GUILTY: Brendan Banfield Convicted of Murdering Wife Christine — Au Pair Walked Free

The verdict is in. Brendan Banfield has been found guilty of aggravated murder in Fairfax County, Virginia. The former IRS special agent was convicted Monday in the February 2023 deaths of his wife Christine Banfield, 37, and Joseph Ryan, 39 — a man prosecutors say was catfished on a fetish website and lured to the family home as part of an elaborate murder plot.

The jury of five men and seven women deliberated nearly nine hours over two days. They heard from 34 witnesses across three weeks of testimony, including the most damning account of all: Juliana Peres Magalhães, the family's au pair and Banfield's mistress, who told jurors she helped execute the plan and watched Banfield stab his wife.

Magalhães originally faced second-degree murder charges. She struck a deal — plead to manslaughter, testify against Banfield, walk out with time served. The defense called her "bought and paid for" and attacked her credibility at every turn. They pointed out Banfield's DNA wasn't on the knife. They challenged the investigation as biased and the digital evidence as flawed.

None of it worked. The jury believed the au pair.

Under Virginia law, aggravated murder carries mandatory life without parole. Banfield, 40, will never leave prison. His four-year-old daughter — who was in the basement of the house during the killings — is now seven. She'll grow up visiting her father behind bars, if she visits at all.

Today we cover the verdict, the key evidence, and what comes next as Banfield's team prepares the inevitable appeal.

#TrueCrimeToday #BrendanBanfield #ChristineBanfield #AuPairMurder #GuiltyVerdict #JulianaMagalhaes #FairfaxCounty #MurderTrial #JosephRyan #LifeInPrison

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This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.