{
  "$type": "site.standard.document",
  "bskyPostRef": {
    "cid": "bafyreif7ix4lv4jnp4vgztvcwh5dm53c43hludzhdred7er3gg4pgtfcr4",
    "uri": "at://did:plc:psocqub4rb4dlzcbpukyqynd/app.bsky.feed.post/3mnjvlvfv7ih2"
  },
  "coverImage": {
    "$type": "blob",
    "ref": {
      "$link": "bafkreieyqaoyqz2w7umwrcqun4mmkfxbjq6vr5j263ewlnpg5wz2npoahq"
    },
    "mimeType": "image/jpeg",
    "size": 49236
  },
  "path": "/news/brendan-banfield-be-sentenced-high-profile-au-pair-affair-murder-case",
  "publishedAt": "2026-06-05T10:00:55.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.fox5dc.com",
  "tags": [
    "42969d3f-1621-531b-a5cb-494f6b2cffa2",
    "wttg",
    "FOX 5 DC",
    "fts/news",
    "fts/us/va/fairfax-county/fairfax",
    "fts/true-crime/banfield-murder-trial",
    "fts/crime-publicsafety/crime-in-the-dmv",
    "news",
    "article",
    "Deadly Desire? Brendan Banfield on Trial",
    "Brendan Banfield ruled guilty in au pair murder trial"
  ],
  "textContent": "A former IRS law enforcement officer convicted in a murder plot that prosecutors described as an elaborate scheme to frame an innocent man is scheduled to be sentenced Friday morning.\n\nBrendan Banfield was found guilty earlier this year in the killings of his wife, Christine Banfield, and Joseph Ryan inside the family’s Virginia home.\n\n**RELATED:** Deadly Desire? Brendan Banfield on Trial\n\n## **What we know:**\n\nBrendan Banfield was convicted in February of aggravated murder in the deaths of his wife, Christine Banfield, and Joseph Ryan.\n\nProsecutors argued Banfield orchestrated the killings in an effort to leave his wife and continue a relationship with the family’s au pair, Juliana Magalhães.\n\nAccording to prosecutors, Banfield and Magalhães created an online account in Christine Banfield’s name on a fetish website and used it to lure Ryan to the home under the guise of a sexual encounter involving a knife.\n\nRyan had no prior connection to the family, prosecutors said.\n\n**RELATED:** Brendan Banfield ruled guilty in au pair murder trial\n\n## **Dig deeper**\n\nDuring trial testimony, Magalhães told jurors that she and Banfield took the couple’s 4-year-old child to the basement before entering the bedroom where the killings occurred.\n\nShe testified that Banfield shot Ryan and fatally stabbed Christine Banfield in the neck.\n\nMagalhães said she later fired a second shot after seeing Ryan move.\n\nMagalhães pleaded guilty to a reduced manslaughter charge in Ryan’s death and was sentenced in February to 10 years in prison.",
  "title": "Brendan Banfield to be sentenced in high-profile 'au pair affair' murder case"
}