An au pair embroiled in a sinister plot with her employer-turned-lover to commit murder has been sentenced to the maximum penalty. On Friday, Juliana Peres Magalhães, a 25-year-old from Brazil, received a ten-year prison sentence for her involvement in the gruesome murders of Christine Banfield, 37, and Joseph Ryan, 39.

Magalhães had collaborated with her American lover, 40-year-old Brendan Banfield, to execute the deadly scheme. The couple’s plan left both Banfield’s wife and an unrelated man, Ryan, dead. Despite an earlier plea deal that could have seen her released as soon as Friday, the severity of her actions resulted in a longer sentence, as reported by the Washington Post.

During the sentencing, Chief Judge Penney Azcarte delivered a scathing rebuke, stating, “Your actions were deliberate, self-serving, and demonstrated a profound disregard for human life. You do not deserve anything other than incarceration and a life of reflection on what you have done. May it weigh heavily on your soul.”

The investigation revealed that Magalhães and Banfield conspired to lure Ryan to their $1 million home in Herndon, Virginia. The ruse involved a staged sexual encounter, ultimately setting the scene to falsely implicate Ryan in Christine’s murder. The chilling plan displayed a calculated manipulation of events in an attempt to conceal their heinous crime.

‘May it weigh heavily on your soul.’ 

Police said the two worked together to lure Ryan – who had no connection to the family – to their $1 million Herndon, Virginia home under the pretense of a sexual encounter and staged the scene to make it look like he killed Christine.

At Banfield’s trial, Magalhães testified that the pair created a social media account under his wife’s name for people interested in sexual fetishes. 

She told jurors how she and Banfield impersonated Christine, a pediatric intensive care nurse, on BDSM site Fetlife to lure Ryan to carry out a ‘rape fantasy’ in which he would sneak into the Banfield’s home with a knife to make it look like he was an intruder. 

Magalhães testified that she fatally shot Ryan as Banfield, a former IRS agent, was fatally stabbing his wife in the couple’s bedroom.

Juliana Peres Magalhães was sentenced to ten years in jail on Friday after helping her employer and lover, Brendan Banfield, kill his wife and another man 

Magalhães, right, testified that she fatally shot 39-year-old Joseph Ryan as Banfield, left, was fatally stabbing his wife in the couple’s bedroom

Banfield’s wife, 37-year-old Christine Banfield, seen above, was stabbed in their Virginia home in 2023

She testified that they took Banfield’s child to the basement before going upstairs to find Ryan struggling with Christine. 

‘When I got to the bedroom, he yelled, “Police officer”,’ she said of Banfield, who at the time was an armed IRS agent.

‘Christine yelled back at Brendan, saying, “Brendan! He has a knife!” That’s when Brendan first shot Joe,’ she told the court.

She said she tried covering her eyes as the murder unfolded, but admitted that she then saw Ryan moving on the ground, so she shot him with a gun that Banfield had given her. 

Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Eric Clingan revealed in court that blood splatter analysis showed the bodies were moved.

He said police received in August ‘two definitive reports from expert forensic investigators’ who spent more than a year reviewing evidence.

‘The facts of this case demonstrate an intentional and calculated level of violence that is the most serious manslaughter scenario this court has ever seen,’ Azcarate said. 

The judge added that while Magalhães ‘may not have come up with a plan, agreed. And an older man may have groomed you to a point’ she demonstrated behavior that saw her as an active participant, including ‘knowing all along you were bringing him to his death.’

‘At any point for at least the month prior – or that day – you could have stopped this,’ Azcarate said. ‘The plan did not work without your full involvement.’

She described Magalhães’s actions as having an ‘intentional and calculated level of violence that is the most serious manslaughter scenario that this court has ever seen.’

Magalhães told the court on Friday through tears: ‘I hope that my cooperation in this case somehow begins to help repair the damage caused.’

Judge Penney Azcarte said that Magalhães’s actions as having an ‘intentional and calculated level of violence that is the most serious manslaughter scenario that this court has ever seen’

Ryan’s aunt said that his family believe he was targeted by ‘the worst kind of monsters’ 

‘I have grown so much over the past three years. I look back at my younger self, a 22-year-old falling head-over-heels for someone 15 years older, then only seeing his good side and clinging to someone that showed me love.’

‘I lost myself in that relationship, leaving my morals and values behind…I have a burden to carry, knowing I could have prevented it at all from happening,’ she added.

Ryan’s mother, Deidre Fisher, said: ‘My son’s life was used and thrown away – seen as worthless and utterly disposable. Disposable by those who plotted and executed his brutal murder.’

She said that while there could never truly be justice for his murder, she hoped that ‘even for a moment’ that ‘the world and you, judge, will say Joe meant more than nothing.

‘That he was someone worthy of dignity and life,’ she added. 

‘I lost my confidant, someone who knew me deeply, listened without judgment, offered advice with my best interests at heart. I lost my biggest ally and my cheerleader.’ 

Ryan’s aunt said that his family believe he was targeted by ‘the worst kind of monsters.’

‘The kind who live among the victims and wait until they’re most vulnerable.’

Ryan’s mother, Deidre Fisher seen above, said: ‘My son’s life was used and thrown away – seen as worthless and utterly disposable. Disposable by those who plotted and executed his brutal murder’

Banfield was found guilty on February 2 of two counts of aggravated murder, one count of child endangerment, and one count of using a firearm in the commission of a murder

Fairfax County Sgt. Kenneth Fortner testified that he first entered the Banfield’s home in February 2023 as part of the investigation into the double homicide and took pictures of the home, including both the primary bedroom and Magalhães’s room.

When he visited the home again eight months later, he said ‘red, lingerie-style clothing items’ and a yellow t-shirt with green trim that had previously hung in the au pair’s closet had been moved to the master bedroom.

‘They had gotten new flooring, new bedroom furniture,’ Fortner said, noting how photographs that once featured the Banfields had been ‘taken down and replaced with Brendan and Juliana together.’

But when Banfield took the stand last Wednesday, he said his former nanny’s testimony was ‘absolutely crazy’ even though he admitted to having an affair with Magalhães and several other women.

‘I think 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 argued. ‘That is absolutely crazy.’

He then went on to argue that Magalhães’s description of a plot to kill his wife was a lie, and insisted that ‘there was no plan.’

Banfield was found guilty on February 2 of two counts of aggravated murder, one count of child endangerment, and one count of using a firearm in the commission of a murder.

He faces a life sentence without parole and is scheduled for sentencing on May 8.