2026年2月2日 / 美国东部时间下午5:26 / 美联社
一名与自家巴西互惠生有染的弗吉尼亚州男子周一被判谋杀其妻子及另一名男子罪名成立。检察官称，另一名男子被诱骗至家中充当替罪羊。
曾任职于美国国税局（IRS）的执法官员布伦丹·班菲尔德（Brendan Banfield）告诉警方，2023年2月24日上午，他发现约瑟夫·瑞安（Joseph Ryan）持刀袭击其妻子克里斯汀·班菲尔德（Christine Banfield）。他开枪击毙了瑞安，而互惠生朱莉安娜·马加良斯（Juliana Magalhães）也向他开枪。
但法庭上官员指出，这个说法过于完美，不可能属实。他们向陪审员透露，班菲尔德策划了这起阴谋以除掉妻子。后来查明，班菲尔德与马加良斯一直保持着不正当关系。
马加良斯于2024年承认过失杀人罪，并在庭审中作证指控其前情人。她称，两人曾在一个性癖好网站上冒充克里斯汀·班菲尔德（一名儿科重症监护护士），并利用该网站诱骗瑞安前往家中，以涉及刀具的性接触为名义，伪造了一场瑞安袭击妻子后被他们枪杀的现场。
辩护律师约翰·卡罗尔（John Carroll）辩称，马加良斯的证词不可信，因为她正与检察官合作以避免长期监禁。班菲尔德在自己的证词中称，这一说法“完全荒谬”。
卡罗尔还出示证据称，警方内部对马加良斯与班菲尔德在社交媒体上冒充克里斯汀·班菲尔德的“钓鱼”阴谋存在分歧。一名通过数字证据认定克里斯汀·班菲尔德是该社交媒体账户幕后黑手的警官后来被调离岗位，卡罗尔称这是对其不认同部门高层偏好理论的惩罚。
检察官珍娜·桑兹（Jenna Sands）在总结陈词中告诉陪审团，他们不必完全依赖马加良斯的证词，指出存在“大量证据”。其中包括专家证词称，瑞安手上的血迹表明克里斯汀·班菲尔德的血液是从上方滴到他手上的。
陪审团在两天内进行了近9小时的审议后作出裁决。班菲尔德在量刑时可能面临终身监禁。
马加良斯的量刑安排在班菲尔德审判之后。律师表示，如果她被判处已服刑时间，可能会被允许获释。
（注：原文图片链接已保留）
（注：图片为2026年1月13日在弗吉尼亚州费尔法克斯法庭上拍摄的视频截图，布伦丹·班菲尔德因2023年杀害克里斯汀·班菲尔德和约瑟夫·瑞安而被指控加重谋杀罪，庭审进入开场陈述阶段。来源：Court TV via AP, Pool）
Virginia man who had affair with au pair found guilty of murdering wife, another man
February 2, 2026 / 5:26 PM EST / AP
A Virginia man having an affair with the family’s Brazilian au pair was found guilty Monday of murdering his wife and another man that prosecutors say was lured to the house as a fall guy.
Brendan Banfield, a former IRS law enforcement officer, told police he came across Joseph Ryan attacking his wife, Christine Banfield, with a knife on the morning of Feb. 24, 2023. He shot Ryan and then Juliana Magalhães, the au pair, shot him, too.
But officials argued in court that the story was too good to be true, telling jurors that Banfield set Ryan up in a scheme to get rid of his wife. It later came out that Brendan Banfield and Magalhães had been having an affair.
Magalhães pleaded guilty to manslaughter in 2024 and testified against her former lover at trial. She said they had impersonated Christine Banfield, a pediatric intensive care nurse, on a website for sexual fetishes. She said they used the site to lure Ryan to the house for a sexual encounter involving a knife, staging the scene to look as though they had shot an intruder who was attacking the wife.
Defense attorney John Carroll argued that Magalhães’ testimony could not be trusted because she was cooperating with prosecutors to try to avoid a long prison sentence. In his own testimony, Banfield said that the testimony was ” absolutely crazy.”
In this image taken from video, Brendan Banfield, charged with aggravated murder in the 2023 killings of Christine Banfield and Joseph Ryan, appears in court during opening statements on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026 in Fairfax, Va. Court TV via AP, Pool
Carroll also introduced evidence showing that there was dissent within the police department over the theory that Magalhães and Brendan Banfield impersonated Christine Banfield on social media in a “catfishing” scheme. An officer who concluded from digital evidence that Christine Banfield was behind the social media account was later transferred in what Carroll said was punishment for disagreeing with a theory favored by the department’s higher-ups.
In closing arguments, prosecutor Jenna Sands told the jury they did not have to rely solely on Magalhães’ testimony, pointing to what she called a “plethora of evidence.” That included expert testimony that blood stains on Ryan’s hands suggested Christine Banfield’s blood had been dripped onto him from above.
The jury deliberated for nearly nine hours across two days before reaching a verdict. Banfield faces the possibility of life in prison at sentencing.
Magalhães was scheduled to be sentenced after Banfield’s trial. Attorneys have said she could be allowed to walk free if she is sentenced to time served.
发表回复