The Brazilian au pair who admitted to playing a role in Brendan Banfield's plans to murder his wife and a stranger was sentenced to 10 years in prison in a Virginia court Friday.
Juliana Peres Magalhaes, 25, was arrested on suspicion of second-degree murder eight months after the Feb. 24, 2023, killing of Christine Banfield and Joseph Ryan. In 2024, she pleaded guilty to the downgraded manslaughter charge.
In court on Friday, Judge Penney Azcarate called the case the “most serious manslaughter scenario” the court had ever seen. Azcarate sentenced Magalhaes to 10 years in the penitentiary and two years suspended.
Prior to the sentencing, Magalhaes apologized to the families of the victims, including the Banfields' daughter.
"I hope someday I can be forgiven, as I hope to be able to forgive myself," Magalhaes said.
Azcarate detailed Magalhaes' crimes, including watching as Banfield stabbed his wife and shooting Ryan at point blank range.
"The plan did not work without your full involvement," Azcarate said, adding that she could not accept a time served recommendation for Magalhaes as a result.
But Magalhaes' attorney, Ryan Campbell, said she will serve about four years and two months, with credit for time served and good behavior, regardless of the what the judge expressed, according to NBC Washington.
Brendan Banfield, a 40-year-old former IRS agent, was found guilty for the murders of Christine Banfield and Joseph Ryan. A Virginia jury convicted him on two counts of aggravated murder, one count of using a firearm in committing a felony, and child endangerment earlier this month.
Banfield could spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Magalhaes’ sentencing is the latest chapter of a long trial full of salacious details of affairs and a fetish website.
During the trial, Magalhaes testified that Banfield wanted to avoid a divorce with his wife. They used his wife’s laptop to set up a fake account on the BDSM website FetLife.com, according to the au pair’s testimony, and persuaded Ryan to come to the Banfield home for what he believed to be a fake-rape fantasy with Christine Banfield.
The plan was to tell police they shot Ryan after he stabbed Christine Banfield, Magalhaes said in court.
In court on Friday, Ryan's mother, Deidre Fisher, spoke about losing her son, who she called her confidant, biggest ally and cheerleader.
"My son’s life was used and thrown away, seen as worthless and utterly disposable," Fisher said. "Disposal by those who plotted and executed his brutal murder."
Magalhaes called 911 on the morning of Feb. 24, 2023 to report that a friend had been hurt. Banfield told a dispatcher that an “unknown male” had entered his home and attacked his wife.
“There’s somebody here. I shot them,” Banfield told the dispatcher in a 911 call that was played at the trial. “He stabbed her. There’s several marks on her neck. What do I do?”
Police found Christine Banfield fatally stabbed in an upstairs bedroom. Ryan, who had been fatally shot, was discovered nearby.
During the trial, Banfield admitted to cheating on his wife with Magalhaes and several other women, but dismissed questions that he was involved in her murder as "absurd."
“I think that it’s an absurd line of questioning for something that is not serious that a plan was made to get rid of my wife,” he said on the stand. “That is absolutely crazy.”
