Man Who Plotted with Au Pair to Kill Wife, Stranger Sentenced to Life in Prison

Brendan Banfield, the Fairfax County man accused of plotting with his family’s au pair to impersonate his wife on a sexual fetish website to frame a stranger as her killer, was sentenced Friday to life without parole.

Judge Penney S. Azcarate handed down the harshest sentence possible, as Virginia abolished the death penalty in 2021.

“You should understand that you were found guilty of crimes that five short years ago would have carried a sentence of death,” Azcarate told Banfield. “Life in prison is a punishment reserved for a very small number of individuals – those whom the community has determined should never walk free again. It is a harsh sentence, but in this case it is a justified one.”

It marks the final legal chapter in a case that has commanded the attention of national media outlets, documentary producers and true-crime enthusiasts. In a letter from prison, the au pair wrote that Netflix offered her $10,000 for exclusive rights to her story.

Banfield, 41, was found guilty earlier this year of aggravated murder in the 2023 killings of Christine Banfield and Joseph Ryan. He was also convicted of a firearms offense and child endangerment, as his and Christine’s then-4-year-old daughter was in the basement of the Herndon home at the time of the murders.

The convictions followed a nearly month-long trial during which prosecutors painted Banfield as a man so deeply in love with the young Brazilian au pair that he orchestrated an elaborate plot to lure Ryan to his family’s Northern Virginia home under the pretense of a rough sex fantasy, shoot him, stab Christine, then frame Ryan as a violent intruder.

Prosecutors presented testimony from Banfield's former lover and au pair, 25-year-old Juliana Peres Magalhães, who corroborated their theory. She cut a plea deal, ensuring prosecutors would recommend her release as long as she cooperated with investigators and pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter. (The judge later disregarded the recommendation, sentencing her to 10 years in prison – the maximum for manslaughter in Virginia.)

The defense sought to discredit Magalhães’ testimony, using letters and messages she sent while incarcerated to paint her as a young, disillusioned woman who became willing to say anything for a chance at freedom. And when Banfield took the stand during trial, he emphatically denied any plan to harm his wife, calling the claim that he had concocted a catfishing plot “absolutely crazy.”

Banfield maintained his innocence until the very end. In his final words before being sentenced, he accused Ryan of fatally stabbing his wife and sought to portray himself as a loving husband.

“She truly was a caring mother, a caring wife, a loving nurse,” he said of Christine. “But I am not responsible for her death. This is not a knife that I ever held in my hand, and I never stabbed her.”

Azcarate eviscerated him before delivering the sentence. She said sentencing normally weighs heavily on her as people often make mistakes, act out of anger or have underlying struggles with substance abuse. But not this time, she said.

“To testify as you did shows the court that you still think that you are the smartest person in the room,” Azcarate said. “One would hope that some day you would become tortured by what you have done to Christine, Joe, Christine’s daughter and their families – but nothing that I have seen suggests that you will. The level of cruelty, calculation and inhumanity in this case suggests something far deeper than anger or impulse. It reflects evil. Which is why I carry no burden and find no hesitation in sentencing you to life.”

In Fairfax County Circuit Court on Friday, members of Christine and Ryan’s families spoke publicly for the first time about the betrayal that cost the lives of their loved ones.

Danielle Hocker, Christine’s older sister, remembered the call that shattered her world, when her dad informed her husband that Christine had been killed – seemingly stabbed to death by a violent intruder who Banfield, a former IRS agent, shot in an attempt to save his wife.

But as the investigation continued, a more sinister story emerged: prosecutors believed Banfield and the au pair had conspired to impersonate Christine on a sexual fetish website. There, prosecutors say, they met Ryan, lured him to the Northern Virginia home under the pretense of a rough sex fantasy with Christine, killed them both, then framed Ryan as her attacker.

As the family learned more, the life they thought they knew was cast into doubt. Hocker remembered the Saturday in October 2022 when she traveled to Fairfax County to spend the day with her mother, sister and niece doing fun Halloween activities. She didn’t know at the time that her brother-in-law spent that day at a gun range teaching Magalhães how to shoot.

“When I learned this, I went numb,” she testified. “I felt in some way I had been used to facilitate what happened because I didn’t recognize the signs. Since then, I have replayed countless moments, fixating on small details and convincing myself I should have noticed something – there must have been a clue that I missed.”

“I didn’t truly know Brendan at all,” she said. “I don’t believe anyone did – not friends, not family and certainly not Christine."

Hocker recalled childhood memories: evenings spent with her younger sister watching Full House, the time Christine fell asleep at a New Kids On The Block concert, and Christine’s obsession with “Legends of the Fall.” She said she was not surprised by Christine’s choice to become a nurse – she had always been reliable, selfless and caring.

Deirdre Fisher, Ryan’s mother, spoke lovingly of her son – urging the public to remember him as a complete person, not just a pawn in Banfield’s scheme. She spoke of his devotion to caring for sick family members, his volunteering to teach jiu-jitsu to children with autism, his work at a local homeless shelter and his love for animals.

“Joe was a guy who believed in fighting for the underdog, and even actual neglected dogs,” Fisher said, chuckling at the memory through tears. “He would walk into an animal shelter and ask for the oldest, ugliest dogs, bring them home and love them for years. When Joe was murdered, he left behind a dog named Kitty who waited for him at the top of the stairs.”

Family members, prosecutors and the judge all emphasized the premeditated nature of the crime in their remarks Friday, with Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Kelsey Gill calling the killings calculated “executions” and reminding the judge that no matter the sentence, grief endures.

“I am asking you to impose every minute of active incarceration that the law requires and that the law allows,” Gill said. “The sun should never shine on Mr. Banfield’s skin as a free man ever again.”

Correction: A previous version of this article misspelled Danielle Hocker's name.