2026年2月13日 / 美国东部时间下午2:32 / CBS/美联社
一名与雇主发展成情人关系后合谋杀害其妻子及另一男子的互惠生于周五被判处10年徒刑。
检察官曾建议对来自巴西的朱莉安娜·佩雷斯·马加良斯（Juliana Peres Magalhães）立即释放，以换取她对2023年2月杀害约瑟夫·瑞安（Joseph Ryan）一案中罪名降级的过失杀人罪认罪。她作证称，在布兰登·班菲尔德（Brendan Banfield）在这对夫妇的卧室里致命刺伤其妻子克里斯汀（Christine）时，她开枪打死了瑞安。
然而，费尔法克斯高等法院法官彭妮·S·阿兹卡雷特（Penney S. Azcarate）对这名巴西女子判处了最高刑期，称其“蓄意且有预谋的暴力行为是本法院所见过的最严重的过失杀人场景”。
“你的行为是深思熟虑、自私自利的，表明你对生命有着深刻的漠视，”阿兹卡雷特在周五的量刑听证会上表示（据哥伦比亚广播公司下属的WUSA报道），“所以我们要明确——你除了监禁和一生反思自己对这个家庭受害者所做的一切之外，不配得到任何其他东西。愿这永远沉重地压在你的灵魂上。”
马加良斯在同意与检察官合作起诉班菲尔德之前，曾沉默数月。班菲尔德本月被陪审团认定犯有谋杀其妻子和瑞安的加重谋杀罪。检察官称，两人在杀人后仍维持了数月的不正当关系。
在审判中，马加良斯作证称，她和美国国税局特工班菲尔德在其妻子（一名儿科重症监护护士）的社交媒体账号上创建了一个账户，该账号用于发布对性癖好感兴趣的人的信息。瑞安通过该账户联系并同意见面进行涉及刀具的性接触。
马加良斯说，她和班菲尔德将这对夫妇4岁的孩子带到地下室，然后进入卧室，她说班菲尔德开枪打死了瑞安。当她看到瑞安还在动时，她又开了第二枪将其打死。
马加良斯作证称，她在班菲尔德杀害克里斯汀时就在房间里，但她蹲在床后，捂住眼睛和耳朵，而班菲尔德则反复刺伤他的妻子（WUSA报道）。
她直到8个月后才被捕，并且在一年多的时间里没有与调查人员交谈，直到自己的审判日期临近时才改变主意。班菲尔德的律师在审判中仔细审视了前互惠生的动机，认为她只是在说检察官希望听到的话。
马加良斯在量刑前宣读了一份事先准备好的声明。
“我知道我的悔恨无法给你们带来平静，”马加良斯对受害者家属说，“我在一段关系中迷失了自我，抛弃了自己的道德和价值观。”
瑞安的母亲和姑姑都发表了受害者影响陈述。克里斯汀的家人准备了书面陈述，但因马加良斯仅被控谋杀瑞安而被禁止发言（WUSA报道）。
“我是否认为或敢于希望乔的死能得到公正？作为他的母亲，我失去了他，我不相信这是可能的，”瑞安的母亲迪尔德丽·费舍尔（Dierdre Fisher）说，“我所希望的是，即使只有一瞬间，这个世界和你，法官，会说乔的存在并非毫无意义。他是一个值得有尊严和生命的人，他不该被利用和抛弃，被视为完全可以随意处置的人。”
据WUSA报道，班菲尔德被认定犯有两项加重谋杀罪、一项危害儿童安全罪以及一项在谋杀中使用枪支罪。弗吉尼亚州的加重谋杀罪将被判处无假释可能的终身监禁。他的量刑听证会定于5月8日举行。
Au pair gets 10-year sentence for scheme to kill lover’s wife and another man in Virginia
February 13, 2026 / 2:32 PM EST / CBS/AP
An au pair who schemed with her employer-turned-lover to kill his wife and another man received a 10-year sentence on Friday.
Prosecutors had recommended immediate release for Juliana Peres Magalhães in exchange for her guilty plea to a downgraded manslaughter charge in the February 2023 killing of Joseph Ryan. She testified that she fatally shot Ryan as Brendan Banfield was fatally stabbing his wife, Christine, in the couple’s bedroom.
Instead, Fairfax Chief Circuit Court Judge Penney S. Azcarate delivered the maximum possible sentence to the woman from Brazil, citing “an intentional and calculated level of violence that is the most serious manslaughter scenario that this court has ever seen.”
“Your actions were deliberate, self-serving, and demonstrated a profound disregard for human life,” Azcarate said at the sentencing on Friday, according to CBS affiliate WUSA. “So let’s get straight — you do not deserve anything other than incarceration and a life of reflection on what you have done to the victim in this family. May it weigh heavily on your soul.”
Magalhães had remained silent for months before agreeing to cooperate with prosecutors in their case against Banfield, who was convicted by a jury this month of aggravated murder in the deaths of his wife and Ryan. Prosecutors said they continued their affair for months after the killings.
At his trial, Magalhães testified that she and Banfield, an IRS agent, had created an account in the name of his wife, a pediatric intensive care nurse, on a social media platform for people interested in sexual fetishes. Ryan connected with the account and agreed to meet for a sexual encounter involving a knife.
Juliana Peres Magalhães testifies during the double murder trial for Brendan Banfield in Fairfax County Circuit Court, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Fairfax, Va. Tom Brenner / AP
Magalhães said she and Banfield took the couple’s 4-year-old child to the basement, and then entered the bedroom, where she said Banfield shot Ryan. When she saw Ryan moving, Magalhães said, she fired the second shot that killed him.
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Magalhães testified that she was in the room when Banfield killed Christine, but that she crouched behind the bed and covered her eyes and ears while Banfield repeatedly stabbed his wife, WUSA reported.
She wasn’t arrested until eight months later, and didn’t talk with investigators for more than a year, until she changed her mind as her own trial date approached. Banfield’s attorney scrutinized the former au pair’s motives during his trial, arguing that she was only saying what prosecutors wanted to hear.
Magalhães read a prepared statement before her sentencing.
“I know my remorse cannot bring you peace,” Magalhães said to the victims’ families. “I lost myself in a relationship, and left my morals and values behind.”
Ryan’s mother and aunt both gave victim impact statements. Christine’s family had letters prepared but were not allowed to speak because Magalhães was only charged in Ryan’s death, according to WUSA.
Brendan Banfield looks on during the double murder trial for Brendan Banfield in Fairfax County Circuit Court, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Fairfax, Virginia. Tom Brenner / AP
“Do I think or dare hope that there will be justice for Joe’s death? For my loss as his mother? I don’t believe that’s possible,” said Ryan’s mother, Dierdre Fisher. “What I do hope is that even for a moment, that the world and you, Judge, will say Joe meant more than nothing. That he was someone worthy of dignity and life who didn’t deserve to be used and thrown away, treated as utterly disposable.”
Banfield was found guilty of two counts of aggravated murder, one count of child endangerment, and one count of using a firearm in the commission of a murder, WUSA reported. Aggravated murder charges in Virginia carry a mandatory life sentence with no chance of parole. He will be sentenced on May 8.
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