A former IRS law enforcement officer is scheduled to be sentenced Friday for orchestrating a double murder scheme that killed his wife and an innocent man who was lured to their Virginia home as part of an elaborate plot.

Brendan Banfield was convicted in February of murdering his wife Christine Banfield, a pediatric intensive care nurse, and Joseph Ryan on February 24, 2023, at the family's home in Herndon, Virginia. Jurors also found him guilty of child endangerment because the couple's 4-year-old daughter was present during the killings. He faces a mandatory life sentence.

Prosecutors said Banfield conspired with the family's Brazilian au pair, Juliana Peres Magalhães, with whom he was having an affair. According to testimony, Banfield told Magalhães he wanted to marry her and have children with her, but needed to "get rid of" his wife first. He reportedly did not want a divorce because it would leave him with less money and potentially cost him custody of his daughter.

The prosecution alleged that Banfield and Magalhães impersonated Christine Banfield on a website for sexual fetishes to lure Ryan to their home under the pretense of a sexual encounter involving a knife. On the day of the murders, Magalhães testified that she waited outside in a car with the Banfield child while Brendan waited at a nearby McDonald's. When Ryan arrived, she called Banfield, who returned home.

According to Magalhães' testimony, after taking the child to the basement, she and Banfield went to the bedroom where they encountered Ryan. Banfield shot Ryan and then stabbed his wife Christine with the knife Ryan had brought. When Magalhães saw Ryan was still moving, she fired a second shot that killed him. The scene was staged to appear as though they had shot a violent intruder.

Magalhães pleaded guilty to manslaughter in exchange for testifying against Banfield and was sentenced to 10 years in prison following his trial. Banfield had initially claimed he shot Ryan in self-defense after discovering him attacking his wife.