Brendan Banfield (brendan banfield) was convicted by a Fairfax County jury of two counts of aggravated murder, one count of using a firearm in the commission of murder, and one count of child endangerment, according to reporting by the Associated Press.
The panel of jurors deliberated for roughly nine hours before returning the verdict, and found Banfield left the couple's young daughter unattended in the basement during the killings, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors told jurors Banfield, a former IRS law enforcement officer, orchestrated an elaborate plan with the family au pair to lure a stranger to the Herndon home and stage the deaths to look like a sexual fantasy gone wrong, Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Jenna Sands said in closing arguments.
The jury convicted Banfield of shooting the stranger and stabbing his wife in the neck, and found he used his service weapon during the crimes, as presented at trial by prosecutors who cited digital and forensic evidence alongside witness testimony.
Plot Details Testimony Evidence And Potential Sentencing
Trial testimony described how the au pair, Juliana Peres Magalhaes, and Banfield created online accounts posing as his wife on a fetish website to arrange a "stranger rape fantasy" meeting with a user who identified himself as TacoSupreme7000, prosecutors said.
Peres Magalhaes testified she waited outside in a car with the couple's child, called Banfield to report an intruder, and later called 911 after witnessing violence, prosecutors and court records show.
Prosecutors presented forensic testimony to support their account, including expert analysis that blood patterns were inconsistent with the theory that the stranger acted alone, and they argued the evidence backed Peres Magalhaes’s description of Banfield's actions.
The defense challenged the digital forensics and argued Peres Magalhaes fabricated the plot to protect herself, noting her plea deal, but jurors found the combined testimony and physical evidence persuasive.
Peres Magalhaes pleaded to manslaughter and prosecutors recommended a sentence of time served followed by deportation to Brazil, while prosecutors said Banfield faces life in prison without parole if sentenced to the penalties associated with his convictions.
