Brendan Banfield to be sentenced in elaborate au pair double murder plot

The former IRS agent convicted in a deadly catfishing scheme targeting his wife and a stranger is expected to be sentenced Friday to a mandatory life term in prison.

Brendan Banfield, 40, was found guilty in February on two counts of aggravated murder, one count of using a firearm in committing a felony, and child endangerment in the 2023 killings of Christine Banfield and Joseph Ryan at the Banfields’ home in Herndon, Virginia.

Because of the aggravated murder convictions, Banfield is set to spend the rest of his life behind bars.

The couple’s au pair involved in the plot, Juliana Peres Magalhaes, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Peres Magalhaes initially faced charges of second-degree murder but was given the lesser punishment after she cooperated with authorities and testified for the prosecution at Banfield’s trial in Northern Virginia.

The sentencing is set to close the highly publicized case, which was tied to a fetish website.

During the trial, Banfield admitted on the stand that he cheated on his wife with Magalhaes, 25, and with several other women.

Prosecutors said Banfield was motivated by an affair and used the fetish website to lure Ryan, 39, to what he believed was a violent sexual fantasy at the Banfields’ home Feb. 24, 2023.

The events of that morning ended with Banfield fatally stabbing his wife, 37, and shooting Ryan, prosecutors said.

In court, Peres Magalhaes said she also shot Ryan. She said Banfield had been trying to avoid a divorce when they embarked on the catfishing plot and used Christine Banfield’s laptop to create a fake user profile on the fetish site that purported to be her.

The profile, “Annastasia9,” described wanting to find a stranger with whom she could act out the sexual fantasy in her home. Ryan was that stranger, Peres Magalhaes said.

During his trial, Banfield rejected those allegations and called them “absolutely crazy.” He testified that he shot Ryan after he saw him stab his wife.

“I did not want to shoot him,” said Banfield, who testified that he was armed with his service weapon. “Um, I wanted him to let her go.”

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