Case Files
Christine Banfield and Joseph Ryan: The Fairfax 'Au Pair Affair' Murders
A note before you read: this is a true account of real people and a real crime. We tell it with care — centered on the victims, grounded in the record, and without gratuitous detail.
Christine Banfield was a wife and mother. Joseph Ryan was a man who believed he was meeting someone who needed help. On February 24, 2023, both were killed inside a home in Herndon, Fairfax County, Virginia. This is their case — told from the public record, with what was proven in court kept separate from what was only argued.
What the court found
On February 2, 2026, a Fairfax County jury convicted Brendan Banfield, 40, a former IRS agent, of two counts of aggravated murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and child endangerment. Prosecutors described a premeditated plot: Banfield and the family’s au pair, Juliana Peres Magalhães, lured Joseph Ryan to the house and staged the scene to look like a home invasion gone wrong. The jury rejected that staging.
Peres Magalhães, who testified as part of a plea agreement, was sentenced to ten years in prison — the judge declining the prosecution’s “time served” recommendation.
Brendan Banfield is scheduled to be sentenced on Friday, June 5, 2026, where he faces a mandatory life sentence. He may still appeal his conviction.
Proven vs. argued
- Proven in court: the jury’s verdict — aggravated murder of Christine Banfield and Joseph Ryan, the firearm count, and child endangerment.
- Argued by prosecutors: the precise sequence of the plot and the staging; some details remain the state’s account of events.
We mark that line on purpose. A conviction is fact; a narrative theory is not, and we do not blur the two.
Frequently Asked Questions
Was Brendan Banfield convicted? Yes. A Fairfax County jury convicted him on February 2, 2026, of two counts of aggravated murder, a firearm count, and child endangerment.
When is the sentencing? June 5, 2026. He faces a mandatory life sentence and may appeal.
What happened to the au pair? Juliana Peres Magalhães was sentenced to ten years after testifying under a plea agreement.
We center Christine Banfield and Joseph Ryan — not the man convicted of killing them. Sourced from court records and the public record; no gratuitous detail.
If you need support. 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (call or text 988) · National Domestic Violence Hotline 1-800-799-7233 (text START to 88788) · RAINN 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).