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A Fairfax County judge sentenced Brendan Banfield to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the 2023 murders of his wife, Christine Banfield, and Joseph Ryan.

Prosecutors said Banfield, a former IRS law enforcement officer, was having an affair with the family’s au pair, Juliana Peres Magalhães, when the two devised a plan to kill Christine and frame Ryan as a violent stranger.

Fairfax County Circuit Court Chief Judge Penney Azcarate described the killings as extraordinarily cruel and calculated before imposing the mandatory life sentence.

“One would hope that some day you will become tortured by what you have done to Christine, Joe, Christine’s daughter, and their families, but nothing I have seen suggests that you will,” Azcarate told Banfield.

Banfield was convicted in February of two counts of aggravated murder. He was also found guilty of using a firearm in the commission of a felony and child endangerment because his 4-year-old child was inside the home during the killings.

Aggravated murder became Virginia’s most serious offense after the state abolished the death penalty in 2021. A conviction carries a mandatory life sentence.

Banfield has maintained his innocence throughout the case. At trial, he testified that he shot Ryan to stop him from attacking Christine with a knife, but the jury rejected that account.

During the sentencing hearing, Banfield again denied killing his wife while describing her as a caring mother, wife and nurse.

Azcarate appointed an appellate attorney for Banfield after sentencing him. He had 30 days to file an appeal.

Prosecutors detailed an elaborate plot

According to prosecutors and Magalhães, the pair impersonated Christine on a fetish website and used the account to lure Ryan to the Banfield home with the promise of rough sex.

Magalhães testified for two days about her sexual relationship with Banfield, his stated desire to “get rid of his wife” and the plan he developed.

Authorities initially charged Magalhães with murder in October 2023, eight months after the killings and nearly a year before Banfield was charged. As her trial approached, she accepted a plea agreement that reduced her charge to manslaughter.

After testifying against Banfield, Magalhães was sentenced in February to 10 years in prison for her role in the two deaths.

At sentencing, Banfield and his attorney argued that jurors had not properly considered DNA and digital forensic evidence. They cited bloodstain analysis indicating that Christine’s blood was found on Ryan and records showing her laptop was accessed while Banfield was away from home.

Magalhães had testified that Banfield, rather than she, used the laptop to communicate with Ryan.

The defense has also argued that investigators forced the catfishing theory onto the case and removed police personnel who disagreed with it.

Families recount grief and lasting harm

Before Banfield was sentenced, Christine’s sister, Danielle Hocker; Ryan’s mother, Deirdre Fisher; and Ryan’s aunt delivered victim-impact statements.

Hocker recalled a childhood shared with Christine that included catching lightning bugs, receiving backyard haircuts from their grandfather and staying up late to watch “Saturday Night Live.”

“We were each other’s first friends,” she said, recalling sleeping in each other’s rooms and once attempting to change Christine’s diaper after climbing into her crib.

Four years older than Christine, Hocker said the sisters were sometimes mistaken for twins because both had curly hair. She described occasionally glimpsing her sister’s face in her own reflection.

Hocker also objected to Banfield’s trial testimony that he and Christine both had affairs during their 20-year relationship.

“As Christine’s sister, I didn’t just lose her, I had to sit and listen to a version of her that did not exist,” she said.

Azcarate emphasized the harm inflicted on Christine’s young daughter, saying Banfield had placed the child “in the middle of the horror” and taken everything from her.

Ryan’s mother rejects portrayal of her son

Speaking remotely, Fisher said her son had been reduced to labels such as an intruder, rapist and murderer as part of the plot against him.

“Joe wasn’t the disposable caricature he was made out to be,” she testified. “He had a face, he had a name, he had a life.”

Fisher said the years since Ryan’s death brought emotional, medical and financial trauma. She said she developed ulcers and a heart condition and had a toe amputated.

Ryan had previously traveled to care for his mother when she needed help, including during two bouts of cancer, Fisher said.

She rejected attacks on his character and described him as a feminist who supported women’s bodily autonomy. Although he met the person posing as Christine through a fetish website, Fisher said he went there seeking a consenting partner.

Ryan lived with and cared for his grandmother. He had also moved to Florida to help his grandfather before his death.

Fisher remembered her son as someone who fought for underdogs, including neglected animals. She said he would visit shelters and adopt the oldest and least wanted dogs. When Ryan died, he left behind a dog named Kitty that waited for him at the top of the stairs.

Fisher gave birth to Ryan when she was 16 and was initially unable to raise him. Ryan sought a closer relationship with her when he was 14, and they later spent holidays and vacations together and spoke frequently by phone.

Their final call came the night before he was killed.

“I won’t forget you, Joe,” Fisher said. “I hear you now.”