A Death Wish And A Catfish: How An Irs Agent Lured His Wife And An Unsuspecting Man To Their Murders

On a Friday greeting 3 years ago, a horrific segment unfolded successful a Northern Virginia home: A pediatric ICU nurse, Christine Banfield, was mortally wounded successful her bedroom. She’d been many times stabbed. With her was 39-year-old Joseph Ryan. He’d been fatally shot.

The nurse’s hubby — IRS typical supplier Brendan Banfield — told authorities he killed Ryan, a stranger, aft nan man attacked his wife.

What prosecutors opportunity really happened wrong nan Banfields’ Fairfax County location was nan consequence of thing acold much convoluted and sinister — a deadly catfishing strategy that was motivated by an matter and relied connected a fetish website to lure an unsuspecting man to his death.

The plot, they said, was planned and executed by Brendan Banfield and his mistress, nan family’s Brazilian au pair.

For much connected nan story, tune it to "Temptation" connected "Dateline" astatine 9 ET/8 CT tonight.

Brendan Banfield has maintained his innocence and called nan allegations “absolutely crazy.” After a three-week proceedings earlier this year, he was convicted of aggravated murder and is group to beryllium sentenced to a mandatory word of life successful situation word adjacent month.

The au pair, Juliana Peres Magalhaes, cooperated pinch authorities and pleaded blameworthy to manslaughter. She was sentenced to 10 years successful prison.

The murder

On nan greeting of Feb. 24, 2023, Brendan Banfield told a 911 usability that he’d travel upon that terrifying segment wrong his location successful Herndon, a suburban organization adjacent Washington, D.C. Authorities recovered him successful nan superior chamber kneeling complete his wife, Christine Banfield, 37, pinch 1 of his hands connected her neck, Fairfax County homicide detective Thomas Gadell told “Dateline.”

She’d been stabbed aggregate times and was later pronounced dead.

On a canine furniture successful nan corner, Gadell said, they recovered Ryan. In nan basement was nan couple’s 4-year-old daughter. She was unharmed.

In a connection to police, Peres Magalhaes walked authorities done what happened: The au brace was preparing to spell to nan National Zoo pinch nan Banfields’ girl erstwhile she saw an unfamiliar SUV propulsion into nan family’s driveway. So she called Brendan Banfield, who was astatine a adjacent McDonald’s getting breakfast.

“I don’t cognize who is that,” she described telling Brendan Banfield, assemblage camera video shows. “Please travel here. I’m scared.”

They put nan woman successful nan basement pinch a tablet, Peres Magalhaes said, past went upstairs and heard what she described arsenic “spanking.”

In nan bedroom, she said, they saw Christine Banfield connected nan level and a man pinch a weapon supra her. Brendan Banfield pleaded pinch nan man to driblet nan blade, she said, but nan man refused and started stabbing her.

“I deliberation Brendan changeable him,” Peres Magalhaes said.

She told constabulary that she changeable nan man arsenic well.

Brendan Banfield declined to supply a connection to police.

The plea deal

In nan months aft nan killings, authorities came to uncertainty nan au pair’s account. A charismatic successful nan case, Eric Clingan, told “Dateline” that it didn’t make consciousness — Ryan had a weapon and Brendan Banfield had a gun, yet Ryan refused to driblet his weapon.

Nor had Peres Magalhaes provided a satisfactory mentation for a 2nd 911 telephone made from her telephone connected nan greeting of Feb. 24, Clingan said. In that call, which was made 13 minutes earlier nan 1 that summoned constabulary to nan family’s home, nan personification connected nan statement said thing and hung up aft only a fewer seconds, he said. But a antheral sound could beryllium heard moaning successful nan background.

“A personification was successful an injured state, and yet it still took 13 minutes” for nan different telephone to beryllium placed, nan charismatic said. “It made nary sense.”

Peres Magalhaes had already confessed to shooting Ryan while he was successful what Clingan described arsenic a prone, unthreatening position; successful October 2023, authorities arrested and charged her pinch his murder. Nearly a twelvemonth later, aft nan completion of a humor shape study that pointed to Brendan Banfield arsenic nan personification who’d held nan weapon wrong nan bedroom, authorities arrested him, too.

He pleaded not blameworthy to charges of aggravated execution and was held without bail.

Peres Magalhaes had besides pleaded not blameworthy to nan execution charge. But successful nan weeks aft Brendan Banfield’s arrest, she told authorities she wanted to cooperate, Clingan said, and successful a four-hour statement, she elaborate her matter pinch Brendan Banfield and his scheme to termination his wife, whom he described arsenic “lazy” and “not a bully mother,” a video of her connection shows.

Juliana Peres Magalhães is escorted into nan courtroom earlier continuing her testimony, during nan double execution proceedings for Brendan Banfield successful Fairfax County Circuit Court connected Jan. 14 successful Fairfax, Va.Tom Brenner / AP file

Peres Magalhaes confirmed what immoderate of nan investigators had travel to judge astir nan killings: it was a catfishing scheme. In nan statement, she said they’d created a clone personification floor plan connected a fetish-focused societal web — FetLife.com — utilizing Christine Banfield’s laptop and posing arsenic “Annastasia9,” a personification seeking to enactment retired a convulsive intersexual imagination pinch a alien successful her home.

Brendan Banfield wanted to find personification who liked to “play violent” and could beryllium blamed for Christine Banfield’s murder, Peres Magalhaes said.

Ryan was that person, she said.

Authorities had learned that Ryan met different women done FetLife, but they described Ryan arsenic a personification who respected boundaries and wasn’t violent, Patrick Brusch, a retired skipper pinch nan Fairfax County Police Department, told “Dateline.”

Ryan, Brusch said, “was baited and hunted.”

Ryan agreed to bring restraints, statement and a weapon to nan Banfields’ home. Brendan Banfield planned connected stabbing his woman pinch that leaf aft he changeable Ryan, Peres Magalhaes told authorities.

She agreed to plead blameworthy to nan lesser crime of manslaughter and attest against Brendan Banfield. In speech for her cooperation, prosecutors would urge she beryllium sentenced to clip served.

The conviction

Brendan Banfield’s proceedings began successful a Fairfax County courtroom successful January, astir 3 years aft nan sidesplitting of Christine Banfield and Ryan. Peres Magalhaes testified for nan prosecution, telling nan assemblage astir her matter pinch Brendan Banfield, his scheme to termination Christine Banfield and nan horrific segment connected nan greeting of Feb. 24.

Brendan Banfield’s lawyer grilled Peres Magalhaes, questioning why she took truthful agelong to supply her relationship to authorities and pointing to an connection she received from a streaming outlet for an interview. In an email presented successful court, she told her mother she’d been offered $10,000 but believed she could discuss a interest of much than doubly that.

“We do merit something,” she wrote successful nan message.

“What is it you merit thing for?” asked nan attorney, John Carroll.

“For everything we’ve been through,” she said connected nan stand.

Brendan Banfield besides testified, acknowledging his matter pinch Peres Magalhaes but denying that he played a domiciled successful readying aliases executing his wife’s murder. When he opened nan doorway to his chamber and saw Christine Banfield connected nan level and a man down her pinch a knife, he said he was “extremely terrified.”

He changeable Ryan aft he saw him stab her, he said.

A witnesser for nan prosecution was capable to refute a cardinal portion of Brendan Banfield’s relationship of that morning, however. In his testimony, Banfield said that he was connected his measurement to a activity gathering pinch his supervisor erstwhile he stopped astatine McDonald’s and Peres Magalhaes called him astir nan unfamiliar SUV successful nan driveway.

But aft that testimony, Brendan Banfield’s supervisor told authorities that nary gathering had been scheduled, lead charismatic Jenna Sands told “Dateline.” In court, nan supervisor testified that he’d been successful Baltimore connected an undercover operation.

On Feb. 2, aft 9 hours of deliberation, a assemblage convicted Brendan Banfield of aggravated murder. Eleven days later, a judge sentenced Peres Magalhaes to nan maximum punishment allowed for a manslaughter condemnation — 10 years successful prison.

“Your actions were deliberate, self-serving and demonstrated a profound disregard for quality life,” Circuit Court Chief Judge Penney Azcarate said. “That is nan astir superior manslaughter script that this tribunal has ever seen.”