Former IRS Officer Found Guilty of Orchestrating Wife's Murder with Au Pair Lover
A Virginia man has been convicted of murdering his wife and another man in a complex plot that prosecutors revealed was fuelled by his secret affair with the family's Brazilian au pair. Brendan Banfield, a 40-year-old former law enforcement officer with the Internal Revenue Service, was found guilty of double homicide by a jury on Monday following a dramatic trial that exposed a web of deception.
The Fabricated Intruder Story Unravels
Banfield initially told police he discovered Joseph Ryan attacking his wife, Christine Banfield, with a knife on the morning of February 24, 2023. He claimed he shot Ryan in response, and that the family's au pair, Juliana Magalhães, then also shot the alleged intruder. However, prosecutors systematically dismantled this narrative during the trial, presenting evidence that the entire scenario was carefully staged.
Officials argued that Banfield's story was too perfect to be true, telling jurors that he had actually set Ryan up as part of an elaborate scheme to eliminate his wife. The prosecution's case gained crucial momentum when it emerged that Banfield and Magalhães had been conducting a clandestine affair for some time before the murders.
Au Pair's Damning Testimony Reveals Catfishing Scheme
Magalhães, who pleaded guilty to manslaughter in 2024, testified against her former lover during the trial. She provided chilling details about how she and Banfield had impersonated Christine Banfield, a paediatric intensive care nurse, on a website dedicated to sexual fetishes. According to her testimony, they used this platform to lure Ryan to the house under false pretences, arranging what was supposed to be a sexual encounter involving a knife.
The prosecution asserted that the couple then staged the scene to appear as though they had shot an intruder who was attacking Christine Banfield, creating what they hoped would be a convincing cover story for her murder. Magalhães's cooperation with prosecutors formed a cornerstone of the case against Banfield, though the defence vigorously attacked her credibility.
Defence Challenges Testimony and Police Theory
Defence attorney John Carroll argued that Magalhães's testimony could not be trusted because she was cooperating with prosecutors in an attempt to avoid a lengthy prison sentence. Banfield himself dismissed her account as absolutely crazy during his own testimony. Carroll also introduced evidence suggesting there was significant dissent within the police department regarding the catfishing theory.
The defence highlighted that an officer who concluded from digital evidence that Christine Banfield herself was behind the social media account in question was later transferred. Carroll characterised this move as punishment for disagreeing with a theory favoured by the department's higher-ups, suggesting investigative bias may have influenced the case.
Prosecution Points to Physical Evidence
In her closing arguments, prosecutor Jenna Sands told jurors they did not need to rely solely on Magalhães's testimony, pointing to what she described as a plethora of evidence supporting the prosecution's case. This included expert testimony indicating that blood stains on Ryan's hands suggested Christine Banfield's blood had been dripped onto him from above, contradicting the narrative of a violent struggle.
The jury deliberated for nearly nine hours across two days before reaching their guilty verdict. Banfield now faces the possibility of life imprisonment when he is sentenced for the double homicide. Meanwhile, Magalhães was scheduled to be sentenced following Banfield's trial, with attorneys suggesting she could potentially walk free if sentenced to time already served, given her cooperation with prosecutors.
