FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — An au pair who schemed with her employer-turned-lover to kill his wife and another man received a 10-year prison sentence on Friday.
Prosecutors had recommended Juliana Peres Magalhães walk free after she pleaded guilty to a downgraded manslaughter charge in the February 2023 killing of Joseph Ryan. Instead of being tried for second-degree murder, she became their star witness, testifying that she had fatally shot Ryan as Brendan Banfield was fatally stabbing his wife, Christine, in the couple’s bedroom.
Brendan Banfield was convicted by a jury this month of aggravated murder in the deaths of his wife and Ryan.
“I know my remorse cannot bring you peace,” Magalhães told the victims’ families on Friday, wiping away tears and muffling sobs. “I hope you can someday understand that I really did not believe his plan would actually happen.”
Instead of sentencing her to time served, Judge Penney Azcarate delivered the maximum possible sentence to the woman from Brazil.
“Let’s get it straight: You do not deserve anything other than incarceration and a life of reflection on what you have done to the victim and his family. May it weigh heavily on your soul,” the judge said.
At Banfield’s trial, Magalhães testified that she and the IRS agent created an account in the name of his wife, a pediatric intensive care nurse, on a social media platform for people interested in sexual fetishes. Ryan connected with the account and agreed to meet for a sexual encounter involving a knife.
Magalhães, then 22, said she and Brendan Banfield took the couple’s 4-year-old child to the basement, and then found Ryan surprising Christine Banfield with a knife in the couple’s bedroom. She said Brendan Banfield shot Ryan and then began stabbing his wife in the neck. When she saw Ryan moving, Magalhães said, she fired the second shot that killed him.
The au pair wasn’t arrested until eight months later, and hasn’t left jail since. Prosecutors raised concerns that if she were to be allowed bail, she would flee to Brazil or be deported by immigration officials before they could finish their case. She didn’t talk with investigators for more than a year, until she changed her mind as her trial date approached.
“I lost myself in a relationship, and left my morals and values behind,” Magalhães told the judge.
“You were texting and speaking to Joseph Ryan, encouraging him to bring a knife and ultimately, through the phone conversation, getting his consent, knowing all along you were bringing him to his death,” the judge responded.
Ryan’s mother, Deirdre Fisher, told the court that her son, born days before Christmas, was her “greatest gift.” Three years after his killing, she can’t bear taking down their Christmas tree. An urn with Ryan’s ashes sits in front of the decoration.
“I say good morning to him each day when I turn on the tree’s lights,” she said. “But of course that’s not Joe sitting there. He can’t say ‘I love you’ back.”
Sangeeta Ryan described her nephew as “inquisitive, curious, smart, charming and so dang talkative.” She said he loved martial arts and role-playing with his friends. She also noted that he had moved in with his octogenarian grandmother to care for her.
“His sudden murder devastated his grandma — she could no longer live in the family home without Joe,” his aunt said. The woman quietly moved away, hoping to avoid her memories and the reporters knocking at the door.
Christine Banfield’s relatives attended Friday’s hearing. A judge has said Banfield will be sentenced in May.
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