Stay up to date with notifications from The IndependentNotifications can be managed in browser preferences.Jump to contentThank you for registeringPlease refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged inAllNewsSportCultureLifestyleBrendan Banfield listens to a family impact statement ahead of sentencing (undefined/POOL AP via AP)Brendan Banfield, a former IRS agent, has been sentenced to life in prison without parole in Virginia for the murders of his wife, Christine Banfield, and Joseph Ryan.Banfield orchestrated an elaborate plot with the family's Brazilian au pair, Juliana Peres Magalhães, to eliminate his wife to avoid a costly divorce.The scheme saw Banfield and Magalhães impersonate Christine Banfield on a sexual fetish website to lure Joseph Ryan to their home, staging the scene to appear as if they had shot a violent intruder. Magalhães testified that Banfield wanted to marry her but needed to “get rid of” his wife. Banfield was also convicted of child endangerment because his four-year-old daughter was home during the killings.“The disregard of the life of your wife, someone you supposedly loved, is almost unfathomable,” the judge said at sentencing, adding, “Luring a completely innocent man into your deadly trap; continuing on after the murders without a care; and not once — not once — thinking of the impact.”In fullHusband jailed for life after killing his wife and man he lured from fetish websiteThank you for registeringPlease refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in