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   From: noreply@dirge.harmsk.com   
      
      
      
   Juliana Peres Magalhães   
      
   An au pair who schemed with her employer-turned-lover to kill his wife   
   and another man received a 10-year sentence on Friday.   
      
   Prosecutors had recommended immediate release for Juliana Peres   
   Magalhães in exchange for her guilty plea to a downgraded manslaughter   
   charge in the February 2023 killing of Joseph Ryan. She testified that   
   she fatally shot Ryan as Brendan Banfield was fatally stabbing his wife,   
   Christine, in the couple's bedroom.   
      
   Instead, Fairfax Chief Circuit Court Judge Penney S. Azcarate delivered   
   the maximum possible sentence to the woman from Brazil, citing "an   
   intentional and calculated level of violence that is the most serious   
   manslaughter scenario that this court has ever seen."   
      
   "Your actions were deliberate, self-serving, and demonstrated a profound   
   disregard for human life," Azcarate said at the sentencing on Friday,   
   according to CBS affiliate WUSA. "So let's get straight — you do not   
   deserve anything other than incarceration and a life of reflection on   
   what you have done to the victim in this family. May it weigh heavily on   
   your soul."   
      
   Fairfax County Commonwealth Attorney Steve Descano said in a statement   
   that people who watched the trial "saw that Juliana's testimony was   
   invaluable in helping the jury understand the convoluted double-murder   
   plot orchestrated by Brendan Banfield. No prison sentence can address   
   the harm created by her actions."   
      
   Magalhães had remained silent for months before agreeing to cooperate   
   with prosecutors in their case against Banfield, who was convicted by a   
   jury this month of aggravated murder in the deaths of his wife and Ryan.   
   Prosecutors said they continued their affair for months after the   
   killings.   
      
   "Today's hearing was dedicated specifically to Joe, a beloved son,   
   nephew, and grandson, who was a perfect stranger to Magalhaes and   
   Brendan Banfield and tragically ensnared in their plot," CA Descano   
   said. "The court cannot bring Joe back to his loved ones, but the court   
   can ensure that Brendan, the mastermind behind this scheme, faces a   
   lifetime in prison for his murder."   
      
   At his trial, Magalhães testified that she and Banfield, a former IRS   
   agent, had 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 said she and Banfield took the couple's 4-year-old child to   
   the basement, and then entered the bedroom, where she said Banfield shot   
   Ryan. When she saw Ryan moving, Magalhães said, she fired the second   
   shot that killed him.   
      
   Magalhães testified that she was in the room when Banfield killed   
   Christine, but that she crouched behind the bed and covered her eyes and   
   ears while Banfield repeatedly stabbed his wife, WUSA reported.   
      
   She wasn't arrested until eight months later, and didn't talk with   
   investigators for more than a year, until she changed her mind as her   
   own trial date approached. Banfield's attorney scrutinized the former au   
   pair's motives during his trial, arguing that she was only saying what   
   prosecutors wanted to hear.   
      
   Magalhães read a prepared statement before her sentencing.   
      
   "I know my remorse cannot bring you peace," Magalhães said to the   
   victims' families. "I lost myself in a relationship, and left my morals   
   and values behind."   
      
   Ryan's mother and aunt both gave victim impact statements. Christine's   
   family had letters prepared but were not allowed to speak because   
   Magalhães was only charged in Ryan's death, according to WUSA.   
      
   "Do I think or dare hope that there will be justice for Joe's death? For   
   my loss as his mother? I don't believe that's possible," said Ryan's   
   mother, Dierdre Fisher. "What I do hope is that even for a moment, that   
   the world and you, Judge, will say Joe meant more than nothing. That he   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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