A Virginia man has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after being convicted of orchestrating a double-murder plot involving the family's Brazilian au pair, a scheme prosecutors said was designed to eliminate his wife and clear the way for a future with his lover.
Brendan Banfield, a former Internal Revenue Service law enforcement officer, received the mandatory life sentence Friday in Fairfax County Circuit Court after being found guilty of aggravated murder in the deaths of his wife, Christine Banfield, and Joseph Ryan. The killings occurred on Feb. 24, 2023, at the family's home in Herndon, Virginia, according to court proceedings reported by The Associated Press.
