Jurors in Fairfax County were shown photographs of blood on a dead man’s hands and asked to decide whether it proved a desperate struggle or a staged crime scene.
By the end of deliberations, they had rejected former federal law enforcement officer Brendan Banfield’s version of events and convicted him of a double murder that prosecutors said was built on deception, a fetish website, and a secret relationship with the family’s au pair.
The Verdict and What It Covers
According to reporting by the Associated Press and detailed trial coverage from Fox News, a Virginia jury found 40-year-old Brendan Banfield guilty of aggravated murder for the 2023 killings of his wife, 37-year-old pediatric intensive care nurse Christina Banfield, and 38-year-old Joseph Ryan.
The jury also convicted Banfield of using a firearm in the commission of the crimes and of child endangerment, after evidence showed his then 4-year-old daughter was left alone in the basement of the family’s Herndon home while the violence unfolded upstairs.
The panel of seven women and five men deliberated for about nine hours before delivering the verdict. Banfield now faces life in prison without the possibility of parole, with sentencing scheduled for May 8, according to the Associated Press and Fox News reporting.
BREAKING: A Virginia man has been found guilty of killing his wife and a stranger lured to their home under false pretenses in an elaborate plot to get rid of his spouse so he could be with his au pair, with whom he was having an affair. https://t.co/ldsMHXWcDh pic.twitter.com/9SOew4FSZl
— ABC News (@ABC) February 2, 2026
Two Conflicting Stories Inside the Herndon Home
From the start of the trial, there was no dispute that Banfield shot Ryan with his service weapon. The central questions were why he pulled the trigger and who was responsible for Christina’s fatal stab wounds to the neck.
Prosecutors argued that Banfield orchestrated an elaborate plan to make Ryan appear to be a violent intruder. In their account, described in Fox News coverage of the proceedings, Banfield and the family’s Brazilian au pair, 25-year-old Juliana Peres Magalhaes, lured Ryan to the house under false pretenses, then killed both him and Christina to clear the way for Banfield and Magalhaes to be together.
Banfield took the stand and admitted he shot Ryan. His explanation, reported by Fox News, was that he walked in on Ryan attacking Christina and fired in self-defense to protect his wife. His attorneys told jurors that the state’s key witness, Magalhaes, had strong incentives to shift blame away from herself.
The prosecution said the physical evidence contradicted Banfield’s story. An expert witness testified that blood on Ryan’s hands was more consistent with Christina’s blood dripping down from above than with Ryan wielding the knife, according to both the Associated Press and Fox News accounts of the testimony.
The Digital Trail and the Fetish Website
A significant part of the state’s case rested on electronic records and online communication. Prosecutors presented evidence that Banfield and Magalhaes created fake profiles on a fetish website, posing as Christina, to contact Ryan and invite him to the Herndon home, according to reporting from Fox News.
In that version, Ryan believed he was participating in a consensual encounter that would include elements of violence. Magalhaes testified that Ryan was instructed online to bring a knife and that he showed up armed, then began interacting with Christina, who was unaware of the online ruse.
Christina had previously worked with sexual assault survivors. Prosecutors argued that the background made it unlikely she would have voluntarily agreed to the scenario that was described in the online messages presented at trial.
The digital evidence, prosecutors told jurors, helped show planning rather than a spontaneous confrontation. They said it also supported their position that Ryan was a stranger lured into a situation he did not fully understand, not a home invader who suddenly targeted the family.
The Au Pair’s Account and Her Plea Deal
Magalhaes was both a central witness and a contentious figure in the trial. According to Fox News reporting, she told jurors that she waited outside in a car while Christina and Ryan were inside the house. She said she called Banfield to falsely report an intruder, prompting him to hurry home.
Once Banfield entered the house, prosecutors said he shot Ryan to make it appear he was defending Christina, then stabbed Christina multiple times in the neck and tried to stage the scene so it looked as though Ryan had killed her. Magalhaes testified that she saw the stabbing, then later helped call 911.
The defense attacked her credibility. Banfield’s attorney argued that Magalhaes had fabricated key aspects of the story to protect herself, pointing to a plea agreement that resulted in a sentence of time served, as reported by Fox News. In closing arguments, the defense suggested that her desire to avoid a lengthy prison term gave her a strong motive to implicate Banfield as the mastermind.
Prosecutors acknowledged the plea deal but urged jurors to look at what they described as corroborating evidence. According to Fox News coverage, prosecutor Jenna Sands told the jury they did not have to rely only on Magalhaes’ account and highlighted what she called a “plethora of evidence” connecting Banfield to the planning and execution of the killings.
Sands also offered a clear statement of the state’s theory of motive. According to Fox News, she told jurors, “He was in love with Juliana, prosecutor Jenna Sands told jurors. He needed to get rid of his wife so they could be together.”
Why Jurors Rejected Self-Defense
The guilty verdict indicates that jurors found the prosecution’s narrative more consistent with the combined physical, digital, and testimonial evidence than Banfield’s claim of self-defense.
According to the Associated Press summary, the panel heard that Ryan had been invited to the home through online messages, rather than forcing his way inside without warning. Expert evidence about the blood patterns on Ryan’s hands further undercut the idea that he had been the attacker wielding a knife, rather than a target of violence.
The child endangerment count also turned on undisputed facts. Both sides agreed that Banfield’s young daughter was downstairs in the home and unsupervised while the fatal encounter took place upstairs. Jurors concluded that Banfield’s actions put her at risk, in addition to causing the deaths of Christina and Ryan.
By convicting on all counts, including the firearm charge, the jury accepted the prosecution’s argument that Banfield misused his position as a former federal law enforcement officer, particularly his access to a service weapon, in carrying out the killings.
What Remains Unresolved
Banfield now awaits a formal sentence of life without parole, and court records are expected to clarify whether he will pursue an appeal. As of the most recent reporting from the Associated Press and Fox News, Magalhaes was scheduled to be sentenced after the conclusion of Banfield’s trial, but details of any final sentence have not yet been published in those accounts.
Her exact level of responsibility remains a point of dispute between the defense’s portrayal of her as a self-interested planner and the prosecution’s use of her as a witness who participated in, but did not direct, the crime. The plea agreement that produced a time-served sentence continues to be a key lens for evaluating her testimony and cooperation.
What is no longer in dispute in a Fairfax County courtroom is the legal judgment on Banfield’s conduct. A jury has said his version of the night inside the Herndon home does not match the evidence, while the long-term consequences of that decision for everyone involved are still unfolding.
