(NEW YORK) -- A Virginia man found guilty of killing his wife and a stranger lured to their home in an elaborate plot to get rid of his spouse so he could be with his au pair was sentenced to life in prison on Friday, with the judge calling the crimes "unfathomable."
Brendan Banfield was convicted in the 2023 murders of his wife and a man prosecutors said he "catfished" on a fetish website. Prosecutors said Brendan Banfield pretended to be his wife to lure the man to their Fairfax County home for what was believed to be a consensual fake rape scenario in order to frame that stranger for his wife's murder.
A jury found him guilty of two counts of aggravated murder in February. The judge denied a defense motion to overturn his murder convictions on Thursday, ahead of his sentencing.
"It is a harsh sentence, but in this case it is a justified one," Judge Penney Azcarate said while handing down the life sentence without the possibility of parole.
"The disregard of the life of your wife, someone you supposedly loved, is almost unfathomable," she said.
"Scheming for months, a master plan involving so many moving parts, including deception and manipulation, luring a completely innocent man into your deadly trap, continuing on after the murders without a care, and not once, not once thinking of the impact on Christine's daughter, the unspoken, tragic victim of your behavior," she said.
The former IRS agent was charged with two counts of aggravated murder in 2024 following a monthslong investigation into the deaths of his wife, 37-year-old nurse Christine Banfield, and the stranger, 39-year-old Joseph Ryan.
Azcarate said she hopes he "will become tortured" by what he did to his wife, their young daughter, Ryan and the victims' families.
"The level of cruelty, calculation and inhumanity in this case reflects something far deeper than anger or impulse, it reflects evil, which is why I carry no burden and find no hesitation in sentencing you to life," she said.
Brendan spoke out at length ahead of his sentencing, saying he is "greatly disappointed in the legal system" while continuing to proclaim his innocence.
"The system has failed not only me, but also Christine, my daughter Valerie Benson, and the rest of my family," he said. "I was found guilty of a crime that I did not commit. It is actually impossible to have committed the crime, as the prosecution, their experts, and their witnesses have presented. The prosecution and their witnesses' statements do not match the evidence. My rights to defend my family has been taken away to defend my home and myself."
He detailed what he claimed to be flaws in the investigation and said he wasn't responsible for his wife's death.
"I loved her very much, despite what you may think of my affairs," he said. "Our marriage worked for us. It wasn't something that I looked to leave."
Christine Banfield's sister, Danielle Hocker, addressed the court ahead of the sentencing, saying she "didn't truly know Brendan at all."
"I don't believe anyone did, not family, not friends, and certainly not Christine," Hocker said, remembering her sister's warmth, devotion to her patients and love for her daughter during her victim impact statement.
"He could have divorced and moved on, but divorce would have required relinquishing control, and control was always the priority," she said. "His actions were not driven by love but a desire for power -- deception and a complete disregard for the lives he destroyed."
Ryan's mother, Deirdre Fisher, remembered her son as "extremely caring" who "believed in fighting for the underdog," including neglected dogs.
"He had a face, he had a name, he had a life. But Brendan Banfield shot his face, soiled his name and treated his life as disposable," she said while delivering her victim impact statement. "My son was a kind human being who had a full life of meaning. In contrast, Brendan will remain known as an abusive father, the brutal murderer of his dedicated and compassionate beautiful wife and a narcissistic killer of an innocent man. My son's legacy is one of selfless love, while Brendan's is one of senseless evil."
Prosecutors said Brendan Banfield plotted the murders with the family's au pair, Juliana Peres Magalhães, with whom he was having an affair.
Police responded to a 911 call from the home in Reston on Feb. 24, 2023, and found Ryan dead in an upstairs bedroom with gunshot wounds to his head and chest. Christine Banfield had been stabbed seven times in the neck, prosecutors said.
At the time, Magalhães and Banfield told police they came home to find Ryan stabbing Christine Banfield to death. Banfield and Magalhães each shot Ryan, they said in their 911 call and to responding officers at the scene.
Magalhães was arrested first and initially charged with second-degree murder for the death of Ryan. She pleaded guilty to manslaughter in 2024 and was sentenced to 10 years in prison, the maximum, in February. Prosecutors said she admitted to shooting Ryan at Brendan Banfield's direction.
Brendan Banfield was arrested several months after Magalhães and charged with two counts of aggravated murder for the deaths of his wife and Ryan.
Prosecutors said Brendan Banfield stabbed his wife with a kitchen knife that Ryan had been instructed to bring, and, before calling 911, altered the crime scene to make it look as though Ryan stabbed her -- including by transferring some of his wife's blood onto Ryan's hands.
Magalhães testified against Brendan Banfield during his trial, telling the court that he expressed his desire to "get rid of" his wife in October 2022. She said he told her he wanted to marry her and have children with her, and that he didn't want to divorce his wife because "she would have more money than he would" and because he wanted custody of the couple's daughter.
She prayed for forgiveness from the victims' families during her sentencing hearing.
"There is nothing I could possibly do to make it up to you, for your loss. There are so many regrets, this is my biggest. It's a tragedy I have been carrying with me, and I know I can never take back the devastation of what I have done," she said.
Following Magalhães' sentencing, Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney Steve Descano said the au pair's testimony was "invaluable in helping the jury understand the convoluted double-murder plot orchestrated by Brendan Banfield."
During his three-week-long trial, Brendan Banfield testified in his own defense. He admitted to the affair though maintained his innocence.
He said he came home on Feb. 24, 2023, after the au pair called to alert him about a stranger in the home. He said he went up to his bedroom with his gun drawn and found his wife naked with Ryan and that she called out, "Brendan, he has a knife!"
"I was extremely terrified," Brendan Banfield told the jury. "I don't think I've ever been more panicked in my life."
He said he fired his government-issued firearm, striking Ryan in the head, after he said the man appeared to stab his wife.
The couple's then-4-year-old daughter was in the basement of the house at the time of the killings. Brendan Banfield was additionally found guilty of child endangerment, as well as using a firearm while committing or attempting to commit murder.
ABC News' Sophie Sonnenfeld contributed to this report.
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