Article Text

A Brazilian au pair who helped her lover carry out a deadly plot inside his Herndon home was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison, the maximum punishment allowed for manslaughter in Virginia.

Fairfax County Chief Circuit Court Judge Penney Azcarate rejected a joint recommendation from prosecutors and the defense that Juliana Peres Magalhães be released with time served. The recommendation was part of a plea agreement requiring Magalhães to cooperate and testify against her former lover, Brendan Banfield.

“You do not deserve anything other than incarceration and a life of reflection on what you have done to the victim and this family,” Azcarate told her. “May it weigh heavily on your soul.”

Magalhães pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the death of Joseph Ryan, who prosecutors said was lured to the Banfield home in February 2023 and framed as part of a plan to kill Banfield’s wife, Christine Banfield.

Magalhães testified about the killings and her affair with Banfield, which continued for months after Christine Banfield and Ryan were killed.

Defense attorney Ryan Campbell argued that her firsthand account was crucial to Banfield’s conviction on aggravated murder charges. Although prosecutors had circumstantial, forensic and digital evidence, Campbell said Magalhães ultimately explained what happened inside the home.

Magalhães initially refused to speak with investigators after her arrest but agreed to cooperate as Banfield’s trial approached.

Banfield is scheduled to be sentenced May 8 and faces life in prison without parole. He was also convicted of using a firearm in the commission of a felony and child endangerment because his 4-year-old daughter was home during the killings.

Judge calls plea agreement a bargain

Magalhães told the court that she and Banfield created an account on a fetish website while impersonating Christine Banfield. They used it to contact Ryan and invite him to the house with the promise of rough sex.

Initially charged with second-degree murder in Ryan’s shooting death, Magalhães accepted a plea agreement in October 2024 that reduced the charge to manslaughter.

Azcarate described the agreement as a bargain, noting that Magalhães could have faced life in prison plus three years. Her cooperation reduced her maximum possible sentence to 10 years.

The judge said Magalhães shot Ryan at close range in the heart as he lay moaning and then watched Banfield stab his wife.

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

For roughly a year and a half after the killings, Magalhães maintained a fabricated account portraying Ryan as a rapist and murderer, the judge said. Azcarate also accused her of showing no empathy for him before the sentencing.

The judge outlined 10 reasons for imposing additional prison time. Her final reason concerned the Banfields’ daughter: Magalhães told the child she could call her “mommy” only hours after the child’s mother was killed.

Azcarate said those actions were deliberate and self-serving and showed a profound disregard for human life.

Ryan’s family describes lasting grief

Before the sentence was announced, Ryan’s mother, Deirdre Fisher, appeared by video call and tearfully described sleepless nights, nightmares and the anguish of reading false claims about her son online.

“My son’s life was used and thrown away, seen as worthless and utterly disposable by those who plotted and executed his brutal murder,” Fisher said.

Fisher said Ryan had cared for her during cancer treatment and was born just days before Christmas. Since his death, she said, she has been unable to remove a small Christmas tree that stands behind the urn holding his ashes.

Ryan’s aunt told the court that he lived with his 81-year-old grandmother, drove her to medical appointments and took her shopping. Relatives remembered him as someone who loved video games and mixed martial arts and cared deeply for neglected dogs, sometimes driving across the country to rescue them.

Family members argued that Magalhães had several opportunities to intervene and prevent the killings. Ryan’s aunt said the family hoped she would use her imprisonment to examine how she became capable of participating in the plot and would never again place personal desires above another person’s life.

Magalhães apologized during the hearing to the families of Ryan and Christine Banfield, as well as to the Banfields’ daughter, whom she had cared for. Members of both families attended the proceeding.

“I understand that I am to blame, and I’m truly sorry for the pain it caused,” Magalhães said through tears. “I hope someday I can be forgiven, as I hope to be able to forgive myself.”