph Ryan in February 2023.

Jailing him, Judge Penney Azcarate said: ‘The disregard of the life of your wife, someone you supposedly loved, is almost unfathomable.

‘The level of cruelty, calculation and inhumanity in this case reflects something far deeper than anger or impulse – it reflects evil, which is why I carry no burden and find no hesitation in sentencing you to life.’

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Brendan Banfield listens to a family impact statement ahead of the sentencing in court on Friday, June 5, 2026 in Fairfax, Va. (Picture: AP Photo/Pool)

Juliana Peres Magalhães testifying during the double murder trial for Brendan Banfield. (Picture: AP Photo/Tom Brenner, Pool)

Prosecutors argued that Banfield, who was romantically involved with the family’s au pair, Juliana Peres Magalhães, 26, devised a plan to eliminate his wife and frame Ryan, whom they found on a fetish website and tried to frame as the murderer.

During the trial, Magalhães said Banfield had spoken of marrying her and starting a family together but said he first needed to ‘get rid of’ his wife.

She also said he didn’t want to be divorced because of financial concerns and because he hoped to retain custody of the couple’s four-year-old daughter.

Banfield maintained his innocence and said he cared deeply for his wife and insisted that, despite having extramarital relationships, he never intended to leave her.

The two defendants posed as a couple on a fetish website to get Ryan to come to the house for a proposed sexual encounter with a knife, only to frame him for the murder of Ryan.

Banfield asserted he shot Ryan when he saw him attacking his wife.

Brendan Banfield cried while listening to a 911 call in court. (Picture: Court TV)

Banfield told the court: ‘I’m not trying to diminish in any way what (Christine’s) life was. She truly was a caring mother, a caring wife, a loving nurse. But I am not responsible for her death.’

Evidence presented during the trial showed that Magalhães waited outside with the child while Ryan entered the residence.

Prosecutors said Banfield shot Ryan and fatally stabbed his wife using a knife Ryan had brought to the meeting.

Magalhães later fired a second shot when Ryan showed signs of movement.

She was given a 10-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to manslaughter and cooperating with prosecutors in exchange for her testimony against Banfield.

Christine’s older sister Danielle Hocker told the court, according to CNN, ‘Since losing her, those same memories have changed. They’re no longer just joyful, but layered with grief, each one a reminder of both how much I had and how much was taken

‘I will be there, never to replace my sister, but to tell [her daughter] who her mother was, remind her of her big laugh and even bigger heart.

‘I will tell [her daughter] how much she was loved by her mother, and I will forever carry both the grief of losing her too soon and the gratitude of having loved her for 37 years and being loved by her in return.’

Ryan’s mother, Deidre Fisher, described her son as a compassionate man who devoted much of his time to caring for his grandmother and other family members.

Speaking in court, Fisher said: ‘Joe was a guy who believed in fighting for the underdog, and even actual neglected dogs.

‘He would walk into an animal shelter and ask for the oldest, ugliest dogs, bring them home and love them for years.’

In addition to the murder convictions, Banfield received five years for child endangerment because the couple’s daughter was inside the home during the killings, along with an additional three years for a firearms offence.

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