Former Long Islander gets life in prison for double murder scheme in Virginia with au pair lover

A Virginia judge on Friday sentenced a former Long Island resident who was convicted of murdering his wife and a man he lured to their home for a sexual encounter in 2023 to life in prison without the chance for parole.

Brendan Banfield, a former IRS law enforcement officer from Manorville, insisted he did not kill Christine Banfield, but Fairfax County Circuit Court Chief Judge Penney S. Azcarate said evidence presented at trial showed that he and his Brazilian lover — the couple’s au pair — had planned the murders for months. The judge said Banfield has shown no remorse for his "evil" actions.

"The level of cruelty, calculation and inhumanity in this case reflects 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," Azcarate said as she sentenced Banfield, 42, after he claimed the legal system had "failed" him and his family. "You still think you are the smartest person in the room."

A Fairfax County jury convicted Banfield of aggravated murder and other charges in February. Prosecutors claimed that Banfield wanted to kill his 37-year-old wife, a pediatric nurse from Suffolk County, so he could marry the au pair, Juliana Peres Magalhães, without a financial dispute or custody fight over the couple’s 4-year-old daughter.

Banfield and Peres Magalhães, 25, created an account on a fetish website to lure Joseph Ryan, 39, to the Banfields’ Herndon, Virginia, home on Feb. 24, 2023, for what he believed was a consensual sexual encounter simulating a rape and involving a knife. Banfield followed Ryan to the home, where his wife was, unaware of the advertisement from the fetish website. He then shot Ryan and used the knife to stab his wife seven times, according to prosecutors. Peres Magalhães also shot Ryan, authorities said.

Banfield claimed he had attempted to rescue Christine Banfield from a vicious attack, but the story quickly fell apart after police initiated an investigation.

Peres Magalhães testified against Banfield earlier this year. She pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Peres Magalhães was initially charged with second-degree murder but pleaded guilty to the lesser charge as part of a cooperation agreement with prosecutors.

At the sentencing, Christine Banfield’s older sister, Danielle Hocker, of New Hampshire, described the victim as a loving and caring person, and that nobody who knew her was surprised that she pursued nursing as a profession. She said Banfield was motivated by control, not love for Peres Magalhães.

"He could have divorced and moved on, but divorce would have required relinquishing control, and control was always the priority," she said.

Ryan’s mother, Deirdre Fisher, said at the sentencing her son supported women, speaking up for harassment victims who went public during the "Me Too" movement. She said he was an "extremely caring" person who rooted for the underdog.

"Joe wasn’t the disposable caricature he was made out to be," Fisher said. "He had a face, he had a name, he had a life. But Brendan Banfield shot his face, soiled his name and treated his life as disposable."

Banfield continued to insist that he was innocent, claiming he was the victim of a flawed legal system and overzealous prosecutors.

"I am greatly disappointed in the legal system," said Banfield, who had testified in his own defense. "My right to defend my family has been taken away."

Azcarate, however, wasn’t sympathetic. She said she had only encountered two other defendants during her 18 years on the bench who had acted in such violent and remorseless ways.

"As I listened to the evidence in this case and listened to your testimony, it is apparent that I am once again looking at that same kind of evil," she said.