Overview
- The sentence was handed down Friday after a jury convicted Banfield of two counts of aggravated murder, a firearms offense and child endangerment for the Feb. 24, 2023 killings in the Banfield family home.
- Prosecutors said Banfield and the family’s Brazilian au pair created fake accounts, including a profile on a fetish website, to catfish Joseph Ryan and draw him to the house as a scapegoat.
- The au pair, Juliana Peres Magalhães, testified for the prosecution, admitted shooting Ryan and described how Banfield shot Ryan, fatally stabbed his wife Christine and tried to stage the scene, with investigators citing digital messages, photos and crime-scene forensics.
- Peres Magalhães pleaded guilty to manslaughter in 2024, cooperated at trial and was sentenced to 10 years, while Judge Penney S. Azcarate imposed mandatory life without parole on Banfield plus consecutive terms for the firearm and child-endangerment convictions.
- Victim impact statements stressed the human cost — Christine’s family and Ryan’s mother spoke of loss and the child who was in the home — and the case highlights how online impersonation and digital evidence can shape modern murder prosecutions and likely prompt post‑conviction appeals.