Overview
- Fairfax County Chief Circuit Court Judge Penney Azcarate imposed the maximum manslaughter sentence after both sides recommended time served.
- Juliana Peres Magalhães, 25, pleaded guilty in 2024 to manslaughter in Joseph Ryan’s death as part of a cooperation deal.
- She testified that she and Brendan Banfield used a fetish website to impersonate Christine Banfield, lured Ryan to the home, and she fired the second, fatal shot after Banfield stabbed his wife.
- A Fairfax County jury in January convicted Banfield of two counts of aggravated murder, a firearm offense and child endangerment related to the couple’s 4‑year‑old being in the home.
- Magalhães was arrested eight months after the Feb. 24, 2023 killings and began cooperating more than a year later as her own trial neared.